ALBION – A record crowd of 270 runners joined for the annual Strawberry Festival 5k/8k race this morning.
Ryan Lubba dressed as “The Strawberry.” Anyone who beat him won a T-shirt. Lubba, a 2008 Albion grad, ran the 5k course in about 29:30.
The parade is scheduled to start at 10 a.m. today.
Photos by Tom Rivers – Rich Monacelli of Albion holds his 1-year-old grandson Matthew Schomske while watching today’s Strawberry Festival Parade on Main Street.
The turtle, being driven by Don Bishop, waves to the crowd. Hundreds of plastic turtles will race at 2 p.m. on the canal today.
Dancing Derrick does his thing for the Weed Man in Albion.
It rained during the Strawberry Festival Parade today. Big deal. A crowd turned out to show their support for the marching bands, Little League teams, firefighters and numerous other community organizations.
I’ll have more photos from the parade later today.
Photos by Tom Rivers – Gretchen Murray Sepik portrays Erie Canal Sal during the Theatre on Main Street talent showcase tonight in Albion.
ALBION – Gretchen Murray Sepik starred as Erie Canal Sal as part of the Theatre on Main Street production Saturday night to close out the Strawberry Festival.
At least 400 people watched the three-hour show on West Bank Street.
Sepik, an Albion resident, portrays Sal, a cook on canal boat in 1840. She was among the performers. (I’ll have pictures on The Hub soon of some of the other acts.)
State Sen. George Maziarz, R-Newfane, and State Assemblyman Steve Hawley, R-Batavia, both issued statements about JP Morgan Chase’s decision to close its mortgage serving facility in Albion. The company will lay off 400 people in the coming 90 days.
Hawley said 150 of the Albion workers will be eligible to seek positions at Chase offices in Rochester.
Maziarz: “The closure of JP Morgan Chase in Albion is a huge disappointment for Orleans County.
“Elected officials and economic development officials have worked extensively with the company, and its predecessors in that location, over the years to maintain good, local jobs. We would have been ready and willing to do so again if the company had reached out to us for helpwhich they chose not to do.
“I was in touch with JP Morgan Chase officials today and I expressed my frustration that this site could not have been repurposed.
“I hope that employees will be able to transition to new career opportunities, but this will certainly be a long and painful process for many. My heart goes out to them, and they should know that my colleagues and I will be more than happy to assist anyone we can who is looking for a fresh start.”
Hawley: “After the lengths the community has gone through to support Chase Bank and keep the jobs at the call center that are critical to so many local residents and families, its closure is nothing short of heartbreaking.
“With the livelihoods of so many Western New Yorkers hanging in the balance, bank management should have taken the time to come to the table with local elected officials and work on a solution. Instead, their unwillingness to partner with their supporters has led us to this point, and my heart goes out to all of the men and women who are now left searching for work in this bleak economy.
“I am committed to working with state and local officials to provide assistance for these residents and to grow businesses that are truly engaged in and committed to this community.”
Photos by Tom Rivers – A candy apple with sprinkles
Strawberry-flavored kettle corn
ALBION – It only happens once a year, so forget the calories.
A smorgasbord of deep-fried, candy-coated food awaits at the food court on East Bank Street.
Local service clubs, pizza shops and other food vendors have been toiling by grills, deep fryers and heat lamps today, and they’ll be back tomorrow.
Don’t resist.
Fried dough with powdered sugar
Pepperoni pizza
Hot dogs
Photos by Tom Rivers – Jenn Suhr charges down the runway and gets ready to vault last Friday during a competition at the White Birch Golf Course in Lyndonville. Suhr will be back in action at the White Birch at 2 p.m. on Saturday.
LYNDONVILLE – The community will have to wait another day to see Jenn Suhr and other leading pole vaulters compete at the White Birch Golf Course.
Suhr and five other vaulters competed at the White Birch last Friday. They were scheduled to be in action again today at 5:30 p.m. The threat of rain prompted organizers to push the event to 2 p.m. Saturday.
Suhr cleared 15 feet, 7 inches last Friday, the same height she topped to win a gold medal last year in London.
Janice Keppler of Medina also is competing in the event. She is currently the fourth-ranked pole vaulter in the country.
The second fairway at the golf course is being used for the event. Other competitors include: Heather Hamilton, the top-ranked vaulter in Canada; Claire Dishong of Brockport and Cornell University; Linda Hadfield of Utica and Tennessee University; and Erin Champion of Tennessee University.
The White Birch is located at 1515 North Lyndonville Rd.
Jenn Suhr clears the bar during a pole vaulting event last Friday at the White Birch. She cleared 15 feet, 7 inches, the height she passed to win a gold medal at the 2012 Olympics.
Tom Rivers/Daily News – Carlene Stockwell worked her last day at Travel Horizons in Medina today after 23 years with the Main Street business.
MEDINA – Carlene Stockwell used to be part of a team of four full-time employees, arranging flights, cruises and other trips for local residents.
The travel agents at Horizon Travel would receive a commission from the airlines and tour operators. And customers would bring back trinkets from the trips, stone shamrocks from Ireland, dancing figurines from Hawaii, sea shells from the ocean and chop sticks from Tokyo.
Stockwell worked 23 years at Travel Horizons. She was the last remaining full-time employee. Owner June Seager decided to close the business today after 24 years at 511 Main St.
“It’s been a pleasure working in the business,” Stockwell said today. “We’ve built so many friendships.”
Stockwell said the elimination of commissions from the airlines, plus the proliferation of the Internet, which makes it easier for customers to book their own trips, has pushed many travel agents out of the industry.
“It’s a very different business now,” she said. “I don’t see a future for me in travel tourism.”
It used to be a promising career. She earned a degree in travel tourism from Genesee Community College more than two decades ago. GCC no longer offers that major. It’s been adapted to “Tourism and Hospitality Management.”
Photo by Tom Rivers – Concerned Citizens of Orleans County have a float urging the county to keep the nursing home.
ALBION – One float sends the message, “Keep the Orleans County Nursing Home Public.” Another display is strongly in support of Second Amendment rights.
The floats were both in the Murray-Holley June Fest parade last Saturday. Concerned Citizens of Orleans County debuted with its float during Memorial Day in Medina.
“We just want to call attention to the issue,” said Gary Kent, a member of Concerned Citizens of Orleans County.
The group is opposed to the county’s push to sell the 120-bed nursing home, The Villages of Orleans. The County Legislature created a local development corporation and transferred the nursing home to that entity, and charged the group with finding a buyer for the nursing home. Legislators fear projected deficits that could hit $2 million to $4 million at The Villages.
NY Revolution, a grass roots group that formed after the state passed the SAFE ACT in January, has a float in support of the right to bear arms.
Both floats will be allowed in Saturday’s Albion Strawberry Festival, despite concerns from some members of the Albion Rotary Club. I’m a member of the Rotary Club. I joined about 18 months ago. Rotarians have been the chief organizers of the Strawberry Festival the past three years.
The Rotary Club strives to be apolitical. The group doesn’t want politically charged messages at its meetings or events.
The nursing home and Second Amendment floats are designed to influence public policy. They’re clearly political.
A committee of Rotarians and other community members voted to allow the two floats.
To say no to the groups wouldn’t sit well.
“It’s a First Amendment issue, and they didn’t have a problem with it in Medina, Holley or Lyndonville,” Kent told me. “If they’re uncomfortable with it, then so be it.”
Some of the other local parades are organized by municipalities. The Albion parade is technically a Rotary Club event, and that’s why some Rotarians are uneasy about the floats with political messages.
Press release, Congressman Chris Collins
Congressman Chris Collins released this statement about Chase’s announcement it was closing its site in Albion:
“The news that JP Morgan Chase plans to close its facility in Albion later this year is just another indication of how Albany’s reckless spending and runaway property taxes are costing us jobs in Western New York.€¨
“My office has been in contact with JP Morgan Chase and we will be talking in the coming days to urge them to reconsider this decision and protect these hardworking employees.”
ALBION – Tax incentives for keeping JP Morgan Chase in Albion were far from expiring.
The County of Orleans Economic Development Agency worked with local municipalities to offer a 10-year tax incentive deal to Chase that started in 2011.
That first year Chase didn’t have to pay any taxes to the local governments. With each following year, the company would pay 10 percent more of a $4,046,000 assessment until the PILOT (payment in lieu of taxes) expired in 2021. At that point, the company would be paying the full 100 percent of its taxes.
The PILOT was approved as an incentive for Chase to stay in Albion at 231 East Ave. Now that the company has announced it will be closing the Albion site, the PILOT agreement may be voided, and Chase could be billed for the full assessed value, said Jim Whipple, chief executive officer of the Orleans EDA.
The EDA board will discuss the issue. Whipple said he favors canceling the PILOT and having the property fully taxed.
That would be a significant tax boost for the village of Albion, town of Albion, Orleans County and Albion Central School. With a combined tax rate of about $45 per $1,000 of assessed property, Chase’s local property tax bill would be about $180,000. The company paid a tenth of that in 2012 and 20 percent in 2013. The PILOT schedule calls for Chase to pay 30 percent in 2014, with 10 percent more added each successive year.
Chase also hasn’t paid towards the large parking lot by the site. The village created that lot in the mid-1990s when Dime Bank expanded at the site. Dime was later acquired by Washington Mutual, which was bought by Chase in 2008. The village has plowed and maintained the parking lot ever since the Dime days.
