Dance, music, theater on display at Albion event

Photos by Tom Rivers – Ryan Haight, center, and other members of the Albion Men’s Select Chorus ham it up with Director Gary Simboli during Theatre on Main Street on Saturday.

Mary Martin and the Albion Women’s Select Chorus performed several songs for about 400 people at the Theatre on Main Street.

Elizabeth Banty is the swan queen surrounded by black swans in a performance by the Gotta Dance by Miss Amy studio.

ALBION – Performers from several communities in Orleans County were welcomed for the debut of Theatre on Main Street.

The three-hour show was on an outdoor stage on West Bank Street.The crowd seemed to get bigger throughout the night. Organizers estimated 400 people were there.

Organizers hope it’s the beginning of more shows drawing dancers, musicians and theatrical performers to the county. Someday soon, the stage could be the opera houses in Albion and Medina.

The National Park Foundation and the Erie Canalway National Heritage Corridor contributed grants for the first Theatre on Main Street. The groups wanted the performance close to a historic opera house. Michael Bonafede and Judith Koehler own that building and are working to restore the site.

The Spotlight Dance Studio in Albion gets a chance on the stage.

Students from Dance Reflections by Miss Heather were among the performers.

John Martin, “Zilch Fletcher,” of Medina entertained with some light-hearted songs.

The Three Little Maids include, from left: Maarit Vaga, her daughter Lydia Erakare and Kristi Phillips.

Erie Canal Sal, others perform for 400

Photos by Tom Rivers – Gretchen Murray Sepik portrays Erie Canal Sal during the Theatre on Main Street talent showcase tonight in Albion.

ALBION – Gretchen Murray Sepik starred as Erie Canal Sal as part of the Theatre on Main Street production Saturday night to close out the Strawberry Festival.

At least 400 people watched the three-hour show on West Bank Street.

Sepik, an Albion resident, portrays Sal, a cook on canal boat in 1840. She was among the performers. (I’ll have pictures on The Hub soon of some of the other acts.)

Photos by Tom Rivers – The Purple Eagle Band performs in the rain on Main Street this morning.

The Kendall-Holley Marching Band was part of the Strawberry Festival for the first time today.

ALBION – The Albion Purple Eagles Marching Band played for the home crowd today in the Strawberry Festival Parade.

The newly formed Kendall-Holley Marching Band also made its debut in the Albion parade. The Dragons from Pembroke have been mainstays at the parade for many years.

Several other bands performed in the 90-minute parade, including the Hitmen Brass Band, Mighty St. Joes, Mark Time Marchers, Rochester Scottish Pipes & Drums, Kendall Royal Blue, White Sabres Dream Corps and the Alexander Fireman’s Band.

Albion Purple Eagles Marching Band

Kendall-Holley Marching Band

Pembroke Dragons Marching Band

ALBION – The rock wall proved popular at the festival in Albion today. Leah Pawlak, 5, of Albion didn’t have any trouble getting to the top.

Rashad Ghani, 7, of Lyndonville also gives it a shot.

270 runners in annual Strawberry Fest 5k/8k

ALBION – A record crowd of 270 runners joined for the annual Strawberry Festival 5k/8k race this morning.

Ryan Lubba dressed as “The Strawberry.” Anyone who beat him won a T-shirt. Lubba, a 2008 Albion grad, ran the 5k course in about 29:30.

The parade is scheduled to start at 10 a.m. today.

Photos by Tom Rivers – Rich Monacelli of Albion holds his 1-year-old grandson Matthew Schomske while watching today’s Strawberry Festival Parade on Main Street.

The turtle, being driven by Don Bishop, waves to the crowd. Hundreds of plastic turtles will race at 2 p.m. on the canal today.

Dancing Derrick does his thing for the Weed Man in Albion.

It rained during the Strawberry Festival Parade today. Big deal. A crowd turned out to show their support for the marching bands, Little League teams, firefighters and numerous other community organizations.

I’ll have more photos from the parade later today.

Photo by Tom Rivers – Concerned Citizens of Orleans County have a float urging the county to keep the nursing home.

ALBION – One float sends the message, “Keep the Orleans County Nursing Home Public.” Another display is strongly in support of Second Amendment rights.

The floats were both in the Murray-Holley June Fest parade last Saturday. Concerned Citizens of Orleans County debuted with its float during Memorial Day in Medina.

“We just want to call attention to the issue,” said Gary Kent, a member of Concerned Citizens of Orleans County.

The group is opposed to the county’s push to sell the 120-bed nursing home, The Villages of Orleans. The County Legislature created a local development corporation and transferred the nursing home to that entity, and charged the group with finding a buyer for the nursing home. Legislators fear projected deficits that could hit $2 million to $4 million at The Villages.

NY Revolution, a grass roots group that formed after the state passed the SAFE ACT in January, has a float in support of the right to bear arms.

Both floats will be allowed in Saturday’s Albion Strawberry Festival, despite concerns from some members of the Albion Rotary Club. I’m a member of the Rotary Club. I joined about 18 months ago. Rotarians have been the chief organizers of the Strawberry Festival the past three years.

The Rotary Club strives to be apolitical. The group doesn’t want politically charged messages at its meetings or events.

The nursing home and Second Amendment floats are designed to influence public policy. They’re clearly political.

A committee of Rotarians and other community members voted to allow the two floats.

To say no to the groups wouldn’t sit well.

“It’s a First Amendment issue, and they didn’t have a problem with it in Medina, Holley or Lyndonville,” Kent told me. “If they’re uncomfortable with it, then so be it.”

Some of the other local parades are organized by municipalities. The Albion parade is technically a Rotary Club event, and that’s why some Rotarians are uneasy about the floats with political messages.

Press release, Congressman Chris Collins

Congressman Chris Collins released this statement about Chase’s announcement it was closing its site in Albion:

“The news that JP Morgan Chase plans to close its facility in Albion later this year is just another indication of how Albany’s reckless spending and runaway property taxes are costing us jobs in Western New York.€¨

“My office has been in contact with JP Morgan Chase and we will be talking in the coming days to urge them to reconsider this decision and protect these hardworking employees.”

PILOT lasted until 2021, adding 10% more in taxes each year

ALBION – Tax incentives for keeping JP Morgan Chase in Albion were far from expiring.

The County of Orleans Economic Development Agency worked with local municipalities to offer a 10-year tax incentive deal to Chase that started in 2011.

That first year Chase didn’t have to pay any taxes to the local governments. With each following year, the company would pay 10 percent more of a $4,046,000 assessment until the PILOT (payment in lieu of taxes) expired in 2021. At that point,  the company would be paying the full 100 percent of its taxes.

The PILOT was approved as an incentive for Chase to stay in Albion at 231 East Ave. Now that the company has announced it will be closing the Albion site, the PILOT agreement may be voided, and Chase could be billed for the full assessed value, said Jim Whipple, chief executive officer of the Orleans EDA.

The EDA board will discuss the issue. Whipple said he favors canceling the PILOT and having the property fully taxed.

That would be a significant tax boost for the village of Albion, town of Albion, Orleans County and Albion Central School. With a combined tax rate of about $45 per $1,000 of assessed property, Chase’s local property tax bill would be about $180,000. The company paid a tenth of that in 2012 and 20 percent in 2013. The PILOT schedule calls for Chase to pay 30 percent in 2014, with 10 percent more added each successive year.

Chase also hasn’t paid towards the large parking lot by the site. The village created that lot in the mid-1990s when Dime Bank expanded at the site. Dime was later acquired by Washington Mutual, which was bought by Chase in 2008. The village has plowed and maintained the parking lot ever since the Dime days.

Photo by Tom Rivers

ALBION -Ryan Klatt of Holley performs on East Bank Street today as part of the 27^th annual Strawberry Festival. The festival continues tomorrow with a packed lineup of live music.

Photos by Tom Rivers – Albion Lions Club members Dan Parker, left, and Kevin Howard cook Italian sausage by the Post Office at lunchtime today. Two other Lions, Lloyd Wright and Don Knapp, work the grill in back. Many food vendors are part of the Strawberry Festival today and Saturday.

Friday, June 7, 2013

11am-9pm Food Court – East Bank Street

11am-9pm Craft Booths

1pm-2pm Albion Middle School Jazz Band – Courthouse Lawn

2pm-4pm Ghost Riders – Courthouse Lawn

3pm-8pm Family Fun Faire

3:30pm-5:30pm Kandi Kiss the Clown- Courthouse Lawn

4pm-6:30pm Chicken BBQ at the First Presbyterian Church & Strawberry Social

4pm-6pm Ryan Klatt Solo Acoustic – Food Court

4:30pm-6:30pm Jazzamatazz – Courthouse Lawn

6:30pm-8:30pm The Triple Play Band – Food Court

7pm-9pm Second Nature Jazz Band – Courthouse Lawn

Carol Vespi, a former Albion resident who now lives in Horseheads, is selling decorative lawn ornaments at the Strawberry Festival. The ornaments are made from tin, cast iron and wrought iron.

Saturday, June 8, 2013

7:30am-10am Pancake Breakfast First Presbyterian Church

8am 23rd Annual 5k/8k Race (Registration 7 – 8 a.m. at the Courthouse Square) Sponsored by Albion Free Methodist Church

9am-3pm Car Show Sponsored by Don Davis of Albion (Registration 9 a.m. – 12 p.m.; Judging 12 – 2 p.m.; Awards 3 p.m.)

10am Parade Albion Purple Eagles, Hitmen Brass Band, Mighty St. Joes, Mark Time Marchers, Rochester Scottish Pipes & Drums, Pembroke Dragons, Kendall Royal Blue, White Sabres Dream Corps, Alexander Fireman’s Band

10am-5pm Craft Booths – Courthouse Square

10am-9pm Food Court – East Bank Street

11am-6pm Family Fun Faire

Noon-2pm Blind Leading the Blind – Courthouse Lawn

Noon-3pm Klutzy Jugglers – Courthouse Lawn

1pm-2:30pm Pratt Pack Community Band & Open Mic – Food Court

2pm-4pm Wegmans Zoomobile – Courthouse Lawn

2pm Turtle Race at the Main Street Canal Bridge

2:30pm-4:30pm Don Newcomb Band – Courthouse Lawn

2pm-3pm Magic and Illusions – Courthouse Lawn

2:30pm-4pm Border Town – Food Court

4pm-5:30pm The Who Dats – Food Court

5pm-7pm Remember the Exodus – Courthouse Lawn

5:30pm-7pm Jonsie and the Cruisers – Food Court

5:15pm-7:15pm Jerry Johnson and Friends – Courthouse Lawn

7pm-10pm   Theatre On Main Variety Entertainment Under the Stars for the Entire Family – Theatre On Main

State Sen. George Maziarz, R-Newfane, and State Assemblyman Steve Hawley, R-Batavia, both issued statements about JP Morgan Chase’s decision to close its mortgage serving facility in Albion. The company will lay off 400 people in the coming 90 days.

Hawley said 150 of the Albion workers will be eligible to seek positions at Chase offices in Rochester.

Maziarz: “The closure of JP Morgan Chase in Albion is a huge disappointment for Orleans County.

“Elected officials and economic development officials have worked extensively with the company, and its predecessors in that location, over the years to maintain good, local jobs. We would have been ready and willing to do so again if the company had reached out to us for helpwhich they chose not to do.

“I was in touch with JP Morgan Chase officials today and I expressed my frustration that this site could not have been repurposed.

“I hope that employees will be able to transition to new career opportunities, but this will certainly be a long and painful process for many. My heart goes out to them, and they should know that my colleagues and I will be more than happy to assist anyone we can who is looking for a fresh start.”

Hawley: “After the lengths the community has gone through to support Chase Bank and keep the jobs at the call center that are critical to so many local residents and families, its closure is nothing short of heartbreaking.

“With the livelihoods of so many Western New Yorkers hanging in the balance, bank management should have taken the time to come to the table with local elected officials and work on a solution. Instead, their unwillingness to partner with their supporters has led us to this point, and my heart goes out to all of the men and women who are now left searching for work in this bleak economy.

“I am committed to working with state and local officials to provide assistance for these residents and to grow businesses that are truly engaged in and committed to this community.”

Bring your appetite to the Strawberry Festival

Photos by Tom Rivers – A candy apple with sprinkles

Strawberry-flavored kettle corn

ALBION – It only happens once a year, so forget the calories.

A smorgasbord of deep-fried, candy-coated food awaits at the food court on East Bank Street.

Local service clubs, pizza shops and other food vendors have been toiling by grills, deep fryers and heat lamps today, and they’ll be back tomorrow.

Don’t resist.

Fried dough with powdered sugar

Pepperoni pizza

Hot dogs