In the mid-1890s mourners assembled at a cemetery by an open grave. A woman dressed all in black stands at the head of the grave.
On Friday, June 13 from 12 to 6 p.m. and on Saturday, June 14, from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. a display of funeral-related photos and artifacts will be shown at the Merrill-Grinnell Funeral Home in Albion.
Many of these items are from the personal collection of County Historian Bill lattin, including the above photo.
A replica of Lincoln’s coffin made by Batesville Casket Co. will also be on loan from that business and will be displayed at Merrill-Grinnell’s.
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 11 June 2014 at 12:00 am
Site will be set up 1 mile from where Medina paratrooper was buried today
Photo by Tom Rivers
BATAVIA – A giant American Flag was hung on Veterans Memorial Drive this morning in Batavia by the ladder trucks from the city and town of Batavia fire departments.
A processional then took the “Cost of Freedom Tribute” to Pembroke Town Park. Several veterans’ organizations from Orleans County contributed to bring the tribute to the area.
The tribute includes an 80-percent replica of The Vietnam Wall and a display honoring veterans from all wars. It will spend four days in Pembroke about 1 mile from the Evergreen Hill Cemetery, where Sgt. Shaina Schmigel of Medina was buried today.
There will be an opening ceremony at noon on Thursday. The tribute will be at Pembroke until Sunday. Former State Assemblyman Charlie Nesbitt of Albion is scheduled to speak at the closing ceremony at 1 p.m. on Sunday. State Assemblyman Steve Hawley will join Nesbitt in dedicating a Memorial Stone at 1 p.m. on Sunday.
For more on the schedule of events, visit thedailynewsonline.com.
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 11 June 2014 at 12:00 am
Matt Mooney is a busy man in WNY show business
Provided photos – Matt Mooney portrays Joseph in “Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat” during performances from May 31 – June 15, 2013 at the Lancaster Opera House.
ALBION – After starring on the Albion stage in high school, Matt Mooney went to college and earned a degree in theater and liberal arts from Nazareth College in Rochester. Then he followed his dream to New York City and worked in theater for four years in The Big Apple.
He was in the original cast for “Lyle, Lyle Crocodile” that performed Off Broadway and went on tour. He appeared in Sex in the City on HBO, the movie Glitter with Mariah Carey, and another film called Strangers with Candy.
He left the big lights of the big city and returned to Western New York in 2001. He has juggled a full-time job with a busy schedule in theater.
“My whole life I’ve wanted to act and sing,” Mooney said.
He has been particularly busy in the past year, starring in many prominent roles, including his current portrayal of Marius Pontmercy in “Les Miserables” at Lancaster Opera House. The show opened last weekend and runs until June 22.
Matt Mooney, right, stars as Marius Pontmercy in Les Miserables, which will be performed at the Lancaster Opera House until June 22.
Mooney, 39, plays several demanding roles in casts each year. Besides Marius, he has recently played Jesus in “Godspell,” Joseph in “Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat,” as well as roles in “The Plow and the Stars” about the Irish Revolution, “Plaid Tidings,” and “Bloody, Bloody Andrew Jackson.”
Mooney was honored with Artie, an award for Buffalo theater performers, last week for his work in the singing ensemble of “Plaid Tidings.”
Photo by Michael Walline – Matt Mooney, front, was part of the musical ensemble from “Plaid Tidings” that was honored last week with an “Artie” Award in Buffalo. That musical was performed in December.
“This year I was really lucky,” he said about the many shows. “Buffalo has a very diverse community of professional actors and community theaters.”
By day, Mooney works for a bank. He was a personal banker and insurance agent for a decade for Evans Bank before being promoted to the bank’s marketing coordinator about 18 months ago.
It’s a breakneck pace, up for work early and rehearsing or performing late at night. Mooney said he is thankful to be so busy.
“I don’t like to say no to shows that I love,” he said. “I get to work with amazingly talented people.”
After “Les Miserables,” Mooney gets a breather from theater for about three months. He will be back on the stage in September with the cast of “Hello Again.”
“There is a lot of theater in Buffalo,” he said. “People outside of Buffalo might be surprised but you can be busy nonstop.”
CARLTON – The town and its consultant as part of a reassessment process announced the data collection phase of the project is complete and residents will be getting letters, beginning on Friday.
Those letters will include a summary of information about each of the respective 2,400 properties in Carlton. Property owners will be asked to review the information. If the information is correct, no further action will be required. If the inventory does not appear to be correct, instructions will be included as to how to submit any requested changes.
A dedicated help line will be set up to assist property owners with questions.
Carlton hired GAR Associates Inc. to be contractor for compiling the data. GAR Associates Inc. was hired for $68,000 to visit every property in the town and make note of swimming pools, additions, sheds, garages and exterior property improvements. GAR has been working on the project since March 2014.
The town has been working to update its assessment records so accurate and fair values can be designated for the properties. Carlton was engulfed in controversy in 2013 when new values for properties were assigned. Residents packed the Town Hall to complain about some of the big increases.
Residents also complained some properties were under-assessed. The town’s records didn’t show all the structures and improvements at some properties with low assessments, town officials said.
The Town Board chose not to re-appoint its assessor and worked out an arrangement with Kendall to share its assessor, Gene Massey.
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 11 June 2014 at 12:00 am
MEDINA – The committee looking at a possible dissolution of the village of Medina government will meet at 8 a.m. Thursday at City Hall. It will be the committee’s first meeting since a May 6 public meeting, when most speakers were strongly against dissolution.
The committee will weigh public comments as it works to craft a final document that will be presented to the Village Board. Don Colquhoun, the committee chairman, said he expects the committee will be able to complete its work with another meeting after Thursday.
The Medina Dissolution Committee accepted a draft of the plan in April. It faced its first public scrutiny on May 6 when about 300 people attended a forum at the middle school. Many of the speakers at the May 6 meeting lived outside the village in the towns of Ridgeway and Shelby. They don’t want to see their taxes go up as part of the dissolution.
Outside-village residents in Ridgeway would see a 46 percent increase in their town taxes while Shelby residents outside the village would see a 10 percent increase in town taxes, according to the plan.
Dissolution would reduce the current rate for village residents in Ridgeway from $19.49 per $1,000 of assessed property to $14.30. That $5.20 reduction would save a homeowner with a $70,000 house $363 a year in taxes.
In Shelby, village residents currently pay a $19.80 rate for village and town taxes. That would drop by $6.70 or 34 percent if the dissolution plan takes effect.
Medina Mayor Andrew Meier sees dissolution as the first step of a two-step process for a leaner government. The tax increase outside the village could be reduced if the towns of Ridgeway and Shelby merge into the town of Medina, Meier has said.
Meier and others in the community are pushing “One Medina” as the ultimate goal for town/village government in the community.
If the village dissolution goes to a public referendum, only village residents will be eligible to vote.
ALBION – In this serene photo from the 1890s we see the old Albion Mill and Mill Pond. It was located off East State Street on the west branch of Sandy Creek at the edge of the Erie Canal.
Purity Flour was made here by Woods and Sprague using both steam and water power. When the canal was enlarged 100 years ago, the old mill was torn down and the pond reduced to a stream. This flows under the canal in a culvert, which is behind the Community Action building.
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 11 June 2014 at 12:00 am
Paratrooper from Medina recalled for ‘beautiful spirit’
Photos by Tom Rivers – The Honor Guard from the NY National Guard leads Sgt. Shaina Schmigel into a hearse outside the Michael S. Tomaszewski Funeral & Cremation Chapel in Batavia.
The Patriot Guard and Hogs and Heroes Foundation provide a presence outside the funeral home during a service for Sgt. Shaina Schmigel.
BATAVIA – Friends and family said good-bye today to Sgt. Shaina Schmigel, a 21-year-old paratrooper from Medina who loved her career in the U.S. Army.
Schmigel
“You are so brave, so courageous,” her brother Matthew Scroger of Lackawanna wrote in a letter read by Navy Chaplain Rev. David Glassmire. “Your beautiful spirit, love and energy will forever take care of us.”
About 200 people filled the Michael S. Tomaszewski Funeral & Cremation Chapel in Batavia for Schmigel’s funeral. She died on May 30 in a night-time training accident at Fort Bragg. She took her job seriously as a paratrooper, and continuously was looking to improve herself and her the 82nd Airborne.
“For some people it’s just a paycheck, but it was never a paycheck just to her,” said Staff Sgt. Scott Kuznia who worked in the same unit with Schmigel for 2 ½ years.
She was promoted in January to sergeant after having a rank as a specialist. She often did jobs above her rank, and earned the confidence and respect of the other soldiers, Kuznia said today before the funeral.
“She could get everything done and take charge,” Kuznia said. “She was outstanding. She loved being a paratrooper and a soldier.”
Firefighters and police officers stand at attention outside the funeral home with a giant American Flag held high on Route 5 by the ladder trucks from the town and city of Batavia fire departments.
On Tuesday 240 paratroopers jumped from airplanes as a tribute to Schmigel at Fort Bragg in North Carolina, Kuzmia said.
Schmigel was devoted to her family, and loved to entertain them with her “goofy antics” and an “infectious smile,” said Rev. Glassmire, the priest at Ascension Parish in Batavia.
The Rev. David Glassmire, a Navy chaplain and pastor of Ascension Parish in Batavia, stands outside the hearse after leading a service for Sgt. Shaina Schmigel.
Glassmire shared how Schmigel enjoyed country music and NASCAR racing. At a NASCAR race at Watkins Glen, she watched Ryan Newman race for NASCAR when she was in high school. She met Newman after the race and was determined to serve in the Army. However, she wouldn’t serve on the ground. She would jump out of airplanes.
“Thank you for being so brave and serving our country,” her 16-year-old sister Sheniqua Samol of Medina shared in a letter read by the chaplain. “What will I do without you? I will survive, but I will never be the same.”
Outside the funeral home, a crowd gathered along Route 5 and held American flags.
Schmigel’s uncle Mark Schmigel led the group in singing “Amazing Grace.” Two songs were also played by Toby Keith: “American Soldier” and “Courtesy of the Red, White and Blue.”
Schmigel was escorted by the Patriot Guard Riders and Hogs for Heroes Foundation. She was buried in Evergreen Hill Cemetery in Corfu with full military honors.
A processional of motorcyclists from the Patriot Guard Riders and Hogs and Heroes Foundation led Schmigel and her family to the cemetery in Corfu.
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 10 June 2014 at 12:00 am
Genesee EDC hiring expert to look at issue
BATAVIA – A firm from California has been hired to review vibration studies that will be prepared on behalf of Frontier Stone, a company that wants to open a new quarry on Fletcher Chapel Road in the town of Shelby.
That proposed quarry would be about 5 miles from the STAMP site in the town of Alabama. Genesee County and economic development officials from the region and state see the proposed 1,250-acre park as a hub for nanotechnology. The Science Technology and Advanced Manufacturing Park has the potential to employ up to 10,000 in businesses that produce micro-chips, flat screen televisions, electronic circuits and other very small mechanical devices.
But the Genesee County Economic Development Center wants to make sure a proposed quarry doesn’t disturb the ground too much to make the STAMP site unattractive for developers.
The GCEDC board last week hired Colin Gordon Associates of California to analyze a vibration study that will be commissioned by Frontier Stone, The Daily News of Batavia is reporting. (For more information, visit thedailynewsonline.com and search for “GCEDC to review mining project near STAMP site.”)
The Genesee agency will pay Colin Gordon $15,000 to review Frontier Stone’s documents. Frontier submitted a vibration assessment in its environmental impact statement for the quarry, but GCEDC says that report didn’t go far enough. The agency will have its consultant work with Frontier’s expert in the preparation of the study, and then will analyze the results when the study is complete, said Rachael Tabelski, GCEDC spokeswoman.
One of the STAMP site’s draws is its location in a remote, rural area. The project is planned to go by a swamp, which is quiet. Ground vibrations can compromise the manufacturing at such a small scale, GCEDC President Steve Hyde has said.
Frontier wants to operate a 215-acre quarry. GCEDC officials have said that project wouldn’t necessarily be a problem for STAMP, but they want another study to make sure the two can co-exist.
The proposed STAMP is projected to attract $20 billion in investment, employ 10,000 on site and have a spinoff impact of another 50,000 jobs in the region. Companies could manufacture semiconductor 450mm chip fab, flat panel display, solar, and other advanced manufacturing.
Frontier Stone LLC wants to develop and operate a dolomite/limestone quarry. If the company can satisfy the DEC’s standards with a final environmental impact statement, Frontier will then need a permit from the town of Shelby for the project.
David J. Mahar, president of Frontier, has been working on the quarry project the past eight years. He has projected 15 jobs at the site.
Press release, Orleans Community Health and Catholic Health
MEDINA – In an effort to enhance healthcare delivery in Orleans County and expand access to care for residents throughout the region, Orleans Community Health/Medina Memorial Hospital has approved an affiliation agreement with Catholic Health, based in Buffalo.
The affiliation will strengthen healthcare services in Orleans County, while giving residents greater access to medical specialists and advanced medical and surgical services.
“With the changes we are experiencing in healthcare, it was clear we needed to align our hospital with a larger health system that could support and strengthen the services we offer in Orleans County,” said Dolores Horvath, President and CEO of Orleans Community Health/Medina Memorial Hospital. “We considered several options from Rochester to Buffalo and Catholic Health was the best fit for our organization. Catholic Health and its leadership team have a genuine interest in our success, as well as the depth of resources and uncompromising commitment to quality we were looking for in an affiliation partner.”
The purpose of the affiliation is to ensure that individuals and families throughout Orleans County continue to have access to high quality, affordable healthcare services. Catholic Health will help Medina Memorial gain operational efficiencies and support the hospital’s physician recruitment efforts. Plans are already underway to expand cardiology services at Medina Memorial Hospital with a cardiac specialist from Catholic Health.
“We understand the challenges rural hospitals face and believe patients should have equal access to care regardless of where they live,” said Joe McDonald, President and CEO of Catholic Health. “Our goal is to earn the trust of the residents of Orleans County by first helping to strengthen healthcare services in the local community, and then, when needed, by improving access specialty services, like advanced cardiac, stroke, orthopedic and vascular care.”
The Orleans Community Health Board of Directors will retain governance responsibility for Medina Memorial Hospital and the Orleans Community Health Center in Albion.
“This affiliation gives us the best opportunity to continue serving the community, while ensuring that area residents have access to health services not available in Orleans County,” said Bruce Krenning, chairman of the Orleans Community Health/Medina Memorial Hospital Board of Directors.
Catholic Health has similar affiliation agreements with Bertrand Chaffee Hospital in Springville and Mount St. Mary’s Hospital in Niagara Falls, which recently announced plans to formally join Catholic Health.
