By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 29 April 2013 at 12:00 am
Photos by Tom Rivers – Jaylene Dersham, 8, of Batavia waits for her uncle James Soggs of Batavia to put a worm on her hook on Sunday while they were fishing from the pier at Oak Orchard Harbor.
POINT BREEZE – Point Breeze has narrowed the gap, but still trails in a contest to be declared the “Ultimate Fishing Town.”
Cape Hatteras, NC, and Grand Lake, CO, are both ahead of Point Breeze in an on-line contest by the World Fishing Network. On Friday at noon, Point Breeze was down about 3,200 votes to Cape Hatteras. As of 9 a.m. this morning, the Orleans County fishing community was within about 2,000 votes of first place. Grand Lake holds about a 600-vote lead on Point Breeze.
The contest ends on Friday. The winner receives $25,000 to be spent on fishing-related improvements to their port, plus the community will be featured by the World Fishing Network.
A Brockport man is hospitalized following a farm accident in the Town of Ridgeway on April 26, 2013. The incident occurred in the 3100 block of Bates Road. Emos Jeanat was working on farm property he owns at that location. He was working on a 10-wheel hydraulic dump truck he recently purchased, when he was inadvertently pinned between the cab and the dump box.
Jeanat was extricated by Ridgeway firefighters and flown to Strong Memorial Hospital in Rochester by MercyFlight helicopter. Medina FD ambulance personnel also assisted at the scene.
The incident was investigated by Deputies T.N. Tooley and J.J. Cole.
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 28 April 2013 at 7:30 pm
Photos by Tom Rivers – Holley firefighters use their ladder truck this afternoon to douse a barn fire at 1857 Transit Rd., Kendall. Ron Meiers is running the ladder controls.
Carlton firefighter Matt Olles takes a video of the Monroe County Bomb Squad detonating dynamite in a field by a wooded area on Transit Road.
KENDALL – The Monroe County Bomb Squad detonated old sticks of dynamite this afternoon after fire destroyed two wooden barns on Transit Road in Kendall.
Property David Onderdonk told firefighters about the dynamite stored in a cinder block building next to the barns. The explosives, which fire officials said were about 25 years old, were detonated in a field by a wooden area across from Onderdonk’s property at 1857 Transit Rd.
Paul Wagner has served as the Orleans County emergency management coordinator for 13 years. He said this was the third time as EMO that dynamite was discovered stashed near a fire scene.
Wagner and fire officials suspect an electrical problem started the blaze. An investigation is continuing.
A fire this afternoon on Transit Road in Kendall destroyed two barns owned by Dave Onderdonk. Nine fire departments responded to the fire.
The fire was reported about 12:45 p.m. and filled the neighborhood with dark smoke. The dynamite was detonated at about 6:30 p.m.
The two barns were total losses. Onderdonk said they dated back to the 1800s. He lost printing and construction equipment in the fire.
The road doesn’t have a public line and departments use tanker trucks to haul water to the scene. Firefighters also used a neighboring pond for water.
The following departments responded to the scene: Kendall, Clarendon, Fancher-Hulberton-Murray, Holley, Morton, Hamlin, Carlton, Lyndonville and Barre.
Firefighters work to extinguish the smoky remains of two barns that were destroyed this afternoon in Kendall.
Arlande Fenelon, a native of Haiti studying hydroponic tomatoes in Albion, joins a multi-congregation church music festival this afternoon at the First Baptist Church. About 30 people sang together in the service directed by Katie Robinson, owner of Katherine’s School of Music in Albion and the organist at First Baptist Church.
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 28 April 2013 at 12:00 am
ALBION Michelle Toenniessen said she needed closure. On Friday, she worked her last shift as a nurse at Lakeside Memorial Hospital in Brockport, which is closing after six decades and laying off 200 employees.
She and Dawn Amico, another nurse at Lakeside, put a notice on Facebook they would be at the Crooked Door Tavern in Albion on Friday evening to reflect on Lakeside’s closing. Toenniessen thought maybe a dozen of her co-workers would show up.
About 100 Lakeside employees came with heavy hearts, including CEO Jim Cummings.
“It was very cathartic – We all needed it,” Toenniessen said. “It’s been very sad for the employees and community. Everybody tried so hard to keep it open.”
Toenniessen of Albion worked at Lakeside for 24 years. She loved her job.
“There’s a different atmosphere in a small community hospital,” she said. “I knew all of my co-workers by name and I knew most of my patients and their families. We had the opportunity to get very involved with our patients and to know them.”
Toenniessen and her co-workers were hopeful the hospital would stay open in a reduced form. Lakeside officials had sought permission from the state Department of Health to keep open the emergency room and five in-patient beds, which would have been a drop from 61 beds.
The organization also sought a $5 million life-line from the state, but the money was denied. On Monday, Lakeside officials announced the hospital would close on Friday.
“It was a big shock,” Toenniessen said.
Lakeside is the second small-town hospital she has worked at and watched close. She spent her first three years as a nurse at Arnold Gregory Memorial Hospital in Albion.
Toenniessen has accepted a job at Beikirch Care Center nursing home, which is owned by Lakeside. The organization will decide soon whether it seek a buyer for that facility and an urgent care center in Spencerport. Toenniessen will work as a nurse on the rehab floor at Beikirch.
“It’s a big change, but I have a job and I’m thankful for that,” she said.
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 27 April 2013 at 11:50 am
Events, including battles and a ball, continue until Sunday
Photos by Tom Rivers – Re-enactors marched down Main Street in Medina this morning, part of a three-day Civil War encampment in the community.
MEDINA – Downtown Medina was the scene of a moving parade and ceremony this morning when about 100 Civil War re-enactors marched down Main Street.
The event included the re-enactment of a ceremony at the beginning of the war 152 years ago. Back then Medina soldiers in Company D of the 28th New York Volunteer Infantry Regiment stopped on Main Street and the women of Medina gave Company D Captain Erwin Bowen a sword for protection.
The sword has stayed in Bowen’s family, and his great-great granddaughter, Mary Zimmerman Robinson of Medina, handed off the sword to re-enactor Simon Taylor, who was portraying Capt. Bowen. That took place on a stage in front of the Bent’s Opera House, which opened in 1865.
“You can read about the Civil War, but the re-enactors bring the whole thing to life,” said Dan Dedo of Batavia, who watched the parade with his wife Bonnie. They plan to see the battle at 2 p.m. next to the GCC campus on Route 31A.
The Medina re-enactment on Main Street was a reminder of the sacrifice of so many families, Mrs. Dedo said.
Medina is hosting its first Civil War encampment this weekend. The event was initially planned to stay at the GCC campus, but the Medina community welcomed the parade down Main Street, where several Civil War era buildings remain.
Adam Tabelski, the former village mayor, is honorary chairman of the event. He recently returned from an overseas deployment with the Army. He served as master of ceremonies during the parade, and dressed in a top hat and a suit on loan from the Medina Historical Society.
“We have a wonderful historic Main Street,” Tabelski said after the parade. “Let’s show off the re-enactors and remind people of our community’s past.”
Visit http://civilwaratgcc.files.wordpress.com/2013/04/cw-medina-encampment-program-2013-final.pdf for a schedule of Civil War events in Medina.
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 27 April 2013 at 12:00 am
Photo by Tom Rivers
John Bennett, executive director of the Genesee-Orleans Council on Alcoholism and Substance Abuse, shows off the agency’s new community meeting room during a meeting with the Orleans United Drug Free Communities Coalition earlier this week. GCASA spent about $850,000 to revamp the former Knights of Columbus hall at 249 East Ave., Albion. The agency added a 200-square-foot addition to the 8,800-square-foot building, and also put in a new parking lot.The community meeting room is in the former basement. Bennett said Behavioral Healthcare Magazine will feature the adaptive reuse project in an upcoming issue. He welcomed other organizations to use the room. “We want it to be a regional resource,” he said. There are 18 GCASA workers at the Albion site, offering preventive services and serving about 600 people in treatment each year.
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 27 April 2013 at 12:00 am
Photos by Tom Rivers – A cannon goes off with a loud boom and explosion of smoke during a mock Civil War battle today next the GCC campus center in Medina. About 100 re-enactors are in Medina for an encampment. They will battle again on Sunday at 2 p.m.
Raymond Ball, a Civil War re-enactor from West Seneca, looks through a telescope to check Confederate and Union solider positions during a battle next to Genesee Community College in Medina this afternoon.
MEDINA – Robert Yott and about 100 other Civil War re-enactors dressed in cotton and wool uniforms on a warm Saturday. They marched down Main Street, cooked lunch over open fires and then went to war for an hour, chasing down the enemy.
“It’s a way to educate the public and give them a sense of what the men went through,” said Yott, a Bath resident who leads Wheeler’s Battery, a group of about a dozen re-enactors in the 1st New York Light Artillery Battery E.
Yott gave the soldiers instructions during a mock battle this afternoon. He told them where to aim the cannon and when to fire. Most of the re-enactors are descendants of Civil War soldiers from 150 years ago, Yott said.
“This is a way to honor them,” he said.
He continues to learn more about the war and the sacrifice of the soldiers and families. Most of the units were made up of soldiers from the same community. Brothers, family members and neighbors served alongside each other.
“They enlisted just like everyone in the village,” Yott said. “Many of them had never been off the farm.”
They would witness horrible deaths in the war. Post Traumatic Stress Disorder wasn’t yet recognized, but Yott knows the soldiers suffered mental anguish from the gruesomeness of the war, and the loss of so many friends and family.
Several hundred people watched the battle today between Union and Confederate re-enactors.
About 500 people lined the field where Union and Confederate soldiers went to war this afternoon. Tim Tydings, 29, of Rochester was tasked with “sponging the cannon” before it was fired. Tydings admitted his adrenaline starts to kick in when he smells the sulfur from the cannons and sees the black smoke.
When Yott’s group fired their cannon, a ring of smoke wafted up in the sky, drawing cheers from the crowd.
David Kreutz was among the onlookers. He was dressed as Abraham Lincoln. The retired General Motors worker from Depew has been portraying Lincoln for 16 years and is a member of the Association of Lincoln Presenters.
“Basically we’re trying to bring history alive for students,” he said. “It’s a lot of energy, but it’s worth it because you bring history alive.”
David Kreutz, an Abraham Lincoln presenter from Depew, shows over-sized pennies to people at the Civil War encampment in Medina.
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 26 April 2013 at 12:00 am
Photos by Tom Rivers
Medina will be hosting about 150 Civil War re-enactors from today until Sunday, with many seminars, workshops, two battles, a ball and a parade on the schedule. This banner hangs on the Bent’s Opera House front façade on Main Street. The building will be open for tours from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Saturday, following the parade on Main Street that begins at 10 a.m.
David and Gail Miller set gerbera daisies at the base of the Medina clock on Main Street this morning, trying to show off the clock in preparation of the Civil War encampment the next three days. Re-enactors will open their camp at Genesee Community College on Route 31A today from 4 to 8 p.m.
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 26 April 2013 at 12:00 am
KENDALL – A list of the top high schools in the country includes Kendall Junior-Senior High School.
US News and World Report on Thursday published a ranking of the 21,000 high schools in the country, and Kendall placed 1,537th, which puts the school in the top 7 percent of the country.
Kendall also ranked 134th out of 1,149 schools in New York. Kendall earned a “Silver Medal” status from the magazine, the only school in Orleans County to attain that standard.
The rankings are based on student performance on ELA and math state assessments, including scores of general education students and students with disabilities. The publication also factors in preparation for students on college-based Advanced Placement tests.
“This honor respects the hard work and commitment by the entire staff and community of Kendall,” said Julie Christensen, Kendall Central School superintendent.
Kendall attained a 23.6 with the College Readiness Index, a 3.4 for math proficiency, and 3.5 for English proficiency.
Other local school results include:
Albion – 17.6 CRI, 3.3 math proficiency, and 3.2 English proficiency.
Holley – N/A CRI, 3.0 math proficiency, and 3.1 English proficiency.
Lyndonville – N/A CRI, 3.2 math proficiency, and 3.3 English proficiency.
Medina – 16.4 CRI, 3.2 math proficiency, and 3.2 English proficiency.
New York schools rated high in the report, with the second most gold-medal schools, behind California. In the Rochester region, Pittsford Sutherland HS in Pittsford was the top-ranked school, number 10 overall in the state.
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 26 April 2013 at 12:00 am
Photo by Tom Rivers – The lighthouse at Point Breeze is a landmark along Lake Ontario and the Oak Orchard River.
Point Breeze is in the running for the “Ultimate Fishing Town,” a contest by the World Fishing Network that ends May 3.
The Orleans County fishing community is currently ranked third with on-line voting, behind Cape Hatteras, NC, and Grand Lake, CO. Point Breeze is ahead of Cocodrie, LA; Waddington, NY; Okeechobee, FL; and Byrdstown, TN.
As of 12:15 p.m. today, Cape Hatteras led with 8,211 votes, followed by 7,542 for Grand Lake and 5,067 for Point Breeze.
The winner receives $25,000 to be spent on fishing-related improvements to their port, plus the community will be featured by the World Fishing Network.
Point Breeze touts its year-round fishery with salmon, brown trout, steelhead and cohoes.
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 26 April 2013 at 12:00 am
Photos by Tom Rivers – About 400 students from Oak Orchard Elementary School helped plant trees along West Avenue this morning in Medina.
MEDINA – The village celebrated Arbor Day this morning by planting trees, and welcoming elementary school students who sang songs about recycling.
The Medina Tree Board also honored Peggy Crowley, who recently retired as village clerk, with the “Friend of the Urban Forest” award.
“She made sure we got the funds we needed,” said Chris Busch, the Tree Board chairman.
Students sing a song, “Reuse Reduce Waste Recycle.”
He addressed 400 Oak Orchard Elementary students in front of 1018 West Ave., and told them trees are important for clean air, fighting erosion, improving water quality and making neighborhoods look better. Mayor Andrew Meier also read a proclamation, declaring “Arbor Day” in the village.
Medina is planting 60 trees this spring, with most of those on West Avenue and Park Avenue. Next week, the village Department of Public Works will remove some trees on Main Street and replace them with different varieties that Busch said will look and grow better. Some of the Main Street trees will be relocated to Butts Park.
The National Arbor Day Foundation has given Medina a “Tree City Growth Award” and has designated the community a “Tree City USA” for its commitment to planting trees every year.
Nicole Goyette, a Medina teacher and member of the Medina Tree Board, addresses 400 students in front of 1018 West Ave., where several trees were planted in the right-of-way.
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 26 April 2013 at 12:00 am
Photo by Tom Rivers – The former Agri-Business Child Development is a vacant 5,000-square-foot structure on West State Street. Village officials are debating a plan to turn the site into 10 “efficiency units” that would each have their own bedroom, bathroom and kitchen.
ALBION – It has sat vacant for at least three years and village officials question if a 5,000-square-foot former child care center would ever be used as a residential site for families, the building’s current zoning.
Agri-Business Child Development vacated the premises several years ago for a new building, “Grace’s Place,” in Holley at the Holley Business Park.
Albion resident Linda Smith has presented a plan for the Albion building at 448 West State St., next to the Elks Lodge. Smith would like to carve the building into 10 “efficiency units” that would each have their own bedroom, bathroom and kitchen.
That would not be permitted under the site’s current residential zoning, which allows for single or multi-family housing.
“Ultimately, you’d like to see R-1, but what do you do with the property?” Mayor Dean Theodorakos asked Village Board members on Wednesday.
The village could create an overlay district allowing for an adaptive reuse of the site, said Code Enforcement Officer Ron Vendetti. Smith would then have to apply for a special use permit for her project, and neighbors could weigh in during a public hearing.
“We have a property that isn’t occupiable,” Vendetti told the board on Wednesday. “What do you want to do with it?”
Village attorney John Gavenda said Smith’s plan has already worried neighbors, and prompted a potential homebuyer in the neighborhood to back out of a sale. He said the project is contrary to the recently approved Albion comprehensive plan that is against “high-density housing” in the village.
Trustee Kevin Sheehan said he has fielded phone calls from residents, including leaders of the Elks.
“There’s some concern in the area,” he said.
The village intends to send letters to neighbors on the street, informing them of the possible use for the building. The Planning Board is expected to discuss the zoning change and Smith’s proposal during its 7 p.m. meeting on May 15 at the Village Hall.
Smith has revised an earlier proposal for the site. She initially suggested turning it into a boarding house with 20 units. Residents would have shared bathrooms and kitchen space in that scenario.
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 26 April 2013 at 12:00 am
Photos by Tom Rivers
Phil Banasczak (top) of plays the mandolin during a Victorian Cotillion – a ball in the Civil War era – as part of the Civil War encampment in Medina on Saturday. Banasczak is a member of City Fiddle in Buffalo, a group that includes his violin-playing wife, Gretchen Banasczak. Several people dressed in period costumes and danced as part of the concert next to GCC’s campus center in Medina.
Brothers Sharbel Simon, 11, and John Paul Simon, 9, of Lyndonville enjoy the Civil War encampment in Medina on Saturday. The brothers carried a banner about the event in a parade earlier in the day. Their father, Jim Simon, is associate dean at the Genesee Community College campus centers in Albion and Medina.
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 26 April 2013 at 12:00 am
HOLLEY – The president of the Holley Teachers Association joined a growing chorus of detractors to new state standardized tests for students in grades 3 through 8.
The English tests last week took three days, and this week students have three days of math testing.
“That’s more than the Regents,” said Julie Wantuck, a Holley 10th grade English teacher and HTA president. “We’re over-testing these kids.”
She said the tests are stressing students and teachers. Some of the material on the tests hasn’t been covered in class, Wantuck said.
She urged the Holley Board of Education, parents, and other school stakeholders to attend a rally in Albany on June 8, protesting the new tests that are part of New York’s new “Common Core” standards.
‘Our kids are not just a test score.’ – Julie Wantuck, HTA president
“We need to make some noise about all the tests the students are taking,” Wantuck said at Holley’s BOE meeting this week. “The testing has gotten crazy.”
The New York State United Teachers is organizing the June 8 rally. The union is critical of “the state’s obsession with standardized testing and endless data collection,” NYSUT President Richard Iannuzzi said in a statement.
Wantuck urged parents to write letters to state education officials, describing the impact the tests are having on their children. Many children are so stressed by the tests they have a loss of appetite, feel sick and anxious, Wantuck said.
“There is an over reliance on scores,” Wantuck said. “Our kids are not just a test score.”
The NYSUT, which represents 600,000 educational professionals, said the multiple days of testing are stifling creativity in the classroom.
Holley administrators reported that the parents of three students had their children opt out of the tests.
