85 members of Congress, including Collins, file Amicus Curiae brief in Supreme Court case
Press release, Congressman Chris Collins
Congressman Chris Collins, R-Clarence, showed his support for the town of Greece, NY, in the upcoming Supreme Court case, Greece v. Galloway, by signing an Amicus Curiae brief in support of Greece. He is one of 85 members of Congress to file the brief.
Greece v. Galloway, which concerns the religious establishment clause in the Constitution, will be argued this fall.
“It is clear that the Town of Greece has not violated the United States Constitution,” Collins said. “People from all over the world come to this country to escape religious persecution and are entitled to pray together with their communities as they please.”
Starting in 1999, the Greece Town Board began its public meetings with a prayer from a “chaplain of the month.” Town officials invited member of all faiths, and atheists, and welcomed anyone who volunteered to give the opening prayer, Collins said. Two town residents sued, stating the primarily Christian prayers violated the Establishment Clause of the Constitution.
The federal appeals court in New York agreed, because it found that almost all of the chaplains who offered to pray were Christian. Even though people of all faiths were welcome to offer their own prayers, the court found the prayer unconstitutional and the town of Greece was forced to stop.
Orleans County officials are closely watching the case because most County Legislature meetings include an opening prayer. The Orleans Hub talked with county officials about the issue in a May 24 article. Click here to read “Orleans Legislature closely watching Supreme Court case on prayer.”
On Friday, 85 members of Congress filed an Amicus Curiae brief stating the history of religious freedom and the importance of legislative prayer as observed daily on a national level.
“Each legislative day, the Senate and House of Representatives open with a prayer from religious leaders of all faiths, from all over the country,” Collins said. “As our federal legislative bodies welcome all, so did the Town of Greece. We must remain a nation that does not force a religion on any person, but is accepting of those who wish to publicly profess their faith and ask for guidance.”
Town of Greece v. Galloway is scheduled for oral arguments in the Supreme Court toward the end of this year.
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 4 August 2013 at 12:00 am
Photos by Tom Rivers – Dee Adams and Dave Kimball perform last night in Boiler 54 in the back of the former R.H. Newell Shirt Factory.
Last summer Andrew Meier opened the Boiler 54, an open-air music and performance venue in the back of the R.H. Newell Shirt Factory building on West Center Street.
Musicians have come from Ithaca, Buffalo, Rochester and Orleans and Niagara counties to play at the Boiler.
Last night, Dee Adams and Dave Kimball of Buffalo performed for more than two hours in Medina. Adams declared the venue “very special.”
Music lovers can choose from the Shirt Factory Café menu and can also order alcohol.
“You used to have to go to Buffalo or Rochester to hear this caliber of music,” said Judy Clonan-Smith, who is helping to book the bands. “This is such a beautiful setting.”
She encouraged the community to attend the concerts and support live music.
Amy Sidari last month opened the Cabaret at Studio B at Gotta Dance by Miss Amy. She is using one of the studios for an entertainment venue. Albion graduate Jackie Madejski performed Broadway and Pops songs last night. Madejski just finished her first year as a theater major at the Catholic University in Washington, D.C.
Photos by Michael Karcz – Albion resident and college theater major Jackie Madejski performs last night at the Cabarat at Studio B.
Jackie two years ago gave an unforgettable performance as the lead in Peter Pan at Albion.
Sidari wants to showcase local talent and also draw performers from Rochester and Buffalo. She is hoping the cabaret can also boost traffic for other downtown businesses.
Madejski was accompanied on piano by Gary Simboli.
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 4 August 2013 at 12:00 am
‘We were very hurt about it. We still are.’ – Grace Conlon
Photos by Tom Rivers – The state Department of Transportation forced Dave and Grace Conlon to remove this carriage step and hitching post, which survived for more than a century at the corner of North Main Street and Linwood Avenue in Albion. The community has many hitching posts and carriage steps on village side streets, but the Conlons had two of the few on a public right-of-way on a state road in Albion. This photo was taken late last year.
Dave Conlon sits on a carriage step that he had to remove from near Main Street last Wednesday. Conlon and his son used a tractor to move the historic step back by a tree in his front yard.
ALBION – For 45 years, Dave and Grace Conlon enjoyed looking out their window facing Main Street and watching children sit or stand on a carriage step by the road.
The Conlons planted flowers by it. They carefully mowed the grass around a companion hitching post.
“They were a showpiece for our property,” said Mr. Conlon, 84.
Last year the Conlons received a letter from the state Department of Transportation, telling them the carriage step and hitching post were a hazard to motorists. The historical artifacts from the horse-and-buggy era would need to be moved off the public right of way, the DOT advised.
The Conlons called the DOT. They didn’t understand why they had to move it, given that the public right of way on North Main Street is lined with trees and telephone poles – other “hazards.”
“This doesn’t make any sense,” said Conlon, a Kodak retiree who still works part-time as a custodian for Five Star Bank.
The Conlons received the first letter in the spring 2012. Another letter followed, advising them that the DOT could remove the pieces for a fee.
The Conlons fretted the DOT might show up one day and remove the carriage step and hitching post, and haul them away. Two weeks ago the DOT called, again pressing the issue.
On Wednesday, Conlon and his son Randy dug up the hitching post and used a tractor to haul it back by the house. They put it near a garden. It’s not very visible from the road, but the Conlons can see it looking out of their kitchen window.
The carriage step was a bear to move. Conlon cracked sidewalk panels leading to his house from the weight of the tractor. He tore up part of his lawn, but he was able to move it by a maple tree in his front yard.
The Conlons are angry and sad about the whole situation.
Dave and Grace Conlon also had to move this hitching post, which stood by Main Street for about a century. They put it back in their garden.
A mounting block sits by the side of the road on West Center Street in Medina. Hopefully its days aren’t numbered.
“We were very hurt about it,” Mrs. Conlon said. “We still are.”
I think it’s crummy that the DOT has launched an attack on the few hitching posts, carriage steps and mounting blocks that remain in the public right of way on state roads. Medina and Le Roy residents also have been sent warning letters from the DOT, advising the historical pieces need to be moved.
There are a lot of these artifacts in old quarrying towns, where residents had access to great building materials – sandstone in Orleans County and limestone in Le Roy.
They few that have endured – a century after horse-and-buggies were replaced by the automobile – should be considered treasures, part of the historical fabric of the community.
I have counted about 40 of the hitching posts in Albion and Gaines, which may be more survivors than anywhere in the world. (Until proven wrong, I’ll make the claim that 14411 is the historic hitching post capitol of the world.)
There are a lot of hitching posts but only a few carriage steps around. Most of these artifacts are on side streets. They were stripped from along the state roads long ago.
In Albion, the Albion Main Street Alliance has been working with the village to put four hitching posts back on Main Street in the downtown. They would be set back far enough to be off the state right of way, although we are asking the DOT to let us put one back in a downtown sidewalk. We hope to have these installed in the next month.
Some of us see the hitching posts and carriage steps as an attraction. We wanted to make a map of them. Most of them are in front of the finest historic homes in the community.
I think it’s shabby that the DOT pressured the Conlons to move their artifacts. They clearly valued and cared for the pieces.
It also hurts the Albion effort to promote these as part of the historical character of the community. We want some on Main Street, where they are more prominent. We’d like they to be by the road so they are more historically accurate, rather than moved back as lawn ornaments.
Our state legislators – Steve Hawley and George Maziarz – should intervene and make the DOT call off the dogs on the old hitching posts. These historic structures have survived every possible threat – from Mother nature, development pressure to wayward motorists. Can they now survive a government bureaucrat?
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 4 August 2013 at 12:00 am
Photos by Tom Rivers
ALBION – If you’ve driven past the Orleans County Courthouse, you may have noticed a stone marker with a plaque at the corner of East State and Main streets, on the northwest corner of the Courthouse lawn.
I’ve never seen anyone stop to look at the marker. I checked it out and the marker, affixed to a slab of sandstone, commemorates the planting of a new tree in celebration of the country’s 200th birthday. The tree was actually planted in the fall of 1975, a few months beofre the bicentennial.
The former Orleans County Board of Supervisors picked a tree as a lasting celebration of the country’s 200th anniversary.
Several of our towns have recently marked their 200th birthdays, with Ridgeway the most recent. That town officially was established in 1812.
Other towns and villages have milestone birthdays on the horizon. I would encourage them to follow the county’s example and plant a tree to mark the occasion.
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 3 August 2013 at 12:00 am
Cabaret at Studio B in Albion full of ‘great excitement’
Photo by Tom Rivers – The Reverend Mother kept a crowd in stitches last night at the Cabaret at Studio B in Albion.
ALBION – Phyl Contestable passed out buttons that said, “JESUS LOVES YOU, but I’m his favorite.” Contestable is the comedian, “Reverend Mother,” and she kept a packed house laughing last night at the Cabaret at Studio B in Albion.
Amy Sidari opened the venue last weekend with a concert by Marcy Downey. Sidari wants to bring professional entertainment to the community.
“People are excited to have this is their hometown,” said Sidari, owner of Gotta Dance by Miss Amy at 28 West Bank St. “I have great excitement for this.”
She has transformed one of the studios into a cabaret with professional-quality lighting and sound. Sidari has about 20 tables inside the studio that seats nearly 100 people.
Contestable of Hilton once joined the convent. As the Reverend Mother she is dressed as a nun. She is also friends with Downey, who urged her to come to Albion for a show.
“I love Amy’s energy and what she is trying to do out here, bringing the arts out here at this level,” Contestable said.
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 3 August 2013 at 12:00 am
More than 50 vendors at church flea market
Photos by Tom Rivers
Sharon Pollock of Albion created this image of the Mount Albion Tower. She drew the tower by burning into a piece of wood. I bought it from her today at a flea market with 51 vendors at the Gaines Carlton Community Church.
Pollock was laid off from her job on Jan. 1 as an index clerk at the County Clerk’s Building as part of a downsizing at the office. She has spent more time developing an arts business, creating images of local scenes etched in glass, mirrors or wood. She calls the business Scratch and Burn Crafts.
The flea market continues until 4 p.m. today at the Gaines Carlton Community Church at 14585 Ridge Rd., just east of Route 98.
There are 51 vendors at the flea market, including Debbie Clocksin of Rochester, in back by van. She is selling painted furniture, vintage jewelry and other collectibles. COVA, Mercy Flight, PAWS Animal Shelter and other community groups have displays at the event.
I bought this picture of an unidentified Albion man from Debbie Clocksin at the flea market. She had a stack of old portraits from Western New York. I didn’t want the photo to leave the community. If anyone has an idea who the man is, send me an email at tom@orleanshub.com.
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 3 August 2013 at 12:00 am
Photos by Tom Rivers – Paula Moyer pulls the ticket for a gift basket as part of a fundpraiser today to fund a scholarship and support the sports program at Medina Central School. Her son Terry died in a car accident on Aug. 28, 2011. He was 17.
MEDINA – Paula Moyer is continuing to keep her son’s memory alive, raising money for a scholarship and the sports program at Medina Central School.
Today, Moyer held the second annual blood drive and basket raffle in honor of her son Terry Moyer, who was 17 when he died in a tragic car accident on Culvert Road on Aug. 28, 2011.
The family awarded the first scholarship in Terry Moyer’s name this past June. Matthew Montesanti won the $250 scholarship. The scholarship will go to a graduate pursuing a building trades career or playing sports in college.
Terry played football and wrestled at Medina.
“We want to raise money for the scholarship and make sure sports are not cut,” Paula Moyer said. “He loved being in the sports.”
Donors gave 19 pints of blood during the drive at the Oak Orchard Elementary School.
Brandon Robinson, 20, of Amherst gives blood today in memory of his friend Terry Moyer. Nineteen people donated during a blood drive in Moyer’s memory.
Photo by Tom Rivers – Apples grow in this orchard in Gaines earlier this week.
Press release, NY Apple Association
FISHERS – New York state apple growers are back, and they mean business – lots more business this year because of a bigger, better crop with more of the varieties consumers love.
That’s the trade report from a conference call of leading apple growers from across the state that was held July 25. The call was hosted by New York Apple Association, which issued a statement today about the impending big crop.
Growers said this year’s crop would be 100 percent or more than their typical crop due to near-perfect growing conditions, and recent new plantings now coming into production.
This year’s harvest is expected to begin on time and proceed on schedule, with the first shipments of apples arriving at market mid-August. Fruit size and sugars should be excellent as growers have enjoyed close to perfect growing conditions this year – strong bloom, good pollination and plenty of sunlight, heat and moisture.
New York state apple shippers will have more supplies of popular varieties including HoneyCrisp, Gala, McIntosh and Empire because of new plantings over the past 5 to 6 years that are now figuratively – and literally – bearing fruit.
“We want retailers to know that we have more than rebounded from last year, thanks to much more benevolent weather and smart growers who’ve been planting more of what consumers want,” said NYAA President Jim Allen, who hosted the grower conference call. “Call your shippers today to start planning your New York state apple promotions.”
Allen noted that harvest bins, packing capacity and storage space are sufficient to allow an orderly progression to market.
NYAA’s grower leaders forecasted the 2013 New York apple crop will easily meet the state’s 5-year average production of 29 million bushels, and recent plantings now coming into production may push that to exceed 30 million bushels. This year’s good-news crop comes after early-season freezes last year decimated much of the state’s crop in the bud. The 2012 crop was estimated at 17.1 million bushels.
Growers are happy this year, and they are certain retailer and consumers will be too.
“Our retailers saw what was possible last year even with a small crop, prices were strong,” said Allen. “The New York apple industry can’t wait to see what we can do together with them this year.”
To build buyer demand for the 2013 crop, NYAA has been advertising all year long to retailers. Taglines have included “from blossom to awesome” and “live from New York!”
