Photos by Tom Rivers
CARLTON – It was another colorful sunset in Orleans County tonight. I happened to be driving through Carlton and snapped a picture of a barn with the sunset and then took two from the bridge on Route 279. The two boaters were friendly and waved just before they passed under the bridge.
Photo by Tom Rivers
ALBION – Orleans Hub editor has a giant sunflower by his front porch and took notice of some bees at work this afternoon. Hub editor snapped a quick photo up close despite being allergic to bee stings, and then quickly fled the scene.
Photos by Tom Rivers – An inspection crew from the state Canal Corporation passes under the Hulberton lift bridge this morning and heads east to check the bridge in Holley. The lift bridges, despite being 100 years old, are working well, Canal officials said.
HULBERTON – Parts of the canal system have been battered by floods and the wrath of Mother Nature in recent years. With each storm, the canal has endured, with occasional short-term closures of some sections. This year storms hit the eastern end of the canal and Lockport particularly hard.
“When the storms come through, we’ve been able to turn around and reopen quickly,” said John Joyce, director of special projects for the Canal Corp. “It shows that the canal is in good shape and we have a dedicated crew.”
Joyce and a team of inspectors passed through the canal in Orleans County the past two days, stopping to inspect seven lift bridges in the county and assess the embankments and other infrastructure. They travelled by boat on the Tug Syracuse.
“We don’t find major problems because they are being maintained on a daily basis,” he said today in Hulberton after inspectors completed an assessment of the lift bridge.
Joyce and the inspectors had high praise for the mechanical and electrical systems on the century old lift bridges. One of them in Knowlesville has a weight restriction and is limited to one-lane. The bridges are owned by the state Department of Transportation, but the Canal Corp. operates them and handles a lot of the electrical work and maintenance.
The canal is like a “living museum,” and remains an important source of pride and economic development for the canal communities, Joyce said.
He believes the communities with lift bridges are particularly fortunate to have the iconic structures. There are only 16 of them. They’re between Lockport and Fairport. Orleans has the most of any county.
“For 100-year-old technology they are working great,” Joyce said.
State law requires an annual inspection of the canal each year. For many years the assessment was made by car. But the past three years under Gov. Andrew Cuomo, the Canal Corp. has traveled the entire 363 miles by boat.
The canal has been in the news for much of the past year, depictied as a drain to the Thruway Authority and a reason to raise tolls.
The Thruway Authority proposed 45 percent toll hikes, but backed off the toll increase. The Canal Corp. however cut 5 percent of its workforce this year.
The canal has been under the Thruway Authority’s budget since 1992. Joyce said the Thruway Authority has proven a good steward of the canal system.
“We have a good working relationship with the Thruway Authority and we want that to continue,” he said.
The Tug Syracuse heads to Holley after an inspection in Hulberton.
Photos by Michael Karcz
POINT BREEZE – The Old Hippies entertained on Tuesday night during the summer concert series at the Orleans County Marine Park. The Oak Orchard Neighborhood Association organizes the series with support from Orleans County Tourism and the Genesee-Orleans Regional Arts Council.
The series concludes on Tuesday with a concert by the Sophisticats from 6 to 8:30 p.m.
BARRE – The Erie Canal tends to get all the attention as a man-made waterway in these parts, but Orleans County is home to another “big ditch,” the series of drainage improvements used to create the Elba Muck about a century ago.
The Elba Muck covers about 7,000 acres in Genesee and Orleans counties. Many immigrants and woodsman cleared a swamp and built 90 miles of ditches to drain the land. Farmers in the two counties formed a special watershed district and they pay to pump water with sump pumps and other devices and keep the land from becoming waterlogged.
Driving out to the muck is like visiting a different planet with the dark black soil. It’s worth a drive out there to check out the place that brought many hard-working immigrants to our community.
The muck remains highly productive farmland. Two Albion farms, Triple G and Panek, are among the 10 farms that still work the land at the former swamp.
Photos by Tom Rivers
Gina Sidari, 6, of Albion introduced a line of fashion tonight at the Cabaret at Studio B in Albion, a new venture run by Gina’s mother Amy Sidari.
Gina designed clothes worn during the fashion show by herself and her friends – Isabelle Gray, Julia Fuller, Emily Mergler, and Avery and Willow Gaines.
Proceeds from the fashion were designated for the Central Orleans Volunteer Ambulance.
Julia Fuller of Albion models one of the outfits designed by her friend Gina Sidari.
Kyle Sidari shares a joke as part of a stand-up routine during the fashion show. Carlos Burroughs, left, lets out a chuckle.
Marcy Downey sings “You Make Me Feel So Young” during the Gina Line Fashion Show at the Cabaret at Studio B in Albion, part of Gotta Dance by Miss Amy.
Photo by Tom Rivers – Mike Fuller, the Shelby highway superintendent, and Town Clerk Darlene Rich stand next to a new town sign made of Medina sandstone. The sign was mounted on the front wall of the town hall last week.
SHELBY – A new sign made of Medina sandstone connects the Shelby Town Hall with the community’s heritage, town officials said.
And the new sign on the Shelby Town Hall looks “beautiful,” a vast improvement over a metal sign that was on the building the previous decade, said Town Councilman Ken Schaal.
“This is history from Medina and it will last forever,” Schaal said.
The town hall, a former Niagara Mohawk building on Salt Works Road, has been used for town officials since about 2000. Town Board members have wanted to use Medina sandstone for a sign, and they had a 4-by-4 piece of stone in storage.
The Town Board and Highway Superintendent Mike Fuller recently decided it was time to use that stone for the sign, rather than have the stone stashed away. The town spent $2,950 to have the stone engraved and then mounted. That price included the cost of adding border stone.
The new sign went up on the building last week. It’s been drawing rave reviews from the public.
“It looks really nice,” County Legislator Bill Eick, a former Shelby town councilman, told the Town Board on Tuesday. “I really appreciate you getting that up.”
The town hall is named for former councilman Lorne McMurray, who pushed the town to acquire and renovate the former NiMo building about 13 years ago. The old town hall has been razed to make room for Aldi’s.
ALBION – The village of Albion is raising the water rates by 8 cents per 1,000 gallons to six towns that buy water from the village for water districts.
The new rate will increase 2.8 percent from $2.86 to $2.94. Albion hasn’t raised the rates to the towns in 11 years, Mayor Dean Theodorakos said.
The increase was intended to take effect Oct. 1, but the town of Barre said that didn’t meet the requirement of providing three months notice before a rate increase. Barre Town Supervisor Mark Chamberlain also asked for a meeting with village officials for an explanation about the rate hike.
“At this time, it does not seem feasible for the town to agree to the rate increase without more information and discussion,” Chamberlain wrote to the Village Board on Aug. 8.
The village faces equipment and facility upgrades at the water plant, which is prompting Albion to raise the rates by a modest amount, Trustee Kevin Sheehan said.
The board agreed to delay the rate increase until Jan. 1 for all of the towns it supplies with water. Theodorakos said the village will try to schedule a meeting with the officials from the towns to provide the village’s rationale for the increase. The village supplies water for districts in Carlton, Gaines, Albion, Barre, Ridgeway and Murray.
Photos by Tom Rivers – Victoria Rice practices with the Colorguard today during band camp at Medina.
MEDINA – You don’t become a four-time defending state champion by taking it easy, even during the summer.
The Medina Mustang Marching Band has been studying their music all summer. The drum line, pit and Colorguard have been practicing on Tuesdays and Thursdays since July 8.
This week, the entire 130-member Marching Band joined together for Band Camp, which includes eight hours of practice each day except for Friday, which runs for four hours.
Michael Busch, a freshman, has been looking forward to band camp all summer, even though he admitted it’s a big commitment.
“We’re learning a lot of new techniques,” said Michael, a third-year band member who plays the bells in the front ensemble.
Hannah Pask plays the xylophone with the front ensemble during Medina’s band camp today.
Marching band directors Jim Steele and Cheri Pritchard had a parking lot full of chalk markings, to let band members know their spots.
“It’s a lot of work,” said Steele, the high school band director. “But it’s very beneficial. We want to give the kids the opportunity to do something that not a lot of kids are afforded.”
Medina is one of only 58 districts in the state (out of about 700) that competes in the field band program. It’s the only district in Orleans County with a field band, which competes in the fall. Medina is the sixth smallest district in the state with a field band. But Medina has more participation in the program than many larger districts, Pritchard said.
“We attribute the size to the band being such a strong tradition at the school,” she said. “A lot of the parents of our students were in the band, too.”
The band is bigger this year. Steele said the numbers tend to go in cycles.
“We’re on an upswing in the cycle, which is great,” he said.
This year’s program is called “The Pursuit Of Gold,” and features a tribute to the Olympics. The band will show their parents what they learned with a preview of the show 7 p.m. Thursday.
Medina will host its annual Fall Festival of Bands on Sept. 21 when 12 bands will perform at Vets Park, including the band from University at Buffalo. About 1,000 spectators are expected for that event.
Vinnie Monacelli, the Colorguard instructor and drill designer, calls out instructions to students today.
Photos by Tom Rivers
ALBION – Stephen Rutledge of Albion scrapes off old paint this afternoon on one of the doors facing Main Street at the First Presbyterian Church in Albion. Rutledge will also scrape off the paint on the alcove over the door. He will prime and repaint the doors and alcove on the historic church built with Medina sandstone.
