The falling limbs have taken down power lines throughout Orleans County, leaving thousands of residents without power, National Grid reported.
The outages are spread throughout the county, with about 1,000 homes in both Albion and Medina without electricity, as well as pockets of power outages in most towns.
National Grid reports it is assessing the conditions. In some cases the power company has a crew assigned, but doesn’t for all of the outages.
Photos by Tom Rivers
ALBION – Mount Albion Cemetery is littered with fallen tree limbs. It’s a sad sight.
I think it could have been worse because I didn’t see any trees fully uprooted. But there are broken branches just about everywhere, especially in the older section of the historic cemetery.
But even a lot of the smaller trees gave out under the stress of the ice load.
Whenever we get a high wind warning or an ice storm, I usually think of Mount Albion and big trees planted more than a century ago. Despite all of the snapped off branches, I think the trees held up well with the latest assault from Mother Nature.
Here are some more photos of the wreckage:
Photo by Tom Rivers – There are a lot of branches down, but most of the trees, including this one at Mount Albion Cemetery, have stayed strong during the ice storm.
Chris Busch cringed when he heard the weather forecast, calling for a half-inch to an inch of ice Saturday night and Sunday.
He worried about the old trees in Medina, and many of the new ones.
“Whenever they predict lots of ice that never ends well,” said Busch, chairman of the Medina Tree Board.
He was out today assessing the damage around Medina. He saw lots of fallen branches, but not too many snapped-off large branches from the mature trees.
The storm tampered off just in time.
“While under stress from ice load, most trees in Medina escaped major damage,” Busch said.
The trees were at their limit in supporting a heavy ice load, he said. Warmer temperatures this afternoon are melting the ice, easing the burden on the trees and their branches.
“At first glance Medina’s urban forest was lucky,” Busch said. “Had the ice storm lasted longer, things would’ve been much worse.”
Photo by Chris Busch – The trees on Pearl Street near the YMCA in Medina held up under the strain of the ice storm.
Photos by Tom Rivers – The ice storm overnight coated trees and their branches with ice. It’s a striking sight, but some of the weighed down branches have snapped off, including this one on East State Street in front of the Orleans County Courthouse.
The courthouse looms in the background of this photo.
A big hunk of a tree on the courthouse lawn fell after being stressed from the storm. The County Clerks Building is in the background.
The First United Methodist Church in Albion is in the background of this photo.
There are a lot of limbs down, including this one on East Park Street. Power is out in some spots.
Today is a good day to wander around with your camera. You don’t have to go far. This is a tree in my backyard.
Photos by Tom Rivers – A monument is framed by frozen branches.
Mount Albion Tower, a 68-foot-high Civil War Memorial, looms in the background.
Mount Albion Cemetery is one of the most glorious places in Orleans County. The cemetery has terraced hills, tree-lined roads and many impressive monuments. It’s also been well cared for by the village of Albion.
Mount Albion was the first site from Orleans County to be listed on the National Register of Historic Places. That was in 1976, on the 100th anniversary of the construction of the Civil War Memorial, the big tower in the cemetery.
Here are some images of the ice-coated cemetery this morning:
One of the front gates on the east side of the cemetery is dripping with icicles.
A ring is covered in ice on an old hitching post in the old section. The cemetery has many hitching posts and carriage steps.
The Civil War section in the cemetery includes a cannon from the war.
A Grand Army of the Republic marker is next to the grave for Noah Green.
The front gates to Mount Albion Tower weren’t spared from the ice storm. The spiral staircase, in back, leads to the top of the tower.
The cemetery has a lot of mature trees and many of their branches were hanging close to the ground from the weight of the ice.
Photo by Tom Rivers – Wendy Wilson, president of the Leonard Oakes Estate Winery, is pictured at the indoor courtyard of the Martin-Linsin Residence at Hospice of Orleans.
Hospice of Orleans Executive Director Mary Anne Fischer, left, is pictured Hospice Director of Development Marsha Rivers, Lake Shore Savings VP Nancy LaTulip and Wendy Wilson.
MEDINA – Business First honored 25 “Women of Influence” recently and the Buffalo publication picked the president of a local winery as one of the honorees.
Wendy Wilson is president of the Leonard Oakes Estate Winery. She is treasurer of the Niagara Wine Trail. She won an entrepreneurial award from Business First, which honored 25 people for their roles in business and community service.
She has helped to diversify LynOaken Farms into a multifaceted business with a winery, retail store, U-Pick operation and heirloom orchard. LynOaken also packs its own apples and delivers them to 80 stores.
Ten years ago, Wilson left a career in Miami, working in the import-export business to join her family at LynOaken Farms. She runs the winery and spearheads the marketing and customer contacts for the wine and store delivery businesses.
She was nominated for the Business First award by Margot Bittner, owner of the Winery at Marjim Manor in Appleton.
Each of the honorees was awarded $1,000 to be donated to an organization of their choice by by Lake Shore Savings.
Wilson picked Hospice of Orleans. Nancy LaTulip, vice president for the bank, was in Albion this week to present the check.
“I like the work that they do,” Wilson said about Hospice. “They take care of some of the most important times of people’s lives.”
Leonard Oakes also sells Blanc d’Orleans. The winery gives $1 of each sale to Hospice. Wilson presented the agency with a check for $1,111, the proceeds for Hospice from the wine sales.
Photo by Tom Rivers
MEDINA – Hundreds of pairs of shoes from walkers and runners took a toll on the towpath this morning in Medina.
About 300 people joined for a walk/run in memory of Dennis Heil, who passed away on Dec. 2, leaving behind a wife and seven children.
The “Miles for Heils – In Memory of Dennis” included walkers and runners who went down and back on the towpath between the lift bridge and Marshall Road.
Photo by Tom Rivers
Photo by Tom Rivers – Presbyterian Road in Albion is lined with trees near the Ridgeway town line. The National Weather Service warns that freezing rain tonight could make roads hazardous and stress trees. This photo was taken at about noon today.
An ice storm warning is in effect for Orleans County today until about noon on Sunday, the National Weather Service has advised.
Orleans, Genesee, Niagara, Monroe and northern Erie are all included in the warning. Those areas could get a half inch to an inch of ice, making driving dangerous. The buildup of ice may bring down tree limbs and knock out power.
“Roads will become very slick in some locations tonight, especially on bridges,” the NWS advised.
The Weather Service recommended postponing any travel.
“If you lose power and plan on running a generator, make sure that the generator is located outdoors and is properly ventilated,” NWS said.
Orleans also remains under a flood warning until 9 p.m. today.
The area was again blanketed by fog today. This photo shows a farm on Knowlesville Road in the town of Ridgeway.
The big grain facility at the corner of Knowlesville Road and Route 31, normally very hard to miss, was covered in fog earlier today.
Photo by Tom Rivers – Christine Versteeg of Kendall painted this 6-foot-long bench into a mural featuring a tugboat at sunrise. There will be at least 11 benches painted with local scenes or historical themes in Albion. They will be installed on Main Street and East bank Street in the spring.
Photo by Tom Rivers
ALBION – The plain backs and seats for a 6-foot-long benches are being turned into works of art.
Christine Versteeg of Kendall painted a bench into a mural of a tugboat. It’s one of at least 11 planned for downtown Albion.
The benches and the artwork are a portion of a $50,000 streetscape grant awarded for the downtown about two years ago. The Albion Main Street Alliance has shepherded this project through all the local and state government agencies.
It’s been a long journey and I was thrilled to see the first bench today. Other artists are working on their benches.
The grant will also fund potted trees, flowers, bike racks, a memorial, two interpretive panels about Albion history and other improvements.
I’ve been helping come up with a plan for how to spend the grant. I think the benches will draw people to the downtown. The benches will highlight our local history and showcase one of the county’s assets: the artists.
The benches should be out on the sidewalk and at Waterman Park in the spring.
I’m hoping we can work out an arrangement to have the benches stored inside at local businesses during the winter months so they can be enjoyed year-round.
GAINES – A Holley woman who has developed her own line of shampoo and conditioners has purchased a Ridge Road building that she intends to turn into a co-op for other vendors.
Kim Rowe plans to turn the former “Buy American” mercantile into a co-op with arts, crafts and antique vendors.
The Orleans County Planning Board supported the project during its meeting on Thursday. Planners said the project fits in nicely with the historic flavor of Ridge Road and the nearby Cobblestone Society Museum.
Rowe, owner and developer of U Make Scents, is working to open Cobble-Ridge Co-op.
In addition to the vendors, Rowe would like to use the site for an outdoor flea market in the spring and fall. Eventually she would like to sell food products inside and outside at the location.
