By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 19 October 2013 at 12:00 am
Photo by Tom Rivers
ALBION – Renee Ebbs, right, and Andrea Coccitti whip up cotton candy during today’s Country Fair at the First United Methodist Church of Albion.
The church put on its annual Country Fair, an event that features numerous baked goods, food, gift baskets and other items.
The church, which faces some uncertainty over the future of its building at the corner of Platt and East State streets, wants to continue the annual event, although it could be at a different location in the future.
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 18 October 2013 at 12:00 am
Photo by Tom Rivers
Coverage of the massive blaze at the Orleans Pallet warehouse in Albion fueled lots of traffic for OrleansHub.com.
Orleans Hub continues to see steady increases in traffic to the web site. Last month we averaged 3,000 unique visitors per day, which was up 25 percent from the 2,400 average in September.
The total page views jumped 29 percent from 214,640 in September to 277,401 in October. The site went “live” on April 2 has been growing each month.
Orleans Hub also set a new single-day record for traffic on Oct. 17 with 5,898 unique visitors and 17,151 page views. That was the day the Orleans Pallet warehouse burned in Albion. The Hub posted stories and photos soon after the fire alarm and updated the site frequently about the blaze and its aftermath.
However, the fire wasn’t the Hub’s biggest story of the month. An article about Orleans County DA Joe Cardone saying he wouldn’t enforce the SAFE Act on “John Q. Public” generated the most traffic of any article.
Our traffic also has jumped with the addition of Mike and Cheryl Wertman covering local high school sports. The Wertman team started in late August and has been at all five schools on a regular basis.
We get lots of comments form people about the photos on the site. The fall season lends itself to nice photos with all the homecoming sporting events and changing leaves.
I was down at the Oak Orchard River on four occasions, including a fishing tournament at the Archer’s Club. A father and son from Pennsylvania were there all week for a fly fishing tournament. The 8-year-old kid was catching Chinook salmon left and right.
His father kept him out of school for the week and they went fishing together. The boy’s grandfather also joined them at the Oak Orchard.
Shane Smith and his son Ben, 8, of Pennsylvania hold one of the big salmon Ben caught last month in the Oak Orchard River.
I like this picture of the father and son. But I think my favorite shot of the month came on the last day of October. Ann Batt of Albion dressed up as Harry Potter on Halloween. I took this one at an exercise class for senior citizens.
Also on Halloween, Cheryl Wertman took an iconic image of the Medina Mustangs soccer team winning a sectional game in monsoon-like weather in Hamburg. It was windy with torrential rains.
“As a weather event that was one you won’t forget,” Mike Wertman said about the game and downpour. “That was the worst we’ve seen in several years.”
Photo by Cheryl Wertman – A Mustangs midfield duo of Anthony Pane (13) and Scott Barber (8) were drenched during the Oct. 31 soccer game against Newfane in Hamburg.
Wertman has been covering local sports for more than three decades. He said an Albion-Grand Island football game was played in torrential rain about five years ago. That was the last game he can recall in such horrible weather.
The Hub is grateful for the chance to attend these games and events, even when it’s raining. And it’s gratifying to see the community enjoys checking the site for updates on the local news.
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 18 October 2013 at 12:00 am
Photo by Tom Rivers
ALBION – Workers from the NAS Sign Company in Buffalo are in Albion today working on the signs for the new Advance Auto Parts. The store will be located in a former Rite Aid store at the northeast corner of routes 98 and 31.
Advance Auto has painted parts of the building and put new blacktop in the parking lot.
On Wednesday, Advance Auto announced it was getting bigger by acquiring General Parts International, a privately held parts maker, for $2.04 billion in cash.
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 18 October 2013 at 12:00 am
‘Gilbert Creek’ runs east of 98 in Gaines and Carlton
Photos by Tom Rivers – This unnamed stream by Ridge Road in Gaines, about a mile east of Route 98, is largely undisturbed.
GAINES – The stream doesn’t have a name, but it caught the eye of a pioneer settler on Ridge Road and the town of Gaines more than 200 years ago.
Elizabeth Gilbert and her husband, identified in historical records only as “Mr. Gilbert,” arrived with their two children and a niece in 1807. They picked a spot next to a stream near where the Gaines Carlton Community Church now stands on Route 104, close to the intersection with Brown Road.
Early settlers liked to build log cabins close to a source of water. The Gilberts chose the north side of Ridge Road, building their home where there was a rise in the land.
The cabin is long gone, but a historical marker notes the pioneering efforts from Mrs. Gilbert. Her husband died in 1808, leaving her to raise the children, and tame the nearby wilderness.
The creek at the site has never been named, but Al Capurso wants to change that. He wants it to recognize the pioneering efforts of Mrs. Gilbert.
The creek begins from feeder sources south of Route 104 near Brown Road. It then marries Procter Brook in Carlton, and then flows into the oak Orchard River.
Capurso has secured resolutions of support for naming the stream “Gilbert Creek” from both the Gaines and Carlton town boards. He has pages of signatures from residents in support of the creek naming.
Al Capurso stands on a pedestrian bridge over a stream he wants named for a pioneer settler in Gaines.
On July 7, he sent an application to the U.S. Geological Survey Unit of the Department of the Interior, the agency responsible for reviewing applications for naming geologic features in the country.
Capurso said the creek meets the Interior’s criteria for naming a creek based on three levels: The feature is currently unnamed; The stream has an independent and distinct source of flow; and it is historically significant.
Capurso has read historical accounts of the pioneers in Orleans, and Gilbert is credited with helping settlers that arrived soon after her make their new homes.
Capurso believes the stones on the creek bed are the same ones that the Gilbert family likely stood on when they moved to Gaines and built a cabin beginning in 1807.
He is hopeful the creek will officially bear her name by early next year, and a sign by Ridge Road will proclaim it as “Gilbert Creek.” Capurso is working on the wooden sign that will match the one for Procter Brook at the Cobblestone Society Museum.
He thinks honoring a pioneer settler, and erecting a historical-looking sign, will blend in nicely with the Cobblestone Museum less than a mile down the road.
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 18 October 2013 at 12:00 am
Photos by Tom Rivers
ALBION – The back wall of Orleans Pallet by the railroad tracks and the east side of the building have joined the smoldering rubble after being knocked down by contractors late this afternoon.
Those walls were the most worrisome from a safety standpoint, especially the east wall. Firefighters worried the towering wall might topple onto Empire Coatings, Inc.
Environmental Construction Group in Albion is leading the demolition of the three-story Medina sandstone warehouse that burned Thursday.
The thick sandstone walls have been credited with containing the blaze and helping to reduce heat to the neighboring property owned by Empire Coatings.
Firefighters have also stayed on the scene since about 4 p.m. A crew from the Shelby Volunteer Fire Company was on scene when I stopped by at about 7 p.m. They were keeping the hot pile doused with water.
Contractors are expected to work over the weekend on knocking down the other walls.
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 18 October 2013 at 12:00 am
‘Once it sparked there was no stopping it.’
Photo by Tom Rivers
Photos by Tom Rivers: A huge fire on Thursday broke out in a warehouse that was very close to Empire Coatings, Inc. Firefighters kept the blaze from spreading.
ALBION – Long before it was engulfed in flames on Thursday, Rocky Sidari and Albion firefighters worried about the three-story warehouse at Route 31 and Hamilton Street.
The structure is snug in a commercial district, and stands only a few feet away from Empire Coatings, Inc., a painting company that uses chemicals.
“We actually talked about this building all the time,” said Sidari, the Albion fire chief. “I always said if it burns while I’m chief I know exactly what I’m going to call. We knew when it went up it was going to be an exterior attack with ladder truck operations and that’s basically what we did. There was no interior on it, obviously.”
Firefighters from four counties used at least five ladder trucks to spray water on the building. Sidari said firefighters were told not to get too close to the structure, in case it toppled.
He was particularly worried about the east side of the warehouse next to Empire Coatings, Inc. That business uses chemicals and volatile compounds as part of its painting operation.
The warehouse had been vacant for many years until Shawn Malark bought it and used it to store wooden pallets. Malark is the owner of Orleans Pallet, which rebuilds pallets for farmers and other businesses.
The blaze at the site yesterday, caused by a spark from grinder, quickly spread as the fire feasted on all the wood and the wooden beams in a building constructed in 1901. The initial fire call went out at 4:10 p.m. and some firefighters were on the scene within a few minutes.
“We had plenty of manpower on scene,” said Paul Wagner, Orleans County’s emergency management coordinator. “But once it sparked there was no stopping it.”
The inferno spewed dark smoke that could be seen from Batavia, Spencerport and Lake Ontario. After the fire was doused after about six hours, many veteran firefighters called it the worst they had seen in Albion. The fire at the former Avon Automotive in 1999 also was a huge blaze.
Sidari helped put out the Avon fire in a rubber injected molding plant at the corner of Route 31 and Platt Street.
“I think this was worse than Avon because of the chemicals involved and all the structures in close proximity,” Sidari said. “With Avon you had a couple of houses close by. It was up fast and down fast. This one lasted a lot longer and there were a lot more things to deal with.”
Contractors and the state Department of Labor are expected to be on site this morning to develop a plan to knock down the warehouse, which remains a threat to fall on neighboring structures.
The old warehouse will be knocked down soon. It was originally the Albion Cold Storage Company.
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 17 October 2013 at 4:50 pm
Photos by Tom Rivers
ALBION – OrleansHub.com is on the scene of a major fire at Orleans Pallet Co., located at the corner of Hamilton Street and West Avenue in Albion. The firefighters battling this blaze are worried about the nearby businesses containing chemicals and volatile materials. They are spraying water on the roof of Empire Coatings, a paint shop, to keep it cool.
Check back later for more details on this developing story.
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 17 October 2013 at 6:05 am
ALBION – Firefighters on the scene of a major fire at Orleans Pallet Co. have blocked off the area within a half-mile radius of the building at the corner of Hamilton Street and West Avenue. Route 31 has been blocked, west of Route 98.
Paul Wagner, Orleans County Fire Coordinator, is concerned that if the building collapses on nearby Empire Coatings, there could be an explosion, due to the chemicals and volatile materials inside that building.
Firefighters have asked that Albion residents keep their windows and doors closed as a precaution.
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 17 October 2013 at 12:00 am
HOLLEY – A crusader about the dangers of driving while talking on a cell phone will address Holley students today. Jacy Good was nearly killed in a car accident while riding home with her parents on her college graduation day in 2008.
Good’s parents were both killed in the accident, caused by an 18-year-old who ran a red light because he was distracted while talking on his cell phone. Good sustained serious injuries in the Pennsylvania crash.
She will speak with Holley students today at 1 p.m. in the middle/high school auditorium.
“Jacy’s story is powerful and moves both students and faculty,” said Robert D’Angelo, Holley school superintendent. “It is especially important for teens to hear Jacy’s message. Car crashes are the leading cause of death for teens, and using cell phones increases crash risk. Jacy’s story helps students understand that they will be safer if they disconnect while driving.”
Good has appeared on Oprah and in People Magazine. After the loss of her parents, Good joined FocusDriven – Advocates for Cell-Free Driving.
FocusDriven is a survivor advocate network that supports cell phone distracted driving victims and their families. Individuals and families educate the public by sharing their personal stories.
The New York State Governor’s Traffic Safety Committee works with FocusDriven to provide Good’s presentations in schools across the state.
“My college graduation day should have been a time to celebrate,” Good said. “Instead, my entire world was shattered because of an unnecessary cell phone call. People need to understand the dangers of using a cell phone – handheld or hands-free – while driving. Lives are at risk and poor decisions can have life-long consequences.”
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 17 October 2013 at 12:00 am
Photo by Tom Rivers – A lone onlooker, who said he was a former Orleans Pallet employee, walks the railroad tracks tonight at about 10:30 when firefighters were packing up and heading home after six hours of intense firefighting.
ALBION – The huge blaze that feasted on a three-story stone warehouse has been put out. The structure still stands but that may not be the case tomorrow.
Albion Fire Chief Rocky Sidari said he expects the Medina sandstone building to be knocked down on Friday.
Shawn Malark is the owner of the building and also president and CEO of Orleans Pallet, which takes broken pallets and rebuilds the wooden crates for businesses, primarily the agricultural industry.
Sidari said more than 100 firefighters battled the blaze. All 12 fire departments in the Orleans County were on scene, with additional manpower from departments in Niagara, Genesee and Monroe counties.
