By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 28 October 2013 at 12:00 am
SYRACUSE – The Medina Mustang Marching Band made it five state titles in a row on Sunday by winning the Governor’s Cup at the Carrier Dome in Syracuse.
Medina scored 91.50 in the Small School 1 category to claim the title from six other schools in the division as part of the NYS Field Band Conference Championship.
The Medina band has 130 members. This year’s program features an Olympic theme, “The Pursuit of Gold.” Marching band directors Jim Steele and Cheri Pritchard lead the program.
Medina’s 91.50 score topped the following schools: New Hartford, 89.90; East Irondequoit, 86.35; Oswego, 85.15; East Syracuse Minoa, 84.65; Mohonasen, 83.00; and Le Roy, 80.75.
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 28 October 2013 at 12:00 am
ALBION – A Medina man was sentenced to 2 to 4 years in state prison for attempted assault in the second degree.
Leo Woodrich Jr., 50, of North Street pleaded guilty to the crime. He hit his wife in the head with a baseball bat on May 30. He is a second felony offender.
He was sentenced today in Orleans County Court by Judge James Punch.
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 28 October 2013 at 12:00 am
Free Methodists will meet at library for next 2 weeks
Photos by Tom Rivers
ALBION – Members of the Albion Free Methodist Church removed the pews, carpet and platform from the church following a service on Sunday.
The church will spend the next three weeks remodeling the sanctuary at 25 South Platt St., the first Free Methodist church in the world.
The pews, which were purchased about 40 years ago from a church in Greece, are being swapped out with cushioned chairs. Some of the pews have been purchased by members of the church, while others are available for sale to another church.
New carpet will be added and the pulpit will be shifted from the east side of the building to the north wall.
The changes will allow the church to comfortably seat 240 people. Right now there is a space crunch for about 190 people that regularly attend the services.
The church will meet at the Hoag Library the following two Sundays before returning to the historic site on Nov. 17.
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 28 October 2013 at 12:00 am
ALBION – An Albion man was sentenced to seven years in state prison today for second-degree rape.
Scott D. Stanley, 33, pleaded guilty to the crime during a July court appearance. He was accused of having sex with a 14-year-old girl in his apartment at 220 East State St. between Feb. 1 and Feb. 28, 2011.
As part of a plea deal, Stanley faced two to seven years in state prison. Judge James Punch gave him the maximum sentence today. Stanley will be registered as a sex offender and could face civil confinement when his prison time is over.
Stanley is already a Level 3 sex offender, considered the most serious. He was sentenced to 22 years in state prison by a Genesee County Court judge on Aug. 1. Stanley victimized a 14-year-old girl in Albion and then in Pembroke. He also raped the girl’s 11-year-old sister in Pembroke, according to the Orleans District Attorney’s Office.
The sentence from Orleans County will run concurrent with the Genesee sentence, meaning the seven years won’t be added to 22-year sentence.
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 27 October 2013 at 12:00 am
United Methodists worked three years to transform site
Photos by Tom Rivers – The Medina United Methodist Church celebrated its first service in the former Apple Grove Inn this morning. The church extended the west wall to accommodate the sanctuary.
MEDINA – A three-year journey ended today for the United Methodist Church when celebrated their first service inside the former Apple Grove Inn.
The church bought the landmark building for $100,000 at an auction. Most of the building was gutted, walls were taken out in some spots and new ones put in. The west end of the building was extended to accommodate the sanctuary.
Tony Hipes, the church pastor, leads the group in prayer before they go inside to dedicate the building.
It was a lot of work, and church members did the bulk of the construction, painting and carpeting themselves. Today, the congregation of about 50 people had a final service at their building at 222 West Center St. Then they walked or drove a mile down the road to the former Apple Grove.
The revamped site has cushioned chairs and much more modern look. It’s all on one floor and includes a commercial kitchen and reception area that the church wants to make available to the community for wedding receptions and other parties.
“A lot of the Grove is still here,” said Matt Brueckner, a church member who spearheaded the construction project. “We just made it better.”
Pastor Tony Hipes and church members, including flag holder Dan Wilson, walked about a mile today from their old church building to the newly remodelled former Apple Grove Inn.
The church paid contractors for plumbing, heating, electrical and air-conditioning. But members took on most of the rest of the work.
“We just broke the building into sections,” said Brueckner, who became the building project chairman and construction manager, often putting in 50 to 60 hours a week on the project.
The church spent about $875,000 total for the project. If it had hired out all of the work, it would have cost about $2 million.
The reception area will be open to the public for parties and other events.
At the conclusion of today’s final service at the church at 222 West Center St., the church’s home since 1876, members carried Bibles, a cross, offering plates, banners and other sacred elements from the church to the former Apple Grove.
“I think what we’ve done here is have one foot in the past and the other in the present and future by having a modern-looking church,” Brueckner said.
The church choir leads the congregation in singing “Spirit of the Living God, Fall Afresh on Me.”
Orleans Hub will have coverage later of the final United Methodist church service at 222 West Center St.
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 27 October 2013 at 12:00 am
Photo by Tom Rivers – Sid Beaty dressed up as SpongeBob SquarePants and helped plan the Beggar’s Night event Friday in downtown Albion. She is pictured with her dog Archie, named for the family’s seasonal home on Archbald Road.
ALBION – The two-month trial run is over. Sid Beaty is hired.
The Village Board voted to add Beaty to the village staff as a program coordinator, working to promote businesses in the community in the downtown and on Route 31.
She worked two months for free with local businesses, planning events, including a shopping tour and Beggar’s Night event that was on Friday. She also has been developing a concert series for next year and submitted a grant to the local arts council to help pay for the entertainment.
“All the feedback we’ve got has been very positive,” said Mayor Dean Theodorakos. “She is truly an asset and it would be great to keep her.”
The board voted last week to hire Beaty as an independent contractor for $10,000 a year. She will be paid about $800 a month beginning Nov. 1 and the position will run until May 31, when the village fiscal year ends. Theodorakos and the board said they would look at continuing the position in 2014-15 based on the village budget talks in April. Beaty works out of the village office.
Carolyn Ricker, president of the Albion Merchants Association, urged the board to bring her on staff to help coordinate some of the events in the community.
Beaty, in the part-time role, wants to look at other longer-range projects in Albion, including the possibilities of historic walking trails, a downtown farmers’ markets and other events to promote the community.
“We’re trying to draw people down here to increase the critical mass for the businesses,” Ron Vendetti, the village code enforcement officer, told the Village Board. “If you want viable businesses here you have to help them.”
Beaty is working on events for the upcoming holiday season as well as helping with the Christmas decorations for the downtown.
Beaty dressed as SpongeBob SquarePants on Friday as part of the Beggar’s Night. She isn’t a stranger to the area. Her parents, Anne and Bruce Beaty, have a cottage at Point Breeze. She is the granddaughter of the late Dick Eddy, a long-time community leader in Albion. Beaty is named for Dick’s father, Sid Eddy.
She earned a degree in city and regional planning from Cornell University in May 2012. She sees a lot of potential in Albion, especially Main Street and the downtown area, which is named to the National Register of Historic Places.
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 27 October 2013 at 12:00 am
Photo by Tom Rivers – The Rev. Randy LeBaron sits in one of the pews at the Albion Free Methodist Church. The pews will be moved out after today’s service and replaced with cushioned chairs. The church will meet the next two Sundays at Hoag Library while the sanctuary is remodeled.
ALBION – In 1859, the Rev. Loren Stiles was kicked out of the Methodist Episcopal Church in Albion for his radical preaching. He railed against pew rental fees, the oppression of slavery and other social ills in the late 1850s.
Stiles helped start a new denomination, and it built its first church across the street from where he was ousted. From that first congregation in Albion, the Free Methodist Church has grown to more than 1,000 churches in the United States.
The first church continues to draw a crowd. In fact, the church in Albion is feeling some growing pains. Most of its Sunday services are at near capacity with about 190 people attending on average. That has prompted church leaders to look for ways to add seats so more people can attend services comfortably.
The church has decided to remove the wooden pews and replace them with 240 cushioned seats. The pulpit will also be shifted from the east side of the sanctuary to the north side.
“This is simply cosmetic,” said the Rev. Randy LeBaron, the church pastor the past 10 years. “We’re not changing who we are as a church.”
The pews are not the originals. The congregation bought them about 40 years ago from a church in Greece. One original pew from more than 150 years ago remains in the sanctuary and it will stay in the church. Some of the current pews are being purchased by church members, and other pews will be available for another church to buy.
The pews will be moved out after today’s service. The church will meet at the Hoag Library the following two Sundays while the sanctuary is remodeled. Besides the chairs and pulpit, new carpet is part of the improvements.
“A lot of people have noted that this is a good problem to have,” LeBaron said about the space crunch. “But a good problem still needs a solution.”
The church will have a celebration and dedication service on Nov. 17, its first Sunday back in the church following the sanctuary changes. LeBaron noted other recent upgrades for the building include a new roof and handicapped accessible entrance for the basement.
“We love the fact that we’re in the first building,” he said. “But we want to make it 21st century practical. We don’t want to abandon the building.”
The church has services on Sundays at 9 a.m. with Sunday school at 10:30.
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 27 October 2013 at 12:00 am
Photos by Tom Rivers – The Medina United Methodist Church had its final service this morning at 222 West Center St. The church will continue to own the property and use it for a childcare site. A Spanish-speaking congregation, River of Living Waters, also will continue to use the building.
MEDINA – Many of the members of Medina United Methodist Church were married at 222 West Center St. Their children were baptized there.
Today, the church said good-bye to the building. The congregation held its final church service at the site.
“I’m going to miss this building,” member Bill Dunn told the church during the farewell service this morning. “It’s meant a lot to me. But the people mean more.”
Pastor Tony Hipes leads the church in a farewell service at the Medina United Methodist Church today. The church is leaving the structure which is in deteriorating condition.
The church has spent the past three years and $875,000 to transform the former Apple Grove Inn into a modern church home. After today’s service, church members walked or drove a mile down the road to the former Apple Grove, where they celebrated their new home.
Tony Hipes, the church pastor, wanted members to give the old church, built in 1876, a fond farewell. The church moved to acquire and renovate the former Apple Grove, wanting a modern one-story building that would be more accessible for the community.
The church was built in 1876 and originally had a steeple. It toppled after a wind storm in 1889.
The site, which includes a large reception area and commercial kitchen, also will allow the church to host receptions and community events.
“It’s a church for everyone,” Hipes said during today’s service. “Hopefully many people in the community will join us.”
The older church building needed lots of repairs, particularly with the masonry on the brick structure. The building wasn’t energy efficient.
Church members carried Bibles, crosses and other treasured church artifacts up to the congregation’s new home following a service today.
However, it’s not in danger of collapse. The church will continue to run a childcare site from 222 West Center St. The building will also be available for a Spanish-speaking church, the River of Living Waters.
Hipes told the congregation to treasure their memories from the older building, and to look forward to the new memories awaiting them in the former Apple Grove.
After the service today at 222 West Center St., members of the Medina United Methodist Church walked a mile on West Center Street to their new church home at the former Apple Grove Inn.
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 26 October 2013 at 12:00 am
Photos by Tom Rivers – Joe and Sue Fertitta have begun the process of turning the old stone store building, currently an eyesore at the corner of routes 31A and 237 in Clarendon, into an attractive asset for the town.
CLARENDON About two years ago the Town Board nearly unleashed the wrecking ball on a prominent building at the corner of routes 237 and 31A.
The building, a former store that dates back to 1836, had fallen into disrepair. Neighbors complained about rodents from the structure as well as its dilapidated appearance.
During a July 2011 meeting, some residents asked the structure to be torn down. The town owned it because a previous owner stopped paying taxes on the property.
But a small group of residents saw potential at the site. They asked the board for time to clean up the property and work to find a buyer.
A new owner, with a track record of reviving worn-out structures, is now working on the Clarendon Stone Store. Joe and Sue Fertitta expect to have the project done next summer, with a tenant living in the upstairs and the first floor available for offices.
Besides gutting and renovating the building, the couple plans to put on a front porch to match the building’s original look.
“A lot of people have helped to make this happen,” Town Supervisor Richard Moy said Friday during a celebration at Town Hall.
Town Supervisor Richard Moy, right, presented the keys of the Clarendon Stone Stone to Sue and Joe Fertitta on Friday. The couple also was presented a souvenir T-Shirt from the town’s bicentennial. An image of the store is on the back of the shirt. Mrs. Fertitta is holding the couple’s granddaughter, Jazlyn.
He presented the keys to the building to the Fertittas. He also gave them a shirt from the town’s bicentennial, which has an image of the stone store on the back.
“This shows it can be done,” said Erin Anheier, chairwoman of the Old Stone Store Preservation Committee. “These buildings can be saved.”
The town established the Old Stone Store Preservation Committee to work on the project. Anheier connected with the Landmark Society of Western New York, which hired a firm to do an engineering report on the structure. Community donations helped pay for the study that showed the structure was still solid.
Anheier and the committee were also successful in getting the building, one of the oldest stone commercial buildings in the area, on the state and national registers of historic places.
“To see a stone store building from the 1830s is extremely rare,” said Caitlin Mieves, a preservation planner with the Landmark Society.
A historic photo shows the Clarendon Stone Store back in its heyday.
The building was last used as a store in 1975. It not only served as a hub for commerce for nearly 150 years, but was the center of the community from a social aspect, Mieves said.
She praised the town for giving the building a chance for a new life, and for the group of volunteers for spearheading the project.
The local committee and Landmark Society worked with the town to find an owner for the building. The property is being transferred to the new owners for only $1. But the new owner needed to submit a plan so the building would resemble its original splendor.
This rendering shows how the former Stone Store building in Clarendon should look after renovations and upgrades, including a new porch. (Bryant Design Studios)
The Fertittas of Parma have revived many structures that were in a state of ruin, including a condemned house on Bennetts Corners Road in Clarendon. Melissa Ierlan, the town code enforcement officer, reached out to the Fertittas.
“This is a walk in the park compared to what we’ve done before,” said Mrs. Fertitta.
She and her husband have already hauled out two dumpster loads of garbage and debris from the building.
They have made a few exciting historical finds as well, she said. They took out the drop ceiling in the first floor, which exposed the original wooden beams in the building. They have found a black-and-white photo from a previous owner, Wes Potter.
They also discovered his daughter Stephanie’s school identification card, from the 1955-56 school year at St. Mary’s Catholic School. Three old buttons have also turned up. Mrs. Fertitta showed off the relics to town officials on Friday.
“We love doing this,” she said about rehabbing buildings.
Sue Fertitta shows three buttons and a school identification card from 1955-56 for Stephanie Potter, daughter of the building’s previous owner.
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 26 October 2013 at 12:00 am
188 years ago the canal opened, turning Orleans County into a hot spot
Photo by Tom Rivers
ALBION – The Erie Canal opened 188 years ago. It was a marvelous day.
The new man-made wonder ran 363 miles, connecting the Great Lakes with the Atlantic Ocean, greatly reducing the time and cost of shipping goods and personal travel.
Gov. DeWitt Clinton rode a canal boat from Buffalo to New York City to celebrate the new waterway. He convinced the state Legislature in 1817 to commence on the monumental task of digging a 40-foot-wide ditch that would be 4 feet deep.
The canal would turn Orleans County and several of its villages and hamlets into thriving communities.
I took the photo of the flag this evening in Albion with the Ingersoll Street lift bridge in the background. Here’s wishing the canal many more years of good health.
