Photo by Tom Rivers
Chris Crafts, a master gardener, leads a seminar today on “The Joy of Greenhouse Gardening.” About 50 people attended a “Spring into Gardening” education day at the Cornell Cooperative Extension in Orleans County. Master gardeners in the county put on eight different educational sessions for the public. The session led by Crafts focused on using greenhouses for garden sustainability in a time of unpredictable climate change.
ALBION – Orleans County moved up from near the very bottom of the counties with the highest unemployment rates in February.
In January, the county’s 12.3 percent unemployment rate has the third highest in the state. The latest data isn’t so grim. The county’s 11.2 percent unemployment rate is better than 11 other counties with most of those in northern New York. Lewis County led the state with a 13.0 percent unemployment rate.
Orleans added 100 jobs in February, growing from 16,900 to 17,000, according to the state Department of Labor. The county also cut the ranks of the unemployed from 2,400 to 2,100, according to the state report.
Statewide, the unemployment rate was 8.4 percent in February. Tompkins County has the lowest unemployment rate at 5.8 percent. The Ithaca metro area, with a 5.8 percent unemployment rate, is best in the state with Elmira’s metro the worst, with a 10.2 percent rate.
While Orleans is improving, its unemployment rate is higher than other similar-size nearby rural counties. Genesee’s rate was 9.0 in February, while Livingston had a 10.1 percent rate and Wyoming, 10.8.
ALBION – Three Orleans County residents with long histories of community involvement have accepted the challenge to find a buyer for the 120-bed nursing home in Albion.
“If it’s going to be done, I want to make sure it’s done correctly,” said Russ Martino, the retired Yates town supervisor and former Lyndonville school principal. “I want to make sure we find a good buyer and that the nursing home will stay here.”
Legislature Chairman David Callard also named Richard DeCarlo Sr., the former Gaines town supervisor, and Richard Moy, the current Clarendon town supervisor, to the Orleans County Health Facilities Corporation. The Legislature in February voted to the form a local development corporation with the purpose of selling the nursing home.
The LDC met for the first time briefly last month. The group expects to meet regularly beginning in May. Martino said the meetings will be open to the public.
“These three gentlemen have the wherewithal to deal with the business and financial issues the task requires while being sensitive to the concerns of the people,” Callard said in a statement.
The “Concerned Citizens of Orleans County,” a group that opposes the sale of the nursing home, picketed outside the Legislature’s two meetings in March. The group worries the quality of care will suffer under private ownership.
County officials say employee health care and retirement benefits are costly under county ownership. With a private owner, those employees wouldn’t be in the state retirement system. While that would reduce some operating costs, the local CSEA union expects staff turnover to increase if employees are paid less with fewer benefits. There are about 100 full-time employees at the nursing home.
If The Villages stays Orleans-owned, Callard and county officials fear the facility could generate $2 to $4 million in annual deficits, straining county taxpayers.
The LDC will work with a real estate firm to market the facility. The nursing home received a $10 million expansion and renovation in 2006. The county still owes $8 million on that project, plus anther $300,000 from a renovation in 1994, according to the county treasurer’s office. The county is scheduled to be paying on the $8 million in debt until 2026.
A sale will be no sooner than Dec. 31, 2014, Callard said. Once the county identifies a buyer, the prospective new owner needs to apply for a certificate of need through the state Health Department. That process often takes 12 to 18 months, according to the county.
It took four years for Medina Memorial Hospital to sell its nursing home, Orchard Manor. That sale finally closed on Dec. 31. The new owner, Global Healthcare Services Group, LLC, has improved the facility, adding services since Jan. 1, said Jim Sinner, the Medina Memorial CEO.
“Everyone is quite happy with the care,” he told county legislators last month.
He said staff haven’t left the facility en masse.
“There hasn’t been an exodus of employees,” he said.
Sinner said overall the move to a new owner has gone smoothly. The Orchard Manor staff and community are adjusting well to Global Healthcare.
“If there was something bad happening, I assure you I’d be hearing about it,” he told legislators.
Photos by Tom Rivers
ALBION – When Melinda Grimble saw her son for the first time in full costume as the Beast, she couldn’t tell who was under the layers of makeup.
William Grimble, one of the stars in Albion High School’s production of “Beauty and the Beast” on March 22-23, was transformed into the menacing character. He wore claw feet, a long wig, horns, and a prosthetic on his face.
“When he was in full makeup and hair, I didn’t recognize him,” Mrs. Grimble said.
William Grimble smiles before undergoing a makeover to become the Beast. He has some facial glue on his nose.
William’s costume was months in the making. Gary Simboli, the musical director, fused two wigs together, using hot glue to join a blond haired wig with a black one. The blond wig matched the color of the Ben Kirby’s hair. He plays the prince before William was turned into the hideous creature.
“With the black wig, I needed to darken up his hair,” Simboli said.
The long black tresses add to sinister mood with the Beast.
Albion performed Beauty and the Beast nine years ago. Back then, the Beast had a simpler costume. Simboli added a prosthetic with horns and a nose to the costume this time. Instead of having William do a quick costume change near the end of the show, when he is transformed back into the prince, Simboli had Kirby reappear as the prince.
That meant Simboli could develop a better costume for William, who wouldn’t have to wipe off the makeup and beast-wear for the musical’s final act.
Simboli and Grimble agreed to let a photographer show the process of turning the high school senior into the Beast.
It was a Saturday morning, the second day of the show, on March 23. William arrived in the chorus room at about 10 a.m., two hours before the curtains opened at noon. He was freshly showered after the previous night’s performance.
Step 1: Apply spirit gum, a facial glue on William’s nose. That will help hold down the rubber mask that includes the nose, wrinkled forehead, horns and hair.
Step 2: Apply a cream base makeup. It “even outs the skin tone,” Simboli said.
By the end of the show, many of the students are tired, and would otherwise have dark circles under their eyes. “The makeup makes them look fresh and vibrant,” Simboli said.
Step 3: Apply the mask and wig. William presses the mask to his nose, trying to get it to stick to his skin.
“Suddenly it’s quite warmer in here,” he said once the mask is on his head.
Step 4: Simboli uses several bobby pins to secure the mask and wig to William’s hair. They forgot the bobby pins the previous night, and were relieved the mask and wig stayed on during the fighting scene with Gaston.
Step 5: Simboli uses liner pencils to “enhance the natural features in a distorted way” on William’s face. The students that play older characters have lines drawn on their faces. Simboli wants them to look older. He tries to follow the natural contours on the students’ faces. That’s tricky with teen-agers.
“They’re so young they don’t have wrinkles,” Simboli said.
He has an image of William as the Beast from the previous night. It’s on a cell phone. Simboli liked how the Beast turned out, and he uses that image as a guide on March 23.
Gary Simboli, the high school musical director, helps William Grimble with his makeup before a performance of Beauty and the Beast on March 23.
William Grimble, in full costume, performs as the Beast in Albion’s production of Beauty and the Beast.
Simboli adds reddish-orange and yellow lines to William’s face, in addition to brown and white. The reddish-orange and yellow match the prosthetic. The brown shows recesses and shadows. The white: “It pops on stage.”
Simboli took a makeup class at Geneseo State College, where he was a music major three decades ago. He has a makeup book opened in the chorus room. He refers to the book while working on the Beast and some of the other characters.
It takes Simboli about 20 minutes to turn William into the Beast. Simboli’s last touch: a dark flesh-tone of lipstick. That will make the Beast’s lips more distinctive on stage.
Simboli is pleased with the makeover.
“It’s Disney,” he declared. “It has to be larger than life.”
William isn’t quite done. He is sent to Val Pettit, the choreographer who is helping with makeup. She puts powder on William’s face to help the makeup set and not be so shiny. Then she shoots his face with Barrier Spray, which seals the makeup and helps prevent it from running. The school rents many of the costumes. The spray helps protect the costumes from running makeup.
Pettit said there is bound to be some drips.
“These kids sweat a lot,” she said. “They work hard on stage.”
Photo by Tom Rivers – Jeremiah Knight of Albion opened Knight’s Pride, a custom carpentry shop with fine arts, last month at 120 North Main Street. Knight is pictured with a “hall tree,” a bench with hooks to hang coats.
ALBION – Six years ago Jeremiah Knight spotted some cedar in a house that had been demolished. The wood and the pile of debris were headed to a landfill.
But Knight wondered if he could make something from the cedar. He fished the wood from the pile of ruins, took it home and made a toy box. He tried more projects, always using wood that was doomed for either a landfill or a burn pile.
Knight in six years has made cabinets, benches, chests, beds, wine racks, rustic shelves, tables and lots of toy boxes – all from discarded wood, sometimes more than a century old.
“It was all headed to the dump,” he said Thursday about the old wood.
Knight, 31, gave up a good-paying construction job in Rochester to open Knight’s Pride, a custom cabinetry business, on March 20 on 120 North Main St. The site also sells and displays fine arts from local artists. Knight’s mother, Kim Muscarella, runs an art gallery in Albion. Many of her paintings and creations are on display in her son’s shop.
Photo by Tom Rivers – Jeremiah Knight sits on a one of the hall trees he made from reclaimed wood from an Albion home that was knocked down. Knight left a construction job to open his custom cabinetry business on Main Street.
“I’m building a customer base and I know more good things are going to happen,” he said. “I want to be part of the optimism in Albion. I want to support my community.”
Knight doesn’t like to see good material go to waste. He feels the same about gasoline and time. He didn’t like expending those resources in the long drives for his construction job.
He touts the benefits of his business. “Number one, it’s American made,” said the Army veteran. “It’s custom-made, and it’s made from reclaimed materials. It’s becoming highly sought after with the whole green movement.”
Photos by Tom Rivers – William Grimble, in full costume, performs as the Beast in Albion’s production of Beauty and the Beast.
ALBION – When Melinda Grimble saw her son for the first time in full costume as the Beast, she couldn’t tell who was under the layers of makeup.
William Grimble, one of the stars in Albion High School’s production of “Beauty and the Beast” on March 22-23, was transformed into the menacing character. He wore claw feet, a long wig, horns, and a prosthetic on his face.
“When he was in full makeup and hair, I didn’t recognize him,” Mrs. Grimble said.
William’s costume was months in the making. Gary Simboli, the musical director, fused two wigs together, using hot glue to join a blond haired wig with a black one. The blond wig matched the color of the Ben Kirby’s hair. He plays the prince before William was turned into the hideous creature.
“With the black wig, I needed to darken up his hair,” Simboli said.
The long black tresses add to sinister mood with the Beast.
Albion performed Beauty and the Beast nine years ago. Back then, the Beast had a simpler costume. Simboli added a prosthetic with horns and a nose to the costume this time. Instead of having William do a quick costume change near the end of the show, when he is transformed back into the prince, Simboli had Kirby reappear as the prince.
That meant Simboli could develop a better costume for William, who wouldn’t have to wipe off the makeup and beast-wear for the musical’s final act.
Simboli and Grimble agreed to let a photographer show the process of turning the high school senior into the Beast.
It was a Saturday morning, the second day of the show, on March 23. William arrived in the chorus room at about 10 a.m., two hours before the curtains opened at noon. He was freshly showered after the previous night’s performance.
Step 1: Apply spirit gum, a facial glue on William’s nose. That will help hold down the rubber mask that includes the nose, wrinkled forehead, horns and hair.
Step 2: Apply a cream base makeup. It “even outs the skin tone,” Simboli said.
By the end of the show, many of the students are tired, and would otherwise have dark circles under their eyes. “The makeup makes them look fresh and vibrant,” Simboli said.
Step 3: Apply the mask and wig. William presses the mask to his nose, trying to get it to stick to his skin.
“Suddenly it’s quite warmer in here,” he said once the mask is on his head.
Step 4: Simboli uses several bobby pins to secure the mask and wig to William’s hair. They forgot the bobby pins the previous night, and were relieved the mask and wig stayed on during the fighting scene with Gaston.
Step 5: Simboli uses liner pencils to “enhance the natural features in a distorted way” on William’s face. The students that play older characters have lines drawn on their faces. Simboli wants them to look older. He tries to follow the natural contours on the students’ faces. That’s tricky with teen-agers.
“They’re so young they don’t have wrinkles,” Simboli said.
He has an image of William as the Beast from the previous night. It’s on a cell phone. Simboli liked how the Beast turned out, and he uses that image as a guide on March 23.
Gary Simboli, the high school musical director, helps William Grimble with his makeup before a performance of Beauty and the Beast on March 23.
Simboli adds reddish-orange and yellow lines to William’s face, in addition to brown and white. The reddish-orange and yellow match the prosthetic. The brown shows recesses and shadows. The white: “It pops on stage.”
Simboli took a makeup class at Geneseo State College, where he was a music major three decades ago. He has a makeup book opened in the chorus room. He refers to the book while working on the Beast and some of the other characters.
It takes Simboli about 20 minutes to turn William into the Beast. Simboli’s last touch: a dark flesh-tone of lipstick. That will make the Beast’s lips more distinctive on stage.
Simboli is pleased with the makeover.
“It’s Disney,” he declared. “It has to be larger than life.”
William isn’t quite done. He is sent to Val Pettit, the choreographer who is helping with makeup. She puts powder on William’s face to help the makeup set and not be so shiny. Then she shoots his face with Barrier Spray, which seals the makeup and helps prevent it from running. The school rents many of the costumes. The spray helps protect the costumes from running makeup.
Pettit said there is bound to be some drips.
“These kids sweat a lot,” she said. “They work hard on stage.”
Photo by Tom Rivers – Flyway Farms in Medina taps about 900 trees on West Shelby Road
MEDINA – Terry Laubisch knows most local folks didn’t enjoy the freeze-thaw days in March. But for maple producers, those conditions are ideal for sap to flow.
Laubisch and other maple producers expect to cap off the season in the coming days.
He has enjoyed two sap runs so far, a two-week stretch from Feb. 27 to March 11, and then another week-long run from March 24-31.
“It’s been a good season,” Laubisch said. “Now we’re looking for the bonus.”
He thinks the 900 trees he taps on West Shelby Road will give more sap in the coming days. He’s already surpassed last year when the weather hit 80 degrees in mid-March, ending the season.
This season hasn’t been perfect. Many days never broke freezing, so the sap didn’t flow.
“Sap is like water,” Laubsich said. “It can’t move if it’s frozen.”
New York is the country’s second-leading maple producer behind only Vermont. Last year, in a down season, New York maple producers counted 360,000 gallons of syrup, down from 564,000 gallons in 2011. Western New York is home to many of the producers.
Lyle Merle taps 16,000 trees in Attica in one of the bigger operations. He said he will gladly take the cold March over the warmth a year ago.
“When the weather is cold and frozen you still have hope for more sap,” Merle said.
Last year his maple farm produced 5,800 gallons of syrup. He was at 6,500 gallons on Wednesday.
“I’m aiming for 7,000,” he said. “I think we still have a couple to three days left in the season.”
ALBION – When the Albion Main Street Alliance needs help with a community project, whether its crunching numbers from a survey of residents or fixing planter boxes for downtown flowers, the organization can count on Albion high schoolers.AMSA often turns to students to help with projects, a partnership that is drawing national attention among “Main Street” designated communities. Albion in 2008 adopted the Main Street program through the National Trust for Historic Preservation.
Students have worked on several initiatives, including building and fixing planters through a technology class, using a CAD program to design a sign along the canal directing visitors to local services, and completing a parking study in the downtown. Many of the drama students each fall also portray famous Albionites in Mount Albion Cemetery as part of annual “Ghost Walk.” Proceeds from that event have been used for some AMSA projects.
AMSA director Katelin Olson and Sue Starkweather Miller, Albion’s grants manager, will discuss the AMSA-school partnership in New Orleans as part of a national “Main Street” conference on April 14. They shared the Albion successes in October 2011, during a national preservation conference in Buffalo.
Starkweather Miller said students are enthused about the Albion projects. They don’t want to just be asked to clean up after an event.
“One of things that is helpful when you are looking to connect students to their community is to make it meaningful service,” she said.
The Ghost Walks and other heritage projects have taught students about local history, including some of the prominent Albion residents from more than a century ago who shaped the town. Starkweather Miller said those residents, and their ambitions and service, inspire the teen-agers today.
“It is very meaningful history to them,” she said. “It builds pride and a sense of place.”
Olson and Starkweather Miller both said it’s unusual from a school district to connect so well with a community organization. Other districts and “Main Street” groups want to hear about the success in Albion.
Olson said the key is for the adults to trust the students with work “that is important and engaging.”
Her main advice: “Don’t just ask them to clean up after an event.”
Olson also will be presenting at the Urban Affairs Conference in San Francisco on April 6. She will be sharing the benefits of the “Main Street” program compared to a Business Improvement District. Olson said a Main Street program spreads into the whole community, focusing on more than a downtown. She sees a BID as very business-focused.
“We’re a civic-engagement organization,” she said.
Anonymous 4, world-renowned A Capella singers, will perform in Medina on Thursday at St. Mary’s Catholic Church.
MEDINA – The Orleans Renaissance Group is bringing a world famous group of A Capella singers to Medina on Thursday, a concert that serves the ORG mission in bringing entertainment to the community.
But Thursday’s 7 p.m. performance by Anonymous 4 fulfills another mission by ORG. The non-profit organization owns the former Bent’s Opera House on Main Street. The landmark Medina sandstone building is mostly empty and will need an ambitious renovation to return as a performance hall, offices and other uses.
“This will keep the ball moving forward,” said Chris Busch, ORG vice president.
The Bank of America gave the building from 1865 and a nearby parking lot to the ORG in 2009. The group has received several grants recently for architectural and engineering studies of the massive three-story building. Those grants often require a local match. Busch said the concert net revenue should help ORG pay for an engineering and architectural assessment of the front facade.
Photo by Tom Rivers
The Orleans Renaissance Group is aiming to raise $5,000 to $10,000 from the Anonymous 4 concert, money that will help the organization work towards restoring the former Bent’s Opera House on Main Street in Medina.
The group last year sought a $500,000 state grant to replace the roof, but was denied. ORG expects it will again seek a big grant from the state this year.
The group has brought the Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra and other performers to Medina for cultural events. Busch said ORG wanted to bring in Anonymous 4, hoping the acclaimed singers would be an attraction. By Wednesday, ORG sold nearly 200 tickets at $40 pre-sale for the concert. Busch expects more ticket sales on Thursday and at the door for $45 for the concert at the historic Catholic church.
“We thought we should do some bigger events that would draw from a bigger area,” Busch said. “It’s working. We’re drawing from all the way to Jamestown and all points in between.”
Several business expansions are planned for 2013 in Orleans County, with millions of dollars in private investment planned for the ventures, said Jim Whipple, the CEO of the Orleans Economic Development Agency.
“This is going to be a great year,” Whipple said.
The projects are spread around the county with a $4 million investment by Credit Recovery Financial Services topping the list. That company is moving from its Albion location on East Avenue to the Olde Pickle Factory in Medina, doubling in size to about 700 employees.
CRFS has grown from Jodi Gaines’ kitchen table a decade ago into the industry leader, helping banks and investors recoup money when a home is foreclosed. Employees work with industry regulations in all 50 states.
As part of its shift to the Pickle Factory, building owner Roger Hungerford also is spending $4 million in renovations to modernize space for CRFS. Hungerford spent $1.2 million at the Pickle Factory in 2012, upgrading space for tenants.
Other projects in the county include:
The Wegman Group in Rochester plans to turn a former Salvation Army camp in Kendall into The Cottages at Troutburg, a 126-acre site with the potential for 400 cottages. Construction on the first seasonal houses, ranging from 450 to 1,300 square feet, is expected this year.
In Holley, Precision Packaging Products is considering a $2 million expansion that could create 20 jobs, Whipple said.
In Albion, an electronics recycling company from Canada is expected to close on an EDA-owned warehouse on McKinstry Street. The company is planning a $700,000 investment in Albion while creating 25 jobs.
Helena Chemical in Albion also is looking at a new site for its company, which sells chemicals, seeds and other products to agricultural businesses. The company may spend $1.5 million on a new site this year. It looked at a site in Albion on Long Bridge Road, but after neighbors objected the company is now targeting a spot in Medina.
Also in Medina, Take Form Architectural Graphics is pursuing a $1.5 million expansion into the current Trek building on Route 31A. Trek is moving to Lockport. Take Form plans to add 20 positions as part of its expansion.
Whipple said other companies are considering expansions, including Freeze-Dry Foods in Albion, Snappy/ACME in Medina, and other companies he declined to name. One project could be an $11 million new-build.
Whipple said 2012 was a successful year, highlighted by the redevelopment of two former Jubilee grocery stores.
Jerome Pawlak opened a Save-A-Lot in Holley at the former Jubilee, spending $1.2 million and adding 15 jobs.
Ace Hardware this month will open in the former Jubilee in Medina, a $1 million project that will add at least three new jobs.
Orleans Community Health invested $1.5 million in Albion in a new health care center at the corner of Route 31 and Butts Road, a project that added 16 jobs.
The Village Inn in Gaines spent $325,000 for a remodeling that resulted in 2.5 new positions.
CRFS also grew in 2012, spending $1 million for new computers, office furniture and other upgrades of its site in Albion.
Press Release: Orleans county Sheriff’s Office
On March 18, 2013, Dennis P. Buehler, 64, of 923 Peter Smith Rd., Kendall, was arrested for Attempted Murder in the Second Degree and Assault in the First Degree. Investigator Ken Strickland of the Orleans County Sheriff’s Office charged Buehler as the result of an investigation into a domestic incident in March 4, 2013, where he shot the victim, then set the residence on fire and ultimately shot himself before he was taken into custody by law enforcement.
Buehler was arraigned by Kendall Justice Lape at Strong Hospital in Rochester on Mon., March 18. Bail was set at $250,000 cash or $500,000 bond. Buehler remains at Strong Hospital. An order of protection was issued for the victim. A tentative preliminary hearing date was set for March 22, 2013.
Additional charges are expected when the case is presented to the grand jury.
Photo by Tom Rivers
Barre firefighters stood near the intersection of routes 98 and 31A this morning, collecting money for the fire company. Jesse Babcock, left, and Brad Driesel worked together on Route 98, just south of 31A. Babcock said the funds will help firefighters upgrade their equipment. “Every little bit helps,” Babcock said.
Photos courtesy of Jesse Colmenero
ALBION – Residents attended Friday’s open house at the Central Orleans Volunteer Ambulance. They toured fire trucks and ambulances, ate hot dogs and hamburgers, and even did the chicken dance in the parking lot at 239 South Main St., Albion.
Mercy Flight landed a helicopter by COVA to help the agency celebrate its service to the community.
Photo by Tom Rivers – Baillie Oberther, 16, of Medina is crowned queen of Dyngus Day on Monday during a celebration at Sacred Heart Club. Bonnie Boyd, last year’s queen, passes on the crown.
MEDINA – They danced to the polka, delighted in “pigs in the blanket,” and even crowned a king and queen.
About 200 people celebrated Dyngus Day on Monday at the Sacred Heart Club in Medina. Before they danced to Brass Magic, a polka band from Rochester, the crowd took in Polish food staples, such as sweet and sour cabbage, scallop potatoes, smoked Polish sausage, pierogis and “pigs in the blanket” – rolled cabbage with pork.
The latter is State Sen. George Maziarz’s favorite. He has loved it since he was a kid.
“My grandma made them and I’d eat half a dozen in one sitting,” Maziarz said at the Sacred Heart Club.
He has been coming to Medina’s Dyngus Day celebration for 18 years. Maziarz spends much of the post-lent Monday at Polish celebrations in his district. There are several of the events in Niagara County earlier in the day before he joins the Medina crowd.
“It preserves people’s heritage,” he said about Dyngus Day. “It’s good for the young kids.”
Photo by Tom Rivers – Brass Magic, a polka band from Rochester, entertains during a Dyngus Day celebration on Monday.
The day has been growing in popularity in Western New York in recent years. Buffalo hosts a big Dyngus Day party with a parade and 25 polka bands. That popularity spreads all the way to Medina and Orleans County.
“It keeps getting bigger,” said Dee Lucas, one of the coordinators of the event in Medina. “We just love doing it.”
Polish immigrants about a century ago started their own Catholic churches in Medina and Albion. Both have closed in recent years. The Polish-American congregation at the former St. Mary’s Catholic Church in Albion has joined the Dyngus celebration at Sacred Heart, helping the crowd size to grow.
Laurianne Pruski of Albion said Sacred Heart has been welcoming to the Albionites. She wore a red “Dyngus Day Buffalo” shirt with a white Polish eagle symbol on front.
She looks forward to the giant spread of Polish food every year. The cooks all prepare the food from scratch.
She said younger adults are enthused about the annual event. Many even join in polka dances.
“It sets a mark for the younger generation to carry on the traditions,” she said.
Alissa Bruce wants to do her part. Her grandfather was Polish and celebrated Dyngus Day. Alissa brought her 2-year-old daughter Elaina to Monday’s party. She delighted the crowd with her energetic dances with her cousin, 4-year-old Aidan Oberther.
Photo by Tom Rivers – Aidan Oberther, 4, dances with his cousin Elaina Bruce, 2, while a polka band plays at Sacred Heart Club.
“This is awesome,” Bruce said while the polka band played. “It’s great they keep it going.”
The event included the crowning of a king and queen. Both are active volunteers at the Sacred Heart Club.
New king John Weaver, 41, “never complains” when he is asked to help with dinners and other club events, said Lucas, one of the Dyngus coordinators.
The new queen, 16-year-old Baillie Oberther, helps prepare and serve fish fry dinners and other meals at the club. She said she doesn’t want to miss a Dyngus Day party.
“It’s a family tradition,” she said. “We all love the dancing, the food and the heritage.”
ALBION – Jim Sinner, the CEO of Medina Memorial Hospital, said he isn’t trying to “scavenge” Lakeside Health System, which is in process of drastically reducing its inpatient hospital beds from 61 to five. The Brockport hospital also was going to close its emergency room, but now intends to keep that open.
The shrinking hospital in western Monroe County creates opportunities for Medina Memorial, Sinner told Orleans County legislators on March 27. Many Albion and eastern Orleans residents are connected with Lakeside physicians and that hospital. With the changes at Lakeside, Sinner said more Orleans residents may choose Medina and their physicians rather than go into Rochester for health care.
Sinner has approached six Lakeside physicians about aligning with Medina. Sinner told county legislators the doctors are interested in joining Medina, which falls under the Orleans Community Health umbrella.
The Lakeside down-sizing comes soon after Orleans Community Health opened a new 7,500-square-foot health care facility in Albion at the corner of Route 31 and Butts Road. The site offers primary and urgent care. About 50 percent of the traffic to the site since November has been walk-ins. The center is open six days a week and could add evening and Sunday hours if there is a demand, Brian Banas, chief operating officer for OCH, told legislators.
Banas and Sinner said Orleans County is considered a “physician shortage area.” Many of the local medical practices are at capacity, they said.
“We don’t have enough docs in the community,” Sinner said.
Orleans Community Health hired two doctors to work at the Albion site. Dr. Sandra Boehlert focuses on internal medicine while Dr. Jamal Janania Sr. specializes in family medicine.
Sinner is trying to convince specialists to provide services in Orleans, even if it’s only one or two days a month.
The Albion center, a $1.5 million facility, has eight exam rooms and modern technology. It also offers physical therapy, occupational therapy and lab blood draw services. A $784,000 state grant Healthcare Efficiency and Affordability Law for New Yorkers or HEAL covered half of the construction costs.
Orleans Community Health wants to add X-ray services in the new facility. Sinner and Banas are working on a certificate of need application that must be filed with the state Department of Health.
Sinner is pleased to see OCH expanding in the county. He has led the organization the past 15 years.
“It’s always been our goal to be the healthcare system of choice in Orleans County,” he said.
