By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 10 May 2013 at 12:00 am
Albion mayor: ‘We’re not going to stop having parades’
Photo by Tom Rivers – The Albion marching band performs during a Memorial Day parade last year along Route 98.
ALBION – More police officers, more flag men, more barricaded side streets. That’s what Albion and other communities may face if the want to continue having parades during Memorial Day and for other community celebrations.
“They put out these requirements and it puts the dollars on us,” Roland Nenni, the Albion police chief, told the Village Board.
The state Department of Transportation wants detailed plans from communities at least a month in advance of a parade on a state road. The DOT says the municipality will either have to post a detour when there is a parade or have police officers, peace officers and certified flag men at strategic locations along the parade route.
In Orleans County, auxiliary police officers technically aren’t peace officers and can not be used to meet the DOT requirements, Nenni said. And the fire police from the Fire Department also aren’t technically peace officers or certified flag men.
Albion wants to limit the number of police officers and Department of Public Works employees for traffic control because of over-time costs. Those employees likely would be busy with other tasks anyway, especially during the Strawberry Festival.
“We’re not going to stop having parades, and we’re not going to spend a small fortune for having parades, I mean come on,” Mayor Dean Theodorakos said.
Nenni believes there is way to use fire police for traffic control during a parade. If they are on the route to provide emergency egress for fire trucks, Nenni thinks they could also direct traffic and appease DOT’s requirements. The village could also sent up pylons at some intersections to block off traffic.
“We’ll work to comply as cheaply as possible,” Nenni said.
Many communities have complained about the new requirements from the DOT, and State Assemblyman Steve Hawley, R-Batavia, said he is in “continuous contact” with the DOT, telling them to back off the onerous requirements.
“Our community has maintained many proud traditions throughout the generations, and holding parades to honor our veterans, fire departments and citizens is an integral part of our identity,” Hawley said. “The DOT’s plan seeks to bring all of that to an end. Meddling in a practice that we have conducted safely and successfully for countless decades is a glaring example of big government run amok.”
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 9 May 2013 at 12:00 am
ALBION – The Village Board intends to resubmit a grant to upgrade Bullard Park. The village sought state funds last year for $430,000 worth of park improvements, including 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.
Mayor Dean Theodorakos on Wednesday said the Bullard upgrades are worth pursuing and would enhance the community. The board is considering paying J O’Connell and Associates of Clarence up to $3,500 to resubmit the grant with some changes. The firm told Theodorakos it has ideas to strengthen the application.
The village could also pay LaBella Associates of Rochester $1,000 to resubmit the grant from a year ago with few changes.
The state hasn’t set a deadline for when the applications are due. Last year the deadline was in early July with the grants announced in December.
Theodorakos said he wants to hear more from J O’Connell and Associates on how the village could improve the grant before committed money to the firm.
Village officials may also seek a grant to replace sanitary 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 said it would do the income surveys for $500 with Albion also paying the costs for mail.
The board may decide how it wants to proceed with the grants at its May 22 meeting.
Village officials are moving ahead with another project. The board approved paying Chatfield Engineers of Rochester $3,630 for work designing a parking lot on Main Street.
The board wants to expand an existing lot with about 20 spaces to a bigger lot with 40 spots. The lot is located between the Presbyterian Church and the former Sneezy’s Bowling Alley.
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 9 May 2013 at 12:00 am
Ted Pietrzak says Orleans needs to tell its sandstone story
Photos by Tom Rivers – Ted Pietrzak, a consultant working on a plan to develop the Bent’s Opera House, believes the site in Medina should tell the story of the region’s sandstone treasures, including the Canal Culvert in Ridgeway, where he is pictured on Wednesday.
MEDINA Ted Pietrzak wants to tie it all together, Orleans County’s Erie Canal heritage, the community’s sandstone legacy, and stories of the thousands of immigrants who were drawn to Orleans because of the canal and the quarries.
Pietrzak has been hired by the Orleans Renaissance Group to develop a plan to best utilize the three-story Bent’s Opera House building on Main Street in Medina. He sees at least the first floor of the mostly vacant building as a welcome center that would showcase the county’s sandstone history.
He is pleased the Medina Sandstone Society is going to establish a Sandstone Hall of Fame. A site for the HOF hasn’t been determined, but Pietrzak sees the opera house – a Medina sandstone building – as an excellent home for the Hall of Fame.
“The sandstone is the connecting thread to these communities beyond the Erie Canal,” Pietrzak said Wednesday, after we spent 2 ½ hours driving around the county. “You have all of these monuments to the sandstone industry.”
The former opera house also is eyed for a restaurant on the second floor and a performing arts venue on the top floor. Pietrzak sees it as a cultural hub that could showcase the history of the community, including its dominant industries of sandstone and agriculture. He thinks locally grown produce and farm products should be sold at the building.
Pietrzak has been interviewing community leaders the past two months, soliciting ideas for a reuse plan for the opera house and a greater vision for Medina. I knew he was working on a plan for Medina, and I suggested to Medina and Orleans County officials that the plan be strongly sandstone-based, and include a sandstone trail that would stretch from Medina to Albion, Hulberton and Holley. We once had more than 100 quarries along the canal in these communities.
This photo from about a century ago shows quarry workers in Hulberton.
Medina sandstone is a well-known brand, and is prominently featured in some of the finest buildings in Buffalo, Rochester, Albany and other villages and cities in the state. We should be using this famous stone to help build the community today.
Pietrzak, the former director of the Burchfield Penney Art Center in Buffalo, was willing to listen to me, and here is a snapshot of what I told him, how I think we show claim our sandstone heritage and use it to promote community pride and attract tourists:
The first sandstone quarry opened in Medina in1837, just north of the lift bridge near Route 63. I think this site should be clearly marked, cleaned out, and turned into a park with a sandstone walking trail. A massive historic sandstone building is nearby, a relic of Medina’s industrial heyday in the late 1800s.
Medina and Orleans County should petition the state and federal government to turn this quarry and old building into a National Historic Landmark, a park-like setting that could explored and experienced. This could be the start of a sandstone trail that would run countywide along Route 31.
The Sandstone Trail would have roadside markers along 31, stretching from Medina to Holley. We should use directional arrows to point to sandstone attractions that are down some side roads, such as the Canal Culvert in Ridgeway and the tower in Mount Albion Cemetery.
The trail would link the canal communities, which don’t often work together. I’d suggest using the top of the Mount Albion tower as the iconic logo for the roadside signs. The tower is a county Civil War memorial, built in 1876 of Medina sandstone.
Both the tower and the Canal Culvert could be experienced, rather than merely observed. You can drive or walk through the Culvert, an engineering marvel that goes under the Erie Canal. The tower at Mount Albion has an 84-step spiral staircase that allows people to ascend to the top, 68 feet high.
The tower at Mount Albion Cemetery is a top-notch sandstone structure that could be a bigger attraction with better marketing.
We have cavernous churches that tell community and religious stories, reflecting the wealth and fervor of the community between about 1850 and 1900. We need interpretive panels – those mounted explanatory signs you see at state parks – that share the history of the buildings, explain the architectural features, and highlight some of the wonders inside, including 150-year-old pipe organs and Tiffany stained-glass windows.
We should develop walking tours, so local residents and visitors can learn about a great American story that took place here from about 1850 to 1920. That is when most of our landmark buildings – the courthouse, the churches and downtown commercial buildings – were constructed.
I think the Sandstone Hall of Fame should highlight some of the great buildings and structures made from Medina sandstone. I would like to see another site that told the immigrant story of the thousands of quarrymen who came to our community.
Albion and Holley had more quarries and more people working in them than Medina. I would like to see the old Swan Library turn one of its three floors into center that tells that immigrant story, how people came from Ireland, Poland, Italy and Great Britain to work here. Their descendants could provide photos of their grandfathers and great-grandfathers, first-generation Americans who worked here. Those pictures would make for an emotional gallery.
I have been pushing the Albion Village Board for about six months to allow a vacant piece of land on Main Street to be used as a quarrymen memorial site, featuring an 8-foot-high bronze statue of a quarrymen. The site should also have interpretive panels, giving a brief overview of the immigrants who worked in the county, while another display highlighted the sandstone trail and some of the impressive buildings made of the local stone.
Bill Koch of Buffalo submitted this design of a bronze statue of a quarryman for a memorial in Albion.
The Village Board has instead chosen to make that space part of a larger parking lot on Main Street, which I think is a horrible mistake. We would stand a good chance of getting a state grant to help pay for a well-done quarrymen’s memorial site on Main Street. It would provide a focal point, explaining why Albion and the canal villages are blessed with so many awesome structures.
When the village showed its reluctance for the quarrymen memorial, County Legislature Chairman David Callard suggested a piece of the courthouse lawn could be the home for the statue. But historic preservationists and other community members think the statue wouldn’t be prominent on the corner of the lawn, and it would compete with the courthouse. Most people I talk with agree the downtown site on Main Street, with the Presbyterian Church as a sandstone backdrop, would be perfect.
The village hasn’t paved the site yet, so there is still time to pursue the memorial site. We have a rendering of the statue, and could still meet the deadline to apply for a state grant. If you support the quarrymen project, please tell the Village Board.
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 9 May 2013 at 12:00 am
Medina resident was first woman to serve as mayor, legislator
Courtesy of State Sen. George Maziarz’s office – State Sen. George Maziarz stands with Marcia Tuohey in Albany on Tuesday when she was recognized as a “Woman of Distinction.”
MEDINA – Marcia Tuohey, the first woman to serve as Medina’s mayor and then chairwoman of the Orleans County Legislature, was recognized in Albany as a “Woman of Distinction.”
Tuohey was nominated for the award by state Sen. George Maziarz, who picked her from his district that also includes a portion of Monroe County and nearly all of Niagara.
“Marcia has been a mainstay in business and government in Orleans County for many years,” Maziarz said.“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 often appears at public events in stylish hats. She currently represents Orleans County on the board of directors for Western Regional Off-Track Betting Corp. She also is a member of Medina’s Planning Board.
Before she ran for the Village Board, 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.
Tuohey was first elected as a trustee in Medina in 1979, and in 1982 she became the village’s first woman mayor.In 1990, she became Orleans County’s first female county legislator, and then was picked by her peers on the seven-member body to serve as chairman of the Legislature from 1996 until 2006.
Maziarz said Tuohey’s “forceful advocacy and close supervision” pushed several projects along in the county, including renovations to the historic Courthouse and County Clerks buildings, an addition to the County Nursing Home, and the creation of a new Public Safety Center and Fire Training Facility.
During her time in office, Tuohey also helped lay the groundwork for the expansion of Genesee Community College in Orleans County and the construction of an ethanol plant in the Town of Shelby, Maziarz said.
Tuohey was honored at a reception in Albany on Tuesday, where her photograph and biography were on display during a special public exhibit at the Legislative Office Building.
The Senate’s “Woman of Distinction” program was created in 1998 to honor women who exemplify personal excellence, or whose professional achievements or acts of courage, selflessness, integrity or perseverance serve as an example to all New Yorkers.
ALBION – An Albion woman was charged with welfare fraud and grand larceny on Wednesday following a two-month investigation by the Orleans County Major Felony Crime Task Force, Department of Social Services Welfare Fraud Unit and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
Mary A. Cruz, 32, of 14870 East Lee Rd. allegedly received $46,934 in benefits she wasn’t entitled to for a day care from April 2010 to March 31, 2013, the task force reported.
She was arraigned in Albion Town Court by Judge Kevin Howard and committed to the county jail with bail set at $10,000 cash or $10,000 bond. She is scheduled to appear in Town Court at 9 a.m. on June 19.
The investigation also revealed that an alleged undocumented resident was living in the house. Rochel Carrillo-Ramos, 24, was charged with criminal possession of a forged instrument in the second degree. He was arraigned by Judge Howard and committed to jail with bail set at $5,000. He is also being held on a federal detainer for allegedly re-entering the country illegally after being deported.
As a result of the search warrant execution, the task force reported another man was hiding in a closet who was determined to be in the country without legal documents. Marvin Ramirez-Tomas, 22, was transported to the federal detention center in Batavia, where he is held on a federal retainer.
Police seized more than $1,600 in cash and numerous fraudulent documents during the raid, the task force reported. The investigation is ongoing and more charges and arrests are pending, the task force reported.
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 9 May 2013 at 12:00 am
GAINES – Orleans County Historian Bill Lattin holds a brass button that declares, “Long Live The President – GW.”
It was issued in 1789 to commemorate the inauguration of George Washington as the country’s first president. The button has been in Lattin’s family for about 150 years.
His grandmother Sarah Harling was given the button when a Civil War soldier believed to Robert Capstick showed up destitute and hungry at the Harling home on East Countyhouse Road. Harling fed Capstick and helped him regain his health. He was penniless, but gave her the brass button that he carried during the war for good luck.
The button has been passed down through the generations in Lattin’s family. He showed the button to the Albion Rotary Club during its lunch meeting today at The Village Inn. Capstick is buried in Mount Albion Cemetery.
Lattin also shared a canteen that may be at least two centuries old. It originally belonged to his great-great-great-great grandfather John Anderson, who died in 1827 and is buried in the county’s first cemetery behind the Gaines Congregational Church.
Lattin also showed off and discussed some “oddities” from the Cobblestone Society Museum, including a mouse trap developed by David and Claudius Jones of Kendall in the 1870s. The mouse trap was so popular the brothers opened a manufacturing site in Erie, Pa.
The historian also showed an apple slicer and corer from the 1860s and antique tools used by veterinarians. The museum will be open this Sunday for Mother’s Day from 1 to 5 p.m.
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 9 May 2013 at 12:00 am
Photos by Tom Rivers
Low-lying fog this morning gives Albion a mysterious feeling, especially along the Erie Canal, where this tugboat is pictured near the Ingersoll Street lift bridge. The spire at the First Baptist Church and the top of St. Joseph’s Catholic Church on West Park Street are under a shroud of fog, but they remain visible landmarks.
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 8 May 2013 at 12:00 am
Albion girl is serving in role for Masonic Lodge in WNY
Photo by Tom Rivers – Samantha Hollenbeck, 13, of Albion is serving as beloved queen in Western New York for the Masonic Lodge. She is the youngest queen ever for Masonic Lodge in WNY.
ALBION – Samantha Hollenbeck, 13, of Albion will spend at least the next year as “beloved queen” of the Triangle program, the youth component of the Masonic Lodge. She is the youngest queen ever for a district that includes about 50 lodges in Western New York.
She could continue in the role after this year if a successor isn’t chosen. Local residents can expect to see her in parades and community events, touting the Masonic Lodge, and its youth programs for boys and girls. She also has made raising money for breast cancer awareness and research, her chosen charity for the year.
“I know people affected by it,” she said Tuesday at her home on Ingersoll Street.
The seventh-grader will be selling popcorn and flowers, washing cars and participating in “Relay for Life” events to raise money for breast cancer research.
She will travel the state in her role as beloved queen, attending Masonic lodges and their events.
Courtesy of Hollenbeck family – Samantha Hollenbeck was installed as beloved queen last month for the Triangle, the youth organization for girls in the Masonic Lodge. She is pictured with her parents, Brian and Dawn Hollenbeck.
Samantha, a cheerleader and member of the National Junior Honor Society, also will lead meetings of the Triangle group sponsored by the Lockport lodge. (Albion doesn’t have a Triangle program.) The group meets every other Saturday at the Akron lodge.
“She is well-grounded and mature for her age,” said her father Brian Hollenbeck, a Mason in Albion the past 12 years. He and his wife Dawn are supervisors for the Triangle.
Samantha joined the Triangle three years ago and established friendships with the other girls, while memorizing the different rituals that are part of the meetings.
She wants to see the group work hard for the community, and also have fun. This summer she is planning social events with the Triangle girls and the DeMolays, the boys youth program. They will play laser tag, go to the aquarium in Niagara Falls and the zoo.
Samantha said the youth groups typically take the summer off, but she wants them to stay connected in July and August.
The Hollenbecks are active members of the Masons. Mr. Hollenbeck first joined in Albion. His wife recently became a member of the Order of the Eastern Star, a Masonic organization for women. The couple has 14 children.
Their son Matthew, 25, is a Mason in Albion. He is currently stationed in Seattle with the U.S. Army. Nicholas, 23, is a past leader of the DeMolays youth group, which is based in Albion. Andrew, 16, is currently in the DeMolays Charity Lodge.
Two of Samantha’s younger brothers – Thomas and Conner – will join the program next year.
“We’ve never forced any of our kids to do it,” Mr. Hollenbeck said. “They see the good we do and the fun we have and the friends we make. We’re trying to make a difference in the community and in ourselves.”
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 8 May 2013 at 12:00 am
Photo by Tom Rivers – East Bank Street in Albion will be closed off on Sundays this summer for a farmers’ market from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m.
ALBION – The village will close off East Bank Street between Main and Platt on Sundays for a new farmers’ market that will run the third week of June until October.
“The idea is to bring people downtown and to promote the community,” said Ron Vendetti, the village code enforcement officer who will serve as the volunteer market manager.
The market would be open from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. Vendetti said a church and Phoenix Fitness are the only sites open on the street during that time.
He doesn’t see the new farmers’ market as a competitor with the one on Route 31 at the Save-A-Lot parking lot on Saturdays. He would like to model the downtown market after the one in Brockport.
However, he doesn’t want to charge the $250 vendor’s fee that Brockport bills farmers. Vendetti would like to have a much-lower fee to encourage participation from vendors.
He will send out letters soon to farmers to encourage them to sell produce from the downtown location that will be barricaded off for five hours on Sundays. The entire block may not be closed off, depending on how many vendors join the market.
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 8 May 2013 at 12:00 am
Photos by Tom Rivers – Knights of Columbus members in Albion are pictured with Scouts and their leaders on Tuesday when the K of C presented $1,800 to the Scouting organization. Pictured, front row, from left: Rebecca Flanagan, president of Venturing Crew 164; Nicole DeCarlo, advisor of Venturing Crew; Aaliah Knickerbocker, a Webelo; Steve Karas, K of C grand knight; and Bob Ballard, deputy grand knight. In back: Carl Laubacher, past grand knight for the K of C; Justin Kirby, assistant Scoutmaster; Freeman Lattin, senior patrol leader for Troop 164; Rob Seymour, Cubmaster; and Matt Ballard, K of C member.
The Knights of Columbus in Albion shared its fund-raising success with three Scout groups and also the religious education program at Holy Family Parish. The Knights had an annual Palm Sunday chicken barbecue and raised $1,800 for Pack 164, Troop 164 and Venturing Crew 164. They each were given $600 from the K of C.
The Knights used other fundraisers to buy a 40-inch LED television with a Blu-Ray player for the religious education program at Holy Family Parish. The TV will be used during faith formation classes and youth group social events.
The Knights of Columbus purchased this TV with Blu-Ray player for the religious education program at Holy Family Parish. Pictured, from left: Carl Laubacher, past grand knight; Steve Karas, grand knight; Nancy Sedita, religious education director; Matt Ballard, K of C member; and Bob Ballard, deputy grand knight.
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 8 May 2013 at 12:00 am
Photo by Tom Rivers – Circulation has surged at Hoag Library in Albion since the new site opened in July.
ALBION – A new building with more space for books, meeting rooms and parking spaces resulted in a record-high for circulation for Albion’s public library.
Albion’s library actually closed for five weeks last year, during June and the first week of July, while the library collection and staff moved from the historic Swan Library site in the downtown to a new building on South Main Street. The combination of circulation at Swan and the new Hoag Library totaled 93,089 in 2012, up 20.9 percent from the 77,019 in 2011.
“Isn’t that an amazing jump?” said Susan Rudnicky, Hoag Library director. She provided the data during the annual meeting of the Swan Library Association on Monday.
This year the circulation is growing at a faster rate. It totaled 39,504 for the first four months of 2013, compared to 22,993 in the same period last year, a 71.8 percent jump. Rudnicky expects the library to break the 100,000-barrier in circulation for the first time this year.
“Clearly, we are exceeding our projections,” said Kevin Doherty, the library board president.
The new library increases the space from about 6,000 square feet at the Swan site to 14,600 at Hoag. The new building has eight wired computer terminals plus five laptops. Three meeting rooms are frequently in use.
The library also faces a rising budget as debt payments are due for the project. The library association took out a five-year $600,000 construction loan and borrowed $1.6 million to be paid back over 20 years for the project. The debt service payments will increase from $64,961 in 2012 to $141,000 this year. That is the main reason the library budget will increase from $658,908 to $678,978 in 2013.
The library has cut the staff from 13 to 12 employees, which resulted in a reduction in salaries and benefits from $366,873 to $330,608. The board also trimmed the budget for library materials from $85,396 to $72,000.
The association will see some debt service relief in the coming years once the five-year loan is paid off and the interest shrinks with the other loan as the principal owed is reduced.
“This is the worst we will have it,” Rudnicky said about the debt payments. “It will get better.”
Doherty noted the naming rights for the children’s library are still available for $75,000. That would provide immediate debt reduction for the library.
Albion Central School residents will vote May 21 for a proposition for the school district to collect $654,000 for the library. That covers the majority of the library budget. The $654,000 is up from $641,210 voters approved for the library last year. Voting will be from noon to 8 p.m. in the elementary school conference room A.
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 8 May 2013 at 12:00 am
Picketers urge more public support to keep nursing home
Photos by Tom Rivers – Tim Good, a cleaner at The Villages of Orleans, was one of about 50 picketers who lined Main Street in front of the County Clerks Building today during the Orleans County Legislature meeting.
ALBION – In a rally wasn’t as big as advertised, about 50 people stood along Main Street, with most holding signs in support of keeping The Villages of Orleans as a county-owned nursing home.
“Don’t Sell Our Soul,” proclaimed a sign held high by Grace Denniston, the retired Office for the Aging director. She praised the nursing home employees for being so public in challenging the County Legislature’s decision to transfer the facility to a local development corporation, the Orleans County Health Facilities Corporation.
“I’ve been in privately owned nursing homes and they’re not nearly as nice as ours,” Denniston said. “I may need this someday for me. You never know.”
The Legislature made the decision in February to transfer the site to an LDC. The three-member LDC will meet at 1:30 p.m. May 15 at the Orleans County Health Department’s Conference Room, 14012 Route 31 in Albion. The LDC will hear a proposal by Harris Beach for legal services and the Bonadio Group for accounting services, as well as consider potential consultants to help with the selection process for a new operator of the 120-bed facility.
Grace Denniston brought along her granddaughter Payton Denniston to show their support for a county-owned nursing home.
Supporters of keeping the nursing home publicly owned filed a lawsuit against the county, trying to bring the sale of the facility to a public referendum. James Punch, acting State Supreme Court judge, said he will make a decision in the matter in about a month.
The nursing home supporters say they will keep going public with their opposition to the LDC and the Legislature’s push to sell The Villages.
Tim Good of Albion has worked as a cleaner at the nursing home for 17 years.
“The residents honestly are like family,” he said today while holding a sign protesting the possible sale. “We have to protect them. They’re my family. That’s why I’m here.”
Gary Kent, a former county legislator, wants more community members to attend the peaceful pickets the second and fourth Wednesdays from 2 to 5 p.m. That’s when the Legislature often meets at the County Clerks Building.
“We’ll just keep calling attention to it,” he said. “I know it’s ambitious but we want to surround the entire courthouse block.”
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 8 May 2013 at 12:00 am
Jim Hancock and Jean Shervin named ‘outstanding seniors’
Courtesy of State Sen. George Maziarz – State Sen. George Maziarz welcomed two Orleans County senior citizens to Albany on Tuesday when they and other “outstanding seniors” from throughout the state were honored in the state capitol during “Senior Recognition Day.” Jim Hancock, left, and Jean Shervin, second from right, were picked as representatives from Orleans for the award. They traveled to the capital with Orleans County Office for the Aging Director Melissa Blanar, right.
They have been tireless volunteers for many causes in Orleans County. Both Jim Hancock of Medina and Jean Shervin can be counted on to pitch in for many community projects.
They have been declared “Seniors of the Year” in Orleans County, and were recognized Tuesday in the state capitol as “outstanding seniors.”
Shervin volunteers at local blood drives for the Red Cross, serves with Hospice of Orleans County, and is active in many local organizations, including The Salvation Army, Community Action, Catholic Daughters, St. Vincent de Paul, the Albion Alumni Foundation, Office for the Aging, Holy Family Church and other community work.
Hancock is retired as director of the Job Development Agency in Orleans County. He volunteers with the Medina Sandstone Society, the Medina Tourism Committee and Canal Task Force, United Way of Orleans County, Medina Lions Club, Medina’s Parade of Lights, as well as other projects.
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 8 May 2013 at 12:00 am
Photo by Tom Rivers
This double-rainbow appeared at about 8 p.m. today. I was at the Albion Village Board meeting and left the meeting to try to get a picture. I missed the double-rainbow at its peak. One rainbow shows up better than the other in this picture looking at the top of the United Methodist Church on Platt Street.
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 7 May 2013 at 12:00 am
Photo by Tom Rivers
The East Shelby Community Bible Church stands tall on a beautiful spring day this evening on 5278 East Shelby Rd. The congregation has worked to renovate and expand the church since 1989. The church was built in 1854 and includes stained-glass windows from 1919.
