By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 29 May 2013 at 12:00 am
Suhr, other top pole vaulters, doing free event
Photo by Tom Rivers – Jenn Suhr competes in a pole vaulting exhibition in September at her alma mater, Roberts Wesleyan College in Rochester.
LYNDONVILLE – Local residents who want to see the best woman pole vaulter in the world will get their chance Friday when Jenn Suhr competes at a sanctioned event at the White Birch Golf Course.
The second fairway will be used a runway for six vaulters, including Medina native Janice Keppler, the country’s fourth-ranked vaulter.
The White Birch is owned by Harold Suhr, who is Jenn’s brother-in-law. She married Harold’s brother Rick, who also is her coach. Rick grew up in Lyndonville and used to practice the vault on the golf course, using hay to soften his landing. Rick and Jenn have homes in Kendall and Churchville.
The vaulting will begin at 6 p.m. and go until it’s dark. There is no cost to attend the event and Suhr will have 2,000 posters on hand for free for her fans. Spectators are urged to bring their own lawn chairs.
Suhr captured the gold medal at the London Olympics last August. She won silver in 2008. Just last weekend she won an invitational in New York City.
Other competitors in Lyndonville 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 latter three were all strong performers in the recent NCAA east regionals in North Carolina.
The White Birch is located at 1515 North Lyndonville Rd.
Morris Taylor allegedly robbed Albion pizzeria in February
Morris M. Taylor
Press release
Albion Police Department
ALBION – An Albion man was charged with robbery on Tuesday after he allegedly was armed with a knife and robbed a pizza delivery person outside Mark’s Pizzeria in Albion.
That robbery allegedly occurred on Feb. 28 at the pizzeria, 171 South Clinton St. After the robbery, Morris M. Taylor, 23, allegedly left the area with $300.
Taylor, a resident of 239 East State St., was charged with the crime on Tuesday. The Orleans County Major Felony Crimes Task Force developed information in the case that led them to the suspect.
Surveillance was used by law enforcement to locate Taylor in the town of Batavia, where he was taken into custody. Taylor was arraigned in Albion Town Court and placed in Orleans County Jail on $25,000 bail. He is to appear in court at 10 a.m. on Friday.
MEDINA – Orleans Community Health recently celebrated the renovations to the Mammography Department at Medina Memorial Hospital.
Community members stepped up to raise money for the project. The annual Pink Crystal Ball, in particular, played a major role in upgrades.
Hospital officials gathered May 14 for a dedication ceremony. Pictured include, from left: Bruce Krenning, OCH Board President; Sue Knutson, Lead Mammographer; Victor Vicknair from the Pink Crystal Ball; Jeanne Crane, OCH Foundation Board President; Renee Lama of the Pink Crystal Ball; Kathy Vicknair, Founder of Pink Crystal Ball; and Randy Nieswonger, vice president of patient care.
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 29 May 2013 at 12:00 am
10 speakers will be mounted outside on Bank Street
Photos by Tom Rivers – Albion Town Councilman Jake Olles stands on East Bank Street where he wants 10 all-weather speakers to play music in the downtown.
ALBION – Jake Olles has been to Medina and heard the music being piped into the downtown with outdoor speakers.
“People say the music is great in Medina,” Olles said. “Why can’t we do it in Albion?”
Olles has spearheaded an effort to have outdoor music in the downtown. The Albion town councilman convinced the majority of the Town Board to purchase 10 speakers for the project. Olles estimated those speakers would cost about $700 for the 10. The money would come out of the town’s parks and recreation budget.
The Albion Village Board voted tonight to accept the speakers, but the board wants village electrician Rick Albright to recommend whether the speakers should be wireless or be wired through the existing light poles.
Olles has a 400-disc CD player secured from Empire Trading owner Jacob Atwell of Albion. Atwell offered to donate the player, which would likely be controlled in village hall. Olles believes community members would donate music for the project.
Some of the speakers would be aimed towards Main Street and West Bank Street, so the music could be heard near the Family Hardware and former Gus’s Soda Shop, according to the proposal from Albion Town Councilman Jake Olles.
The village would have to buy speaker wire for the speakers if village officials decide to use wire for the system. The village also would need to install the equipment.
Olles pushed for the outdoor music after seeing the success of the project in Medina. He also thinks the music would be a positive addition to a farmers’ market planned for Sundays this summer, as well as other downtown events in Albion.
“If we’re going to have a farmers’ market and a Christmas walk, it would be good to have some music,” Olles told the Village Board.
Mayor Dean Theodorakos and Village Board members praised Olles and the town for pushing the project.
“I certainly appreciate the town coming to us,” said Trustee Eileen Banker.
In other action tonight, the board voted to pursue a $100,000 bond to be paid back over five years. That money will be used for road and drainage projects. The village won’t know the interest rate until it goes on the market for the bond. The rates are low at about a .50 percent rate, said Linda Babcock, the village clerk-treasurer.
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 29 May 2013 at 12:00 am
MEDINA – A day-old baby surrendered to the Medina Fire Department on Saturday is currently in foster care and in good health, said a spokeswoman for the United Memorial Medical Center in Batavia.
Medina firefighters took the baby to UMMC after the mother surrendered the child. The baby has been discharged and the case has been turned over to the Orleans County Department of Social Services, said Colleen Flynn, director of community relations for UMMC.
Tom Kuryla, the Orleans DSS commissioner, said confidentiality laws prevent him from discussing the case. He would neither confirm nor deny the Orleans DSS is involved.
Flynn would not disclose the baby’s sex or weight.
“We want to protect the mom, and we want people to feel comfortable to surrender the child if they don’t think they can care for the baby,” Flynn said.
She said other babies have been surrendered at the hospital.
“It’s not common, but this isn’t the first time,” she said.
The state’s Safe Haven Law allows a parent to leave a baby, up to 30 days old, “with any responsible person at a suitable location in New York.” A suitable location is typically a hospital, fire hall or police station. The parent needs to locate a person at the site before the child is surrendered.
“We hope that more people would choose to do this as opposed to something that’s not safe,” Flynn said.
She contrasted the Medina baby with an incident in China, where a 22-year-old woman gave birth to a baby in a bathroom. The baby boy was then found stuck in a sewer pipe. The baby is recovering in a hospital in a case that has become an international story.
Flynn said she is confident there will be good outcome for the baby from Medina.
“We believe the baby is in a safe environment and will be in a safe, loving home,” Flynn said. “There are many parents who are willing to adopt a baby.”
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 29 May 2013 at 12:00 am
Photos by Tom Rivers – The former Jubilee in Medina has been gutted and turned into a hardware and lumber business at 342 East Center St. Ace Hardware opened the site last month following more than a year of renovations.
MEDINA – When Roger Andrews was at the closing to buy the former Hahn Hardware in Medina, local attorney Andrew Meier asked Andrews his long-term goal for the store.
Andrews said he would likely need more space. He wanted to offer more lumber and other choices for customers. That was on April 11, 2011.
Meier, who also serves as Medina’s mayor, suggested Andrews take a look at the former Jubilee store on East Center Street. That building had been empty since 2006, closing soon after Walmart opened a Supercenter in Albion.
Andrews, 42, went to see the former Jubilee and immediately saw possibilities in the vacant and run-down property. He acquired the site from the county by paying $100,000 in back taxes.
For 13 months he worked at transforming the 26,000-square-foot building. The store was gutted, with walls taken out to accommodate an Ace Hardware. Andrews opened the Ace on April 22 to praise from the community. He held the grand-opening celebration on May 18-19.
“It’s really cleaned up that end of the business district,” Meier said.
Roger Andrews, owner of the Ace Hardware in Medina, talks with customer Gloria Short at the former Jubilee site, which was renovated in a 13-month project.
The former Jubilee is a large building at the gateway to the downtown business district, coming on Route 31 from Albion. Meier said other building owners have also invested in that part of the village. He noted improvements by Lyon’s Collision and Tom Snyder, owner of Medina Lumber and Hardware.
“It’s great to see that continued investment at the end of the village,” Meier said.
Andrews said the former Jubilee site has tripled the space for hardware supplies. The other side of the building includes room for lumber. Andrews said the site has 36,000 different products and he will add more if there is a demand for them.
“With this style and layout it is so much easier for the customers,” Andrews said. “It’s bigger and brighter. You have aisles you can walk up and down.”
Andrews also owns an Ace Hardware in Derby, south of Hamburg. He has 26 years in the business, starting as a teen-ager.
Mark Watts of Medina shops in the plumbing section at the Ace Hardware in Medina.
He praised the Medina community for the renaissance in downtown Medina, with several new businesses opening in recent years and building owners tackling big renovation projects.
“The community has done such a great job on Main Street,” he said. “It’s definitely on an upswing.”
He changed the façade of the former Jubilee to make it look like a store from the early 1900s. He said the building provides a nice transition to the historic district.
“It would have been a shame to let this building sit,” he said. “This is the right project for this spot.”
He is working with tenants to use the former Hahn site on West Avenue across from the library. And Andrews is looking at other spots in Medina for other projects. But he’s going to hold off for now after working so hard to change the former Jubilee site.
“I want to do other rehab projects in Medina,” he said. “But I promised my wife I’d take a break.”
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 29 May 2013 at 12:00 am
Photos courtesy of Thom Jennings – Thom Jennings and his son Thom Jr. both ran the Buffalo Half Marathon on Sunday, finishing the 13.1-mile course in 2 hours, 11 minutes.
ALBION – It started as a bet. Who could lose the most weight?
Thom Jennings and his two brothers-in-law had a friendly competition last year. Jennings won, losing 100 pounds through better nutrition and exercise.
This year he wanted a new goal. He set out to run a marathon. He wanted to train for the 26.2-mile race by running with his 24-year-old son, Thom Jr. The two have run five races together, with Sunday’s half marathon in Buffalo their biggest race so far. They crossed the finish line together in 2 hours, 11 minutes. There were 6,000 runners on the course.
“It was a great experience,” said Jennings, 46, of Albion. “Running has an incredible cross section of people.”
Jennings has used running to stay fit. He said he has far more energy and zest for life as a slimmer person. He works as social worker in Niagara County. He also writes music reviews and features part-time, and is a lead singer for a local band.
His son, 24, has lost more than 50 pounds since getting serious about exercise in November. Thom Jr. works for an advertising company in Buffalo. He is engaged to Erica Graham of Albion.
“I was never into running,” Thom Jr. said “But running on the streets of Buffalo, through the first ward and past the grain mills, was such an adrenaline rush. When you’re running with thousands of other people, you’re high on life.”
The father and son are pictured in May 2011, when Thom Jr. graduated from college.
The two plan to run the June 8 Strawberry Festival race together, choosing the longer 8-kilometer distance, rather than the 5k.
“It’s one thing to have the goal of losing weight, but we’ve tried to make it fun,” Thom Jr. said.
The father and son want to run a fall marathon together. Then they’re thinking about trying an ironman event, which includes running, swimming and biking.
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 28 May 2013 at 12:00 am
Photos by Tom Rivers – The Albion Lions Club is giving five Albion High School seniors each $500 in scholarships to help pay for college. The students were invited to the club’s meeting tonight at the Masonic Lodge on Platt Street. The group includes, from left: Dennis Smith, member of the Lions scholarship committee; Sarah Papponetti; Gretta Smith; Lions Club President Wilfred Moss; Tanisha Moyer, Michael Patterson; and Bob Galbreath, member of scholarship committee. Alison O’Hearn was unable to attend the Lions Club meeting.
ALBION – A year of fund-raising, from selling geraniums to sausage, bore fruit today when the Lions Club in Albion awarded five scholarships for a combined $2,500. The club also presented a check for $5,000 to the Orleans County YMCA.
“We like to support the kids in school,” said long-time member Dennis Smith, a member of the scholarship committee.
The club awarded $500 scholarships to the following students: Tanisha Moyer, who is headed to Niagara County Community College to study psychology; Sarah Papponetti, a physical therapy major at Nazareth College; Michael Patterson, who will study engineering at Harvard University; Alison O’Hearn, a biology and pre-med major at Grove City College; and Gretta Smith, an undecided major at Monroe Community College.
The club also presented a $5,000 check to the Orleans County YMCA, which is raising money for a $400,000 capital project in Medina at the former armory. The organization has increased its efforts in Albion, running child care and summer camps.
“They’ve expanded throughout Orleans County,” Smith said. “We think it’s worthwhile to support them.”
The Lions Club also is giving $5,000 towards the $400,000 capital campaign for the Orleans County YMCA in Medina. The organization has expanded its programming in Albion. Pictured, from left: Lions Club President Wilfred Moss, Y Board President Dean Bellack, and Dan Parker, Lions vice president.
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 28 May 2013 at 12:00 am
Episcopalians built massive church with stone from Hulberton
Photos by Tom Rivers – St. Paul’s Cathedral, built in Buffalo by the Episcopal Church in 1851, was built from Medina sandstone that came from the first quarry in Hulberton.
The building is located on Pearl Street in the heart of downtown Buffalo.
BUFFALO – In 1849, the congregation of St. Paul’s Episcopal Church was told by prominent church architect Richard Upjohn to build its new church out of limestone.
The church was wealthy and had 1,000 members. But it wasn’t that wealthy. Limestone was costly because the stone is so difficult to quarry.
“The church vestry didn’t think we could afford limestone,” said Martha Neri, the church archivist.
A church member swayed Upjohn to use Medina sandstone in designing the building. Sandstone is softer, easier to quarry and the stone was prolific about 50 miles down on the canal in Orleans County. Upjohn agreed.
St. Paul’s would need a lot of stone for the cavernous Gothic revival church in the heart of Buffalo. Henry Streater represented the church and went looking for sandstone. He found it in Hulberton.
Streater bought about 3.5 acres at $80 an acre from Samuel Copeland, according to St. Paul’s church records. It was the first quarry in Hulberton.
The curved columns in the sanctuary also are made of Medina sandstone.
The stone was quarried and sent by the canal to Buffalo. It would be used to build a church that is listed as a National Historic Landmark.
I walked into St. Paul’s on Sunday for the first time. I nearly fell over walking into the sanctuary.
This place is overwhelming with its high ceiling, stained glass and curved columns made of sandstone.
Upjohn earned fame for the Gothic revival style with his design of New York’s Trinity Episcopal Church in 1846. That style has windows that are shaped to look like praying hands.
“You see those windows and you know it’s a church,” Neri told me.
The church has numerous stained-glass windows that are framed by sandstone. The window over the altar, which shows Christ’s ascension, was made by the Henry Holliday and Company of London. The 11 disciples are also depicted.
The Gothic revival style also is mysterious and romantic – “There’s something unpredictable around the corner,” she said.
The church opened at 128 Pearl St. in 1851, but wasn’t quite done. The 300-foot-high spire was finished in 1870, and used stone from a different Hulberton quarry owned by Alfred Squire. (The carriage step owned by the Squire family is in front of a house on East State Street in Albion, now owned by Joe and Debbie Martillotta. Mr. Martillotta rescued the carriage step a few years ago.)
St. Paul’s is a tremendous showcase for Medina sandstone. Even the pulpit is made of sandstone.
The pulpit was carved from Medina sandstone.
I’ve been trying to build a database of Medina sandstone sites on the National Register of Historic Places. St. Paul’s made the list in 1973. But that designation was upgraded in 1987, when St. Paul’s was named a National Historic Landmark. (There is one National Historic Landmark in Orleans County – The Cobblestone Society Museum.)
I showed up unannounced at St. Paul’s on Sunday. I just ran the half marathon in Buffalo. I smelled. I was disheveled, wearing jeans and an old green sweater from Dale’s Market in Albion.
St. Paul’s parishioners are a well-dressed group, but they didn’t seem put off by my appearance. I asked about the church’s history, and was directed to Neri, who then gave me an hour-long recount about Medina sandstone and its use in the church.
Neri has been coming to St. Paul’s for 25 years. The Williamsville resident loves the cathedral atmosphere inside St. Paul’s.
“Here I find refuge and renewal,” she said. “It’s quiet and sophisticated. It’s elegant and majestic. It says, ‘God is awesome.’”
The church is part of a cluster of buildings that are gaining national prominence, drawing tourists to Buffalo. The Guaranty Building, designed by Louis Sullivan, is next door and is also a National Historic Landmark. It’s one of the first steel-supported, curtain-walled buildings in the world. When it was built in 1895-96, it was the tallest building in Buffalo.
The Guaranty Building, a National Historic Landmark next to St. Paul’s, is part of a cluster of architecturally significant buildings that are drawing tourists to Buffalo.
Just last month the Society of Architectural Historians held its conference in Buffalo and a tour of St. Paul’s was on the must-see list for the 600 attendees.
Although Upjohn, the church designer, initially favored limestone, Neri said the Medina sandstone has proven remarkably durable and was an excellent choice for the cathedral. On May 10, 1888, the church was nearly destroyed by fire. Only the outer Medina sandstone walls and spires remained.
The church today has about 150 members. There are Sunday services at 9 and 11:15 a.m. Boys and girls choirs draw families to St. Paul’s, giving the church a new generation to continue its mission in the future.
The church proudly displays a marker about its designation as a National Historic Landmark.
Neri believes the church is on an upswing, and will appeal to more people as part of Buffalo’s heritage movement, where several historic buildings have been renovated in recent years. More people are moving to the downtown loft apartments, Neri said.
I told Neri about the plans for a Medina Sandstone Hall of Fame, and my dream to have quarrymen memorial sites in Medina, Albion and Holley – communities where the immigrants worked in quarries to unearth and shape the stone that is so prominent in some of the region’s finest buildings. Neri said we should be proud of the quarrying heritage in Orleans County.
“You guys are important,” Neri told me. “Where would we be without you?”
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 28 May 2013 at 12:00 am
HOLLEY – Four candidates, all with experience on the Village Board, are running for two trustee positions in the June 18 village election.
The group of candidates includes former mayor Stanley “Skip” Carpenter, who is running under the Independent Party. Former village trustees Nancy Penna, People’s Party, and William Quaranto, Family Party, also are vying for trustee. Incumbent Brian Sorochty, Taxpayer Party, is seeking a term. He was appointed to the board in March after Lewis Passarell resigned.
Incumbent Ross Gaylord has decided against re-election.
The trustee terms are for two years. The election will be at the village office with polls open from noon to 9 p.m.
