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Albion will try for Bullard, sewer grants

By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 11 July 2013 at 12:00 am

ALBION – The Village will submit an application to state to upgrade Bullard Park and also is working on an proposal to replace sanitary sewers on three village streets.

The grants are due next month. The board voted Wednesday to seek a $500,000 request from the state for Bullard Park, a project that wasn’t approved last year. Mayor Dean Theodorakos believes Albion has a better chance this funding round.

The village spent $20,000 last year upgrading playground equipment at the Pee Wee Park section of Bullard and also has $50,000 in a capitol reserve that could be spent at Bullard. He thinks that shows the village is willing to put some of its own money into the park, and not just rely on state funding.

The community also completed a comprehensive plan since the last grant application. That plan guides land use and identifies priorities in Albion, including the Bullard improvements.

The project is largely changed from a year ago when Albion sought state funding for two reseeded ball fields, new playground equipment and a 6,400-foot-long hiking trail carved through the park.

The grant wasn’t approved as part of the Consolidated Funding Application process, which places an emphasis on projects with a regional significance. The village is paying LaBella Associates of Rochester $1,000 to resubmit the grant.

The village also wants a $600,000 state grant to replace sewers on portions of Crimson Drive, Caroline Street, and East State Street between Platt Street and just past Ingersoll Street.

The village needs to do an income survey of residents in the project area to see if the majority of residents are low- to moderate-income. That would make Albion eligible for the state grant. LaBella has sent 83 surveys to residents, but only eight have returned them. The village needs at least 53 for the application.

Village Board members said they would go door-to-door to residents in the target area, explaining the grant and need for the surveys. Board members may be out knocking on doors on Saturday.

House passes Farm Bill with Collins’ support

By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 11 July 2013 at 12:00 am

Democrats decry passage without nutrition programs

WASHINGTON – A Farm Bill narrowly passed the House of Representatives today with the backing of Rep. Chris Collins, R-Clarence.

The legislation was criticized by another area Congressional representative. Louise Slaughter, D-Fairport, noted the Farm Bill didn’t include funding for nutrition programs for the first time since 1973.

She rebuked the Republican-majority on the House floor and continued to criticize them on Twitter, saying the Republican-led approval of the Farm Bill today was “shameful and a new low for the GOP.”

Collins, in a statement, said the nutrition programs will be taken up on a later date. He serves on the House Agriculture Committee.

“Today’s passage of a House Farm Bill is a critical step forward for the hardworking men and women of our agricultural community,” he said in a statement this afternoon. “This legislation provides farmers with needed regulatory reform and cost-effective programs while saving taxpayers money by ending duplicative and overlapping programs.”

Collins said the legislation will direct more research funding to land-grant universities, including Cornell, “which provide critical support to our local farms and growers.”

The food stamp program accounted for 80 percent of a Senate version of the Farm Bill.

Dean Norton of Elba, president of New York Farm Bureau, said the legislation should have been a great victory for the farm community, but it continues the uncertainty over the country’s ag policy.

“While many of the provisions in this House Farm bill are good for New York and we fought hard for their inclusion, we opposed splitting the agriculture and nutrition portions into separate bills that break apart the urban-rural collaboration that has been critical for decades in advancing farm and food policy in this country,” Norton said in a statement.

The House vote brings “unknown long-term ramifications,” Norton said.

“New York Farm Bureau will continue to work with the entire Congressional delegation for successful completion of a Farm Bill that serves the needs of farmers, our communities and our neighbors in need,” he said.

Extension will burn mortgage at fair

Posted 11 July 2013 at 12:00 am

Provided photo – Orleans County Legislators David Callard, left, and Ken Rush, right, stand outside the Dwight “Buzz” Hill Education Center at the 4-H Fairgrounds in Knowlesville with CCE Interim Director Paul Lehman.

Press release
CCE of Orleans County

KNOWLESVILLE – Residents, business owners and public officials in Orleans County will be happy to know that their generous donations and volunteer help have paid off with the completion of the mortgage payments for the “Buzz” Hill Education Center at the 4-H fairgrounds.

The Extension will burn the mortgage during a 5:45 p.m. presentation on opening day at the 4-H Fair on July 22. An event for donors is being planned for September.

“We decided to try to burn the mortgage at the 4-H Fair,” said Ed Neal, chairman of the Extension Board of Directors. “A final push in May brought dozens of checks from this generous community.”

Much the same as a homeowner celebrates the retirement of a home mortgage after years of sacrifice, residents can feel as though they have a piece of ownership in what Extension officials say is one of the finest education centers in the state.

The effort to build an improved facility to replace the older center on Main Street in Albion began in 2000 when the Extension Board of Directors established a goal of creating a permanent facility at the fairgrounds. Originally scheduled to be paid off in 2014, at least $2,000 in interest is expected to be saved with this final push.

While many area residents see the facility at the fairgrounds and know about the 4-H organization, they may not realize that this center of non-formal education is much more than a youth organization and a fair.

One hundred years ago, Cooperative Extension had its founding in Broome County, New York. Then known as Farm Bureau, the organization, early on was totally focused on rural farm improvement. The addition of “home economics” sought to improve domestic life.

In January 1917, Orleans County came on board with the establishment of the first Farm Bureau Office in the Waterman Building in Albion. Nine months later, the “Home Economics Commission” was established to serve homemakers. 4-H Clubs of Orleans County officially were organized in 1938.

Today, agricultural educational needs are much more sophisticated. Orleans shares with other counties a portion of budgets for specialists in tree fruit, vegetables, dairy, livestock and field crops. Two of 19 specialists that Orleans has access to are housed in the Orleans office.

While the organization has experienced some turnover in local staff, the organization is recruiting a full-time program director who will also be a youth issues leader.

“We have serious budgetary constraints from narrowing federal and state dollars and know we must pull ourselves up with our own bootstraps by generating grant income and business income from use of the grounds,” said Interim Director Paul Lehman. “We appreciate the considerable support from the County Legislature.”

The word “cooperative” in Cooperative Extension means cooperation between federal, state and local governments and by memorandum of agreement to, as the organization’s mission states: put knowledge to work in pursuit of economic vitality, ecological sustainability and social well-being. It brings local experience and research based solutions together, helping New York State families and communities thrive in our rapidly changing world.

The board of directors of Orleans County Cornell Cooperative Extension hopes that the organization will continue to serve residents for another 100 years.

Enlarging the Canal in Medina

Posted 11 July 2013 at 12:00 am

By Bill Lattin
Orleans County Historian

MEDINA – This picture taken in 1913 shows, in the foreground, the top of the aqueduct in the bottom of the canal in which the Oak Orchard Creek flows through. This is just before the water tumbles over Medina Falls.

This photo is looking west into the Erie Canal Basin at Medina when the last enlargement to this historic waterway was under construction. The building with a smoke stack in the middle ground in the A.L. Swett Electric Light and Power Co. Behind the stack is the tower of the Bancroft House. It was a hotel and is now the NAPA store. In the distance to the left appears the steeple of the First Baptist Church.

MLB’s Carbo connects with kids

By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 10 July 2013 at 12:00 am

Baseball star runs clinic before talk tonight at Grace Baptist

Photos by Tom Rivers

Bernie Carbo ran a hitting clinic for about 40 kids this afternoon at Butts Park in Medina.

MEDINA – Bernie Carbo and Pastor Dickson Beam didn’t know what to expect when they arrived at Butts Park in Medina this afternoon for a baseball clinic.

Carbo, a retired Major League Baseball player, has led hitting clinics in communities before. He typically has about 10 to 20 kids show up.

Today, about 40 kids came to the clinic and most were joined by their parents and grandparents. Carbo needed three fields to run the clinic.

“The pastor did a great job,” Carbo said about Beam, the leader of Grace Baptist Church on Park Avenue. “I’m delighted to see so many parents and grandparents out here working with the kids.”

Carbo, a star of the 1975 World Series with the Red Sox, spent two hours in the hot sun with the kids, telling them to keep their front shoulder down and front arm in when they get ready to swing. He warned against keeping the elbows up too high, something players are taught when they are kids. Carbo thinks that makes it harder to hit, and messes with a player’s balance.

Carbo said it’s more important to keep the hands loose, holding the bat with the fingers and not in the palms of the hand.

“Step and pivot,” he called to the kids, some as young as 5.

Carbo wraps up the clinic by addressing the players, urging them to be positive on the field and not worry about making outs.

Bernie Carbo, a former Major League Baseball star, signed bats, gloves and books for children and their parents after today’s hitting clinic.

Carbo runs a baseball camp near Mobile, Ala. During the summer he travels, teaching baseball fundamentals and preaching, sharing his personal story of overcoming drug and alcohol addiction after he became a Christian 20 years ago.

Carbo praised the Medina community for the turnout at the clinic.

“There were fathers and mothers here working with their kids,” he said. “There were grandparents here. We want to build those relationships.”

He told them to “edify and build up” the children. He warned against yelling at players.

“If you’re going to say something, tell them that you love them,” he said. “Tell them it’s OK to make outs.”

Carbo, 65, will speak at Grace Baptist Church on Park Avenue at 7 p.m. today.

Nominees sought for Medina Sandstone Hall of Fame

By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 10 July 2013 at 12:00 am

Photos by Tom Rivers – The former railroad depot, now used as senior citizen center in Medina, is an example of Medina Sandstone’s use for commercial structures during the region’s booming industrial era in the early 1900s.

St. Mary’s Catholic Church in Canandaigua is one of many fine examples of well-maintained and massive church buildings made from Medina Sandstone.

MEDINA – The Medina Sandstone Society, which is working to establish a Hall of Fame to celebrate sandstone structures, welcomes the public’s help in picking buildings for the site. The Hall of Fame committee will take nominees until July 20.

The first group in the Medina Sandstone Hall of Fame needs to “be a special class,” stunning examples of buildings made from the local stone, said Jim Hancock, a member of the committee working to establish the HOF.

The committee welcomes nominees from all over the state, and even beyond NY’s borders. Hancock said the committee, which also includes David Miller and John Slack, wants a list of nominees. The group will then go make site visits.

He is hopeful the first class will be inducted with a ceremony in October. The Hall of Fame will likely be in a temporary location for its infancy. Hancock would like to see the site move to a more permanent site at some point. Neither a temporary or long-term site has been picked.

The Sandstone Society is looking for structures that fall into four classes: churches, homes, public buildings or ornamental (architectural). The criteria by which these nominees will be judged by the selection committee includes age, beauty, architectural uniqueness and longevity.

“We can consider nominees from Medina and from out of the area because Medina Sandstone has been used world-wide,” Hancock said.

Hancock expects there to be four to six inductees in the first class. Each member of the Class of 2013 will receive a plaque from the Sandstone Society signifying its acceptance into the Hall of Fame. Another plaque with a picture will be placed in the local Hall of Fame. The Sandstone Society wants to make this an annual event.

Nominations, with a brief description, should be sent to Jim Hancock at hancock_jim@verizon.net. He will share them to the Selection Committee. Nominators should include their contact information.

‘Beaver Alley’ pitch in Albion not intended as innuendo

By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 10 July 2013 at 12:00 am

ALBION – I’ve heard people joke about it before, some of the distinctively unique street signs we have in Orleans County, signs that show you’re clearly in a rural community.

Woodchuck Alley in Kendall tops the list. But I also like Johnny Cake Lane in Barre, Zig Zag Road in Gaines and Beaver Alley in Albion.

People get a kick out of these signs, and I’ve thought people would buy replicas. Call me crazy, but I’ve been brainstorming possible merchandise that promotes the area and makes a little money for some of the business owners.

I’m the chairman for the street-scape subcommittee in Albion. We’ve been tasked with coming up with a plan for spending a $50,000 NY Main Street grant.

One the projects calls for replacing the green street signs in the historic district. We don’t have a final design approved by the state DOT or the historic preservation officials yet, but we’d like the signs to be blue and white, with “Historic Albion” in a box above the street name. We thought this would help “brand” the historic district, make it stand out from the other streets.

I also thought we could have replicas made of these street signs and they might sell at the local stores, especially if we create a more inviting and interesting downtown.

I talked about this during several Village Board meeting last fall and winter. I mentioned I thought the Beaver Alley sign would be a hot-seller. Apparently I chuckled when I said this, and some folks in the audience at one of meetings thought I was making a perverse joke.

This was brought up at the Village Board meeting two weeks ago by residents Mark and Rhonda Parker. They chastised the board for laughing at what the Parkers took as sexual innuendo. Last night Trustee Eileen Banker told the Parkers she was “appalled” by their accusations. Banker asked me during the meeting what my intentions were in wanting to promote Beaver Alley.

I told her and the board I wasn’t making a sexual reference, that I thought the sign, given the street’s oddball name, could actually be a popular piece of merchandise.

I laughed during the meeting a few months ago because I knew there was a chance some people would find the idea of people buying replica street signs a little bizarre. I was nervous the Village Board wouldn’t take the idea seriously. But I do think some people would buy “Beaver Alley” because it’s an unusual name that is uniquely Albion.

The Parkers have attended the past two Village Board meetings, urging the board to take action against Village Code Enforcement Officer Ron Vendetti for what they claim is selective enforcement of the codes.

They have started a “Fix Albion” Facebook page and presented a list of recommendations to Mayor Dean Theodorakos for improving Vendetti’s job performance. Theodorakos told the Parkers he supports Vendetti.

Cobblestone Museum has new canal exhibit, showing life from a century ago

By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 10 July 2013 at 12:00 am

Photo by Tom Rivers – Deborah Brundage, director of the Cobblestone Society Museum, holds one of 21 historic photos from the Erie Canal that are part of a new exhibit at the museum, 14393 Ridge Rd., just east of Route 98.

GAINES – The photos show laborers in the bottom of the canal, working to deepen and widen the waterway back in 1913.

The state moved to upgrade the canal, which was in decline 100 years ago. It was a massive effort to excavate and widen. The Orleans County History Department has many photographs of the work from a century ago.

They have been enlarged and professionally displayed in a new exhibit at the Cobblestone Society Museum. The 21 pictures will be displayed after this summer at Hoag Library in Albion.

“The canal is part of our local history,” said Deborah Brundage, director of the Cobblestone Society Museum. “The canal opened up the region for development and let farmers sell their crops more easily.”

The historic images show construction on the canal, boats using the waterway, and residents enjoying life in a canal town.

One of the historic images shows a family crossing a pedestrian bridge over the canal in Medina.

One picture shows a group trying to cross a pedestrian bridge in Medina. Another picture shows a woman standing in front of the Canal Culvert in Ridgeway.

Albion eighth-graders researched the images and wrote the labels that will describe the images. The museum will have a reception for the exhibit at 3 p.m. on July 20.

The Erie Canalway Corridor provided a $7,000 grant to create the display, and offer programming about the canal.

The Cobblestone Church will host four free lectures about local canal history. Those events are at 2 p.m. on Saturdays.

The lectures include the following:

Jeff Donahue, director of the Holland Land Office Museum in Batavia, on Saturday will discuss “Joseph Ellicott and the Holland Land Office Purchase.”

Gretchen Murray Sepik on July 20 will portray Erie Canal Sal and sign copies of her book about the theatrical character, a cook on a canal boat.

Orleans County Historian Bill Lattin will give an overview of the canal and its impact locally on Aug. 3.

Gaines Town Historian Dee Robinson will discuss life on a canal boat, “from a female perspective” during an Aug. 10 lecture.

Hoag Library Director Susan Rudnicky, who is also president of the Cobblestone Museum board, wrote the grant for the canal exhibit and programs.

Designs sought for public art project in downtown Albion

By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 9 July 2013 at 12:00 am

Christine Versteeg submitted this design of a tugboat for a bench-painting art project in Albion.

ALBION – The street furniture in Albion will soon offer more than a place to sit down.

Twelve new benches will tell stories about Albion’s past, and highlight some of the community’s assets. The Albion Main Street Alliance is organizing a public art project where the benches will be painted with heritage themes.

This may include paintings about the community’s ties to the canal, sandstone quarries and agriculture.

Prominent Albionites, such as Santa Claus School founder Charles Howard, also may be depicted on a bench.

I’m helping to round up submissions from artists. There was a public meeting about this project back in May, and I’ve been connecting with artists since then.

There is still time for artists to submit proposals for this project. The deadline to submit a design is 4 p.m. July 16. Those designs could be dropped off at The Lake Country Pennysaver, 170 North Main St., Albion. Or they could be emailed to me at tom@orleanshub.com.

The rendering must be in color because local and state historic preservation officials want to see the colors.

The 6-foot-long benches will have wooden slats that are very close together. The paintings will be like mini-murals promoting the community. The benches will be outside on the sidewalks from April until late fall. Then will then spend the winter inside local businesses.

Some possible subjects for the benches include: the top of the Briggs building, Mount Albion arch and tower, apples, cobblestones, Chinook salmon, Courthouse Square, tugboats and other canal icons.

Besides Charles Howard, benches could feature Grace Bedell (the Albion girl who wrote to Lincoln, advising him to grow a beard), George Pullman (a furniture maker in Albion before his sleeping railroad car fortune) and a “Governor’s Bench,” featuring Albionite Rufus Bullock who became governor of Georgia, Medina native George Anthony who went on to be Kansas governor, and Sanford Church of Albion, who served as NY’s lieutenant governor.

Artists are welcome to submit their own ideas for a themed bench.

Artists will be paid $400 for their work. This project is part of $50,000 in street-scape improvements that are being paid for with a NY Main Street grant.

For more information, contact me at tom@orleanshub.com.

Coming soon to downtown Albion: $50K in street-scape improvements

By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 9 July 2013 at 12:00 am

These bike racks, which will be painted blue, highlight Albion’s canal heritage. Design by DERO Bike Rack Company.

ALBION – This fall a series of street-scape improvements will be added to downtown Albion, with new tugboat-themed bike racks, potted trees and planters, benches painted as murals, a historical marker and interpretive panel about the downtown historic district.

The street signs in the historic district will be swapped out with signs that are blue and white and say “Historic Albion” on the top. The Main Street clock will have a sandstone base and one sandstone bench will be added to a downtown sidewalk. That bench is planned to stay out year-round.

The Albion Town Board on Monday backed the list of projects and agreed to front the money for the $50,000 in improvements. The state is paying for the projects as part of a $477,000 Main Street grant awarded to the community in December 2011.

The bulk of the grant is matching funds for building projects. The state also approved the $50,000 for Albion’s street-scape, money that doesn’t require a local match. However, the town will pay for the projects and then be reimbursed by the state.

Katelin Olson, the Albion Main Street Alliance interim executive director, wrote the grant and has been administering the funding. The list of projects, with their final designs, needs to be submitted to state officials by the end of next week. It will likely take four to six weeks for state review. Then the community can begin installing some of the improvements, likely between September and November.

I’ve been the chairman of the street-scape subcommittee, which formed about 18 months ago. We’ve been trying to build on our canal and sandstone heritage with these new additions, while also adding trees and flowers to the downtown landscape.