Photos by Michael Karcz
KENDALL – The school district celebrated homecoming over the weekend, including a carnival on Friday where Kendall students and teachers took pies in the face.
The carnival also included a bounce house and other games and activities. The school district had a parade on Saturday and graduates were welcomed back to participate in alumni soccer and baseball games.
Photos by Tom Rivers
GAINES – Tom O’Connor of Rochester works in the blacksmith shop at the Cobblestone Society Museum on Saturday. He is one of the “Traders of the Lost Arts.”
The event continues today from 1 to 5 p.m. when the museum grounds will be open for half price.
Besides the blacksmith, the museum is showcasing flax processing, quilting and printing. The museum is located near the routes 98 and 104 intersection in the town of Gaines. The site has been designated a National Historic Landmark.
O’Connor said the blacksmith shop is a “gem,” featuring original equipment that still works.
Photos by Tom Rivers
ALBION – Tom Snyder, left, and Michael Bonafede, right, were high in the air today working on the front of the Day and Pratt buildings on North Main Street in Albion.
Bonafede and his wife Judith Koehler own the buildings. They are tackling several improvements on the property as they work to get the opera house on the third floor open again for public performances.
Photos by Tom Rivers – Albion student William Pecorella portrays William Barlow, the man who designed the County Courthouse and numerous other distinctive local buildings.
Chey-Rain Eagle depicts Elizabeth Proctor, the third wife of John Proctor, who is considered the “Paul Revere of Gaines” for riding his horse and alerting residents all the way to Lewiston that the British were coming.
ALBION – Some prominent Albionites in business, politics and community affairs in the 19th Century returned Saturday during the annual Ghost Walk at Mount Albion Cemetery.
The Albion drama program told the stories of 15 Albion residents who are buried in the oldest part of the cemetery, which opened in 1843. Students dressed in period costume and portrayed some of the Albionites, including perhaps Albion’s most famous native son, the Honorable Sanford Church. He served as lieutenant governor, state comptroller and chief judge of the Court of Appeals.
Not all of the Albion residents on the Ghost Walk achieved great success and acclaim. Students featured two children – Jane Lavery and Lydia Harris – who perished in the Main Street bridge collapse on Sept. 28, 1859.
Alyssa Lawrence tells the story of Jane Lavery, who was 16 when she died in the bridge collapse in 1859.
Joe Madejski portrays Sanford Church, who rose to the highest levels of state government in the mid-1800s.
Photos by Tom Rivers – J.T. Thomas was among the 750 people who bought tickets to sample beer throughout downtown Medina on Saturday.
MEDINA – When the Medina Business Association first started Ale in Autumn in 2009, the organization hoped an event with beer tastings would bring in a few outsiders and get more locals to visit Medina merchants.
Ale and Autumn has done far more than that. It quickly sells its 750 tickets, and creates a buzz on Main Street.
“It’s about people coming together and spending the day together,” said J.T. Thomas, a local DJ who helps promote the event. He was an eager participant on Saturday, sampling 30 different beers at locations mostly in the downtown business district.
“This shows off our town and gets people going into all of our historic spots and our businesses,” Thomas said. “We’re trying to keep more things in the village, which is a special place.”
Ale in Autumn attracted many participants from outside Medima on Saturday, including this group, from left: Bob Slocum from Syracuse, Bill and Rosemary Rausch of Middleport, Joe Moll of Barker and Dottie Barr of Middleport. They are pictured inside The Bread Basket.
The event is a fund-raiser for the Medina Business Association. It uses proceeds to help pay for banners, the downtown sound system, bike racks, flower barrels and other projects.
Rollie Phillipps, co-owner of The Book Shoppe, poured beer and mingled with customers on Saturday. He was surprised how many from outside Medina were in town for the event.
“It’s good for the merchants because it gets people in the store,” he said. “A lot of the people say Medina has a lot going for it.”
Dottie Barr of Middleport joined several friends in sampling the beers. She has been to Ale in Autumn three times, and also comes to Medina for Wine about Winter, which features wine tastings.
“They’re both fun,” she said about the events. “You see people you don’t normally see and you see businesses you don’t normally see.”
Each participant in Ale in Autumn received a souvenir glass.
Photos by Tom Rivers
ALBION – Fifty classic cars and trucks are lined up on East State Street today and at the Merrill-Grinnell Funeral Home parking lot, and the classic car show still had an hour to go before it started.
The funeral home is hosting its first-ever classic car show today from 1 to 5 p.m. Proceeds from the event, including a 50/50 raffle and entry fees for the cars, will go to Hospice of Orleans.
Funeral Home Director Rebekah Karls is pictured with a 1975 Plymouth Scamp. Karls organized today’s car show.
Scott Schimdt, owner of 2004 Viper SRT-10, gives the car a shine before today’s car show. Schimdt was parked next to his father Bruce, who brought along a 1973 Triumph TR6.
ALBION – It’s our darkest day, Sept. 28, 1859.
It was supposed to a joyous, fun-filled occasion. The annual Orleans County Fair drew waves of people to Albion, and the celebration included a wire-walker, who would attempt to walk across the canal. A rope was strung just west of the Main Street bridge, reaching from the top of a hotel to a block of stores.
There was a wire-walking frenzy back in those days. Jean Francois Gravelet, “The Great Blondin,” walked across Niagara Falls on a tight rope on June 30, 1859. A bunch of copycats sprang up, including one in Albion three months later during the county fair.
The Main Street bridge was packed with 250 people and five horses to watch a wire walker, “a young adventurer from Brockport,” according to a newspaper account. The wirewalker didn’t get far. With a mass of people crowding to see the spectacle, he made it 10 feet. Then the wooden bridge gave out, plunging the crowd into the canal.
At least 15 people died, and many more were maimed and seriously injured.
Here are some of their names:
Perry G. Cole, aged 19, Barre
Augusta Martin, aged 18, Carlton
Mrs. Ann Viele, aged 36, Gaines
Edwin Stillson, aged 16, Barre
Joseph Code, aged 18, Albion
Lydia Harris, aged 11, Albion
Thomas Handy, aged 66, Yates
Sarah Thomas, aged 10, Carlton
Harry Henry, aged 22
Ransom S. Murdock, aged 17, Carlton
Adelbert Wilcox, aged 17, West Kendall
Sophia Pratt, aged 18, Toledo, Ohio
Thomas Aulchin, aged 50, Paris, C.W.
Jane Lavery, Albion
Orleans County Historian Bill Lattin and the Orleans County Historical Association put up a marker near the canal in 2002, noting the canal tragedy. I would like to see the community do more, to remember these children, young mothers and other county residents.
I think a memorial fountain by the canal between the two lift bridges in Albion would be a more fitting recognition of this horrible event. The fountain would also beautify the canal and help draw people to the downtown area.
But this is more about paying our respects.
Albion students are doing their annual Ghost Walk today at Mount Albion Cemetery from 5 to 9 p.m. I know Jane Lavery, who died in the bridge collapse, will be featured.
The bridge collapse was widely covered from newspapers throughout the country. To read accounts from the tragedy, click here.
Lisa Cox of Medina makes a “mud angel” near the end of today’s Mud Run. Her son Austin also completed the course.
Photos by Tom Rivers – Jenny McKenna descends a muddy slope near the canal as part of today’s Mud Run. Jenny completed the course with her sister Kerri and their mother Iva.
MEDINA – Skyler Smith turned 14 today. She told her father her wish: for the two of them to finish the Mud Run together.
So that’s what they did, running and crawling through mud pits, climbing over fallen trees, navigating through a field of tires and conquering a host of other obstacles.
“It was definitely fun,” Mr. Smith said. “It’s a really good family obstacle course.”
The Orleans County YMCA organized the event for 75 participants. It was the Y’s first Mud Run, events that are gaining popularity for their daring feats.
Skyler Smith of Albion leads her father Steve through the file obstacle course in a mud pit in today’s Mud Run to benefit the Orleans County YMCA. Skyler asked for the adventure on her 14th birthday.
Participants climb over logs, one of the many obstacles on the course.
Organizers were happy with the 75 participants, by Y leaders are already considering a shift to the spring, when they think more participants will be eager to conquer the course after being holed up during the winter.
Lisa Cox and her son Austin both completed the run, which took participants through fields, the towpath and trails in the woods. Cox, 34, made a “mud angel” in the volleyball court at Sacred Heart Club, where the race ended.
She didn’t mind all of the obstacles, including a slope off the towpath that was hosed down by firefighters to make extra muddy.
“It was pretty fun,” Cox said. “I just wish there was more mud. I hope we get to do it again.”
Runners head down a slick slope on today’s 3.1-mile trail of challenges.
Photo by Cheryl Wertman
MEDINA – Austin Cox of Medina splashes through the last mud pit to complete his “Mud Run” today, when about 75 people took part of the first-time event for the Orleans County YMCA.
Orleans Hub will have more on this later.
Medina firefighters Josh Wolck, left, and Matt Jackson serve as the honor guard for a new firefighters’ memorial in front of City Hall.
Photos by Tom Rivers – A crowd gathered at 11 a.m. today for the dedication service for a new memorial to Medina firefighters.
MEDINA – A stone memorial in honor of Medina firefighters was dedicated today in front of City Hall, a monument that includes the names of two firefighters who died in the line of duty.
Chief James Schooly died in 1934 and Lt. Darwin Ehrenreich perished in 1954 while on calls for the department. The Fire Department also has started a memorial brick walkway that includes the names of deceased firefighters who were either full-time paid firefighters or who were callmen with at least 20 years of service. Their names are inscribed in bricks.
Fire Chief Todd Zinkievich said the names of the honored firefighters “won’t be slid in a drawer and never heard from again.” Current firefighters often share stories about their predecessors, and speak with affection of the past generation of firemen.
“Please remember your family members will live in our hearts each and every day and will never be forgotten,” Zinkievich said at the dedication, which was attended by many friends and relatives of the honored firefighters.
Medina Fire Chief Todd Zinkievich addresses about 50 people during a dedication service for a new firefighters’ memorial.
Firefighter Jonathan Higgins helped plan the memorial. He said the current firefighters are grateful to have careers where they can serve the community. Medina has 13 paid firefighters who run an ambulance service that is the primary responder for those calls in western Orleans.
Medina Mayor Andrew Meier said the memorial is a reminder of the dedication of village personnel. The department dates back to 1832.
“All of us are standing on the shoulders of those who came before us,” Meier said. “This is a legacy we have inherited from our grandfathers and fathers.”
He called on current residents of the community to keep working in service, establishing a legacy that will keep Medina moving forward.
“We need to lay a foundation for future generations just like our predecessors did for us,” Meier said.
State Assemblyman Steve Hawley was one of the speakers at today’s dedication. He praised the Medina Fire Department for protecting residents’ lives and property.
“Firefighters are the lifeblood and backbone of our community,” he said.
Don Marchner, a Medina firefighter, speaks at the podium during today’s dedication ceremony. Marchner said the names of deceased Medina firefighters who were callmen for at least 20 years. They each have their names memorial bricks in front of the firefighters’ memorial.
The fire department’s Benevolent Association paid for the monument, which includes an inscription of “The Firefighter’s Prayer.”
The memorial brick walkway includes the names of the following past career firefighters:
Assistant Chief Joseph Stillwell, who served from 1923-1947; Edward Pahura, 1941-1953; Louis Button Sr., 1941-1960; Fred Board, 1941-1961; Chief Ralph Whiting, 1941-1969; Lt. Edward Ehrenreich, 1942-1968; William Board Sr., 1944-1965; Lt. Frank Eppolito, 1947-1969; Donald Cook, 1953-1976; Lt. Richard Clark, 1960-1986; Assistant Chief Alex Hewitt Jr., 1964-1988; Lt. Jason Drought, 1965-1987; Douglas Maynard, 1968-1995; Brian Kwiatkowski, 1985-2008; and Kenneth Dunn, 1994-2007.
The following past callmen were honored:
Lous Metz, Robert Fox, Trever Reynolds, Anthony Santillo, Carl Furness, Charlie Dutcher, Shane Ackerson, Floyd Harris, Raymond Riches, Percy Renouf, Harold Miller, Walter Dillon, Steve Champlin, Robert Foss and Berard Feltz.
Brian Kwiatkowski, a Medina fireifghter from 1985 to 2008, is among those honored with a memorial brick.
