(left to right) Front Row – Aaron Arnett (Albion), Mason Miller (Albion). Second Row: Teacher Matt Anastasi, Chris Balk (Newfane), Jamal Christian Jr. (Lockport), Codie Miller (Newfane). Third Row: Nate Martin (Newfane), Andy Stone (Newfane), Dylanger Spry (Lockport), Kyle Clark (Lockport) and Travis Ellnor (Lockport).
Press Release: Orleans/Niagara BOCES
The Orleans/Niagara BOCES Building Trades program has been helping out Habitat for Humanity throughout the school year. The organization has asked Matt Anastasi’s class for one more favor. They wanted to know if the class, which is located at the Orleans Career and Technical Education Center, would be willing to use their skills on a smaller scale and make a playhouse for them to auction off at the Orleans County Fair to help them raise money.
“Of course we are more than glad to help out,” says Mr. Anastasi. “The students love helping out on something that benefit the people in this community. It is a great organization.”
Press release
Community Partners at Orleans Community Health
LYNDONVILLE – Medina sisters Charlene Pratt, left, and Darlene Rich, a breast cancer survivor for seven years, were among the 300 people who attended the 17th annual “For Women Only” event on May 1 at the White Birch Golf Course in Lyndonville.
Rich has attended the event for the past 15 years, except for one miss. That was the day of the event seven years ago when she got the news that she had breast cancer. She had since had treatment and is very doing well. She encourages all women to get screened.
The event on May 1 included speeches from holistic nutritionist Sara Vacin and cancer survivor Aleka Schmidt.
The benefit raised about $5,000. Those funds will assist cancer patients for expenses not covered by the Cancer Services Grant for women who are uninsured or underinsured in our area.
All women 40 and over should have a mammogram. If someone does not have insurance or they have a high deductible – please call Community Partners 585-798-6641 for a free mammogram.
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 16 May 2013 at 12:00 am
Photo Courtesy Richard Margolis – The former Holley High School, which sits in a high-profile spot on Route 31, has fallen into disrepair and has been mostly vacant for two decades.
HOLLEY – The former Holley High School has been identified by a preservation organization as one of five sites in desperate need of investment in the Rochester region.
The Landmark Society of Western New York today announced the “Five to Revive” list. The group intends to annually publish a list of five properties in need of improvement.
“Whether buildings, landscapes, or structures, they are significant historic properties whose rehabilitations can become catalytic projects for the neighborhoods and communities that surround them,” the Landmark Society stated on its Web site.
Landmark Society staff picked the five sites, calling them “irreplaceable historic resources.” The Landmark Society offered to work collaboratively with owners, municipal officials and developers to facilitate investment and foster rehabilitation so that these structures can again play an active role in their communities.
In addition to the Holley school, the Landmark Society picked the following as Five to Revive: the Pulaski Library, 1151 Hudson Ave., Rochester;Former Eastman Dental Dispensary, 800 Main St., Rochester; Pedestrian Bridges in Genesee Valley Park, Rochester; Sampson Theatre, 130-136 East Elm St., Penn Yan.
The Holley school was last used about two decades ago by Liftec Manufacturing, which went bankrupt. The site was last used as a school in the early 1970s.
Here is what the Landmark Society wrote about the school:
Holley High School
Wright Street (NYS Route 31) at Main Street (NYS 237)
Village of Holley, Orleans County
Built in 1931, the former Holley High School is a strategically located and well-recognized landmark, which occupies a prominent site in the village at the central intersection of Wright and Main streets (NYS Routes 31 & 237).
This Neo-Classical Revival building is located within the Holley Village Historic District, which has been declared officially eligible for listing in the State and National Registers of Historic Places.
This historic district, situated in the core of the village, is a significant collection of late-nineteenth and early twentieth-century commercial, religious, residential, and educational architecture.Between 1825 and the early twentieth century, Holley was a small, yet bustling, canal-side transportation hub, as well as a center of commercial activity for the surrounding rural, agrarian region.
The very irregular street pattern is a reflection of the village’s earliest decades of prosperity, when its primary thoroughfare (Route 31) developed along the curving route of the west bank of the 1825 Erie Canal.The canal was rerouted to the north during the 1850s-’60s, although the southern loop through the center of the village was in local service well into the early twentieth century.
The highly visible site of this former school has been the location of two high school buildings, one constructed in 1896 and its successor, the present building, which was erected in 1930. Designed by Rochester architect and school specialist, Carl Ade, the former Holley High School was described as “the latest type of modern school construction” and featured fire-proof construction with structural steel frame, reinforced concrete floors, and brick exterior walls.
Its restrained Neo-Classical design included a handsome columned portico on the façade. This prominent building served as the community’s high school into the mid-1970s. There has been only intermittent use of limited sections of the school in the intervening years. The former high school is a major visual anchor in the village business district.
A contributing building in the proposed “Holley Village Historic District,” the former Holley High School also appears to be individually eligible for listing in the State and National Register of Historic Places.
WHY SELECTED
A highly visible anchor in this historic Erie Canal village, the former Holley High School is one of the most important civic buildings in Orleans County. Its notable historic and architectural significance, combined with its prominent location and scale of design, make it an important candidate for rehabilitation and re-use after nearly 30 years of vacancy.
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 16 May 2013 at 12:00 am
Photo by Tom Rivers – Gary Withey, owner of Fischer’s Newsroom on North Main Street, waits on customer Larry Harvey this morning at the North Main Street business.
ALBION A downtown Albion merchant admitted to stealing from a fellow business owner in court on Wednesday.
Denise VanWagner, 60, of Medina pleaded guilty to attempted petty larceny. She will be sentenced in County Court on Sept. 10.
VanWagner will pay partial restitution to Fischer’s Newsroom, where police say she stole $28,303. VanWagner, owner of the Place To Go consignment shop, would go to Fischer’s and watch the store while owner Gary Withey took a bathroom break.
Withey became suspicious about the theft and marked $20 bills that VanWagner then allegedly stole. One time he hid behind a door and witnessed her taking the money. He then called the Albion police.
In March, VanWagner was arraigned on charges of third-degree grand larceny and fifth-degree criminal possession of stolen property. The plea on Wednesday means the case is resolved and won’t go to trial.
“Are we happy? Yes and no,” Withey said this morning. “We’re happy she finally pleaded guilty. And we avoided a trial which saved the taxpayers a lot of money.”
Withey and his wife Denise had the business for sale until taking it off the market about a month ago. Once the theft was stopped, Withey said Fischer’s proved to be a healthy business.
“We’re solvent again, and we’re no longer for sale,” he said.
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 16 May 2013 at 12:00 am
‘Unfortunately it’s going to be painful, very painful.’- Medina Fire Chief Todd Zinkievich
MEDINA – Mayor Andrew Meier and the Village Board put out the directive for the fire and police departments: They each need to cut $40,000 from their budgets for the 2013-14 year. And that’s after board members had already chopped from the spending plans.
“This will be my hardest budget by far,” said Todd Zinkievich, the Medina fire chief since 2003. “Unfortunately it’s going to be painful, very painful.”
Meier said the additional $40,000 in cuts from each department were needed to prevent a tax increase of nearly 10 percent for a fiscal year that starts June 1. With the $80,000 from the two departments, plus $10,000 from the Department of Public Works and $5,000 from the code enforcement officer, Medina was able to pass a budget April 29 that raises taxes 4 percent.
Meier left it to the department heads to identify the cuts. He would like cost-savings pinpointed by the end of the month.
Zinkievich said he doesn’t want to skimp on preventive maintenance and equipment upgrades that are recommended by the National Fire Protection Agency. Medina has been working hard in recent years to maintain aging equipment, trying to put off new replacements, he said. He doesn’t want to pull back on maintenance, fearing a bigger repair or replacement.
“We have our budget tight right now,” he said. “I’ll do my best to not jeopardize the safety of my men.”
Police Chief Jose Avila said his department has reduced staff over the years and is already running lean. But he said he will make the $40,000 in cuts.
“It will certainly make things tougher, but my job is to make it happen,” Avila said.
He is working to identify the cuts. He has about two weeks to make those decisions.
“My job is to serve and protect Medina with what I’m given,” Avila said.
Medina is in a difficult predicament, Meier said, because the village’s tax base has been shrinking, putting more tax pressure on property owners. Meier fears if the tax rate continues to rise, more residents will flee the village, causing assessments to drop even more, putting the village in a vicious cycle.
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 16 May 2013 at 12:00 am
DeFilipps, DeRoller are backed in first runs for Legislature
Photo by Tom Rivers – John DeFilipps, left, and Ken DeRoller were both endorsed tonight by the Orleans County Republican Committee for the County Legislature.
GAINES – The Orleans County Republican Committee endorsed a slate of candidates for county positions tonight, including two who are new to county elections.
However, John DeFilipps of Clarendon and Ken DeRoller of Kendall both have long-time ties to the community. DeFilipps was endorsed for a county-wide legislator position currently held by George Bower, who is retiring after 24 years as legislator.
DeRoller was backed to represent a district that includes the towns of Carlton, Murray and Kendall. Ken Rush currently serves in that position. He chose not to seek re-election after 14 years on the Legislature.
DeFilipps, 55, has been a member of the Clarendon Town Board for 12 years. He owned a convenience store and gas station in Clarendon for 10 years before joining the Town Board. He worked 28 years at General Motors in Rochester before retiring six years ago. He recently helped develop the Red Rock Ponds RV Resort in Murray.
DeFilipps and DeRoller both met with the 10 town GOP committees in recent weeks before the countywide meeting tonight. The Republicans are concerned about local taxes, DeFilipps said.
“The consensus is we’re at a turning point with the way government is running and with what we can afford,” DeFilipps said after the endorsement meeting at The Village Inn.
DeRoller worked 38 years at Kodak, retiring 11 years ago in the information technology department as a business analyst. DeRoller, 66, also worked as Kendall’s town assessor and served 25 years on the Town Planning Board, including 15 years as chairman.
He has been a member of the Orleans Economic Development Agency the past 10 years. He also helped shape a waterfront development plan in 2002 for the towns of Yates, Carlton and Kendall, a project that helped those communities secure grants.
DeRoller said his experiences, especially with economic development and land use, will be an asset to the seven-member Legislature.
“I want to make a difference in the rural community,” DeRoller said. “With the Legislature, I thought it was time for me to step up.”
Ed Morgan, the Republican Party chairman, said DeRoller and DeFilipps are both well-rounded candidates with years of business and community service. They’ve also proven themselves at the town level, Morgan said.
The GOP committee also endorsed five incumbent legislators: David Callard of Medina, Bill Eick of Shelby, Lynne Johnson of Lyndonville, Don Allport of Gaines and Henry Smith Jr. of Gaines.
The committee also supported two other incumbent candidates running for county-wide positions: Susan Heard of Albion for country treasurer and Karen Lake-Maynard of Medina for county clerk.
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 15 May 2013 at 12:00 am
Photos by Tom Rivers – Mary Martin was named an outstanding lead by the Rochester Broadway Theatre League for her performance as Belle.
Mary Martin helps “The Beast,” played by William Grimble, during Albion’s production of “Beauty and the Beast.”
ALBION – Mary Martin will have one last chance on the stage as a high schooler before she heads to Niagara University this fall to join that school’s theater program.
Martin, a senior at Albion, is among 16 female leads from a nine-county area who will perform May 23 at the Auditorium Theatre in Rochester. That 7 to 9:30 p.m. event that also features the top 16 male leads.
The winning female and male will represent the Rochester region in the fifth annual National High School Musical Theatre Awards in New York City.
Martin is performing May 23 after being picked a top female lead for her performance as Belle in Albion’s production of “Beauty and the Beast.” She also was a top female lead in the Rochester Broadway Theatre League’s “Stars of Tomorrow” program last year for her performance as Maria Rainer in “The Sound of Music.”
Gary Simboli, Albion’s musical director, said it is very rare for a student to be awarded a top female or male lead two years in a row in the Stars program.
“If you look at a bell curve, she is really on the far end of the bell curve,” Simboli said. “She continues to work on her craft. She has a lot of dedication.”
Martin also is among the “Fan Favorites” listed in the Stars program. That on-line voting contest will award the student with the most votes the title of “Fan Favorite” and also four VIP seats to the opening night of “GHOST The Musical” on Oct. 8.
On the contest’s Web site, Martin thanks Simboli, other musical and band teachers, and her fellow cast members:
“The past four years have gone by so quickly! I can hardly believe that I am about to go on to college to pursue performing arts,” Martin writes. “I was honored to be given the part as Belle and I would like to say that I have never in my whole life worked with such an AMAZING and talented cast. I love you all and I will miss you! Mr. Simboli and Mr. Thaine, what would I do without you?! Mrs. Winans, Mrs. Berg and Mrs. Pettit, thank you for being so patient with me! I wish all of you every happiness.”
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 15 May 2013 at 12:00 am
Photo by Tom Rivers – Hillside Cemetery in Holley, located at the corner of Route 237 and South Holley Road, has been approved for listing on the New York State Register of Historic Places. Next month it may be added to the national list. The cemetery includes a sandstone chapel built in 1894 in the Gothic Revival architecture style.
HOLLEY – State historic preservation officials are confirming what many already know in the Holley area: Hillside Cemetery is a special place.
The cemetery with 3,500 graves is a distinctive example of a Victorian style cemetery on the west side of South Holley Road. That older section includes terraces and monuments that emphasize a sentimental Victorian attitude. Across the road on the east side the cemetery reflects the open lawn-park style.
Last month the cemetery was added to the New York State Register of Historic Places. It was nominated to go on the national list. A decision is expected next month.
“The cemetery is like a mini-Mount Albion,” said Melissa Ierlan, the Clarendon code enforcement officer and cemetery manager.
She worked on the application for historic designation with town resident Erin Anheier, who wrote successful applications to land her home on Bennetts Corners Road and the “Old Stone Store” on the state and national lists.
Ierlan wanted the cemetery to be recognized, seeing the designation as a source of community pride. She also said the listings on the state and national registers should help the town’s chances to secure grant funding for repairs to a sandstone chapel from 1894. That building is the cemetery’s focal point.
The building is structurally solid, but it needs roof and window repairs that Ierlan said could exceed $150,000. She wants to see the building preserved.
“It’s like a time capsule inside there,” she said today. “If they don’t do something with it, the roof will cave in and it will be a shell of itself.”
Photo by Tom Rivers – The western side of the cemetery includes terraces and monuments emphasizing the sentimental Victorian attitude toward death.
Ierlan sees the town’s historical homes and the cemetery as assets that can be draws for Clarendon. She praised Anheier for her volunteer work and vision in gaining the historical status for some of the sites in Clarendon.
“We don’t want to just be a blip on the map, or one of those towns that people just drive through,” Ierlan said. “We have a lot of great history in Clarendon.”
Hillside was established in 1866 by the Holley Cemetery Association. That group disbanded in 2003 and turned the cemetery’s maintenance over to the town.
Hillside is the third cemetery in Orleans with historical recognition. Mount Albion was named to the national list in 1976 and the Millville Cemetery in Shelby was added in 2007.
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 15 May 2013 at 12:00 am
ALBION – State Assemblyman Steve Hawley has recommitted to keeping Albion as his district office, even though the redistricting process shifted the center of his district to Elba.
The 139th Assembly District was changed about a year ago during redistricting, with the boundaries moved south to include all of Genesee County. The new lines make northern Genesee the geographic center of the district.
Hawley’s district used to include all of Orleans, but Shelby was removed, as well as the town of Somerset. He picked up the southern border of Genesee, which previously wasn’t in the district. The 139th also includes four Monroe towns: Hamlin, Clarkson, Sweden and Riga.
Hawley’s predecessor, Charles Nesbitt, picked Albion as the district office in 2002, moving it to his hometown after the office was based in Brockport.
Hawley, who has served in the Assembly since 2006, isn’t going to pull up stakes from Albion.
“It’s accessible,” he said about his office at the Albion Visitors’ Center, 121 North Main Street. “It’s right in the center of Orleans County. People are familiar with it.”
The village owns the site at 121 North Main St. The Village Board requested a 2 percent increase in Hawley’s lease, which includes utilities. Hawley’s office paid $14,832 this past year for the space. The Assembly’s majority conference will decide if the increase is approved. Hawley said he supports paying a little more for the space.
“I don’t think that’s outlandish at all,” he said.
The Albion building also gives him access to a conference room and he said there is plenty of parking close by.
Hawley has stepped up outreach efforts with residents in Genesee and Monroe counties. His staff has office hours every Friday from 1 to 5 p.m. at Genesee Community College in Room T123 of the Conable Technology Building. His staff also will be available on Wednesdays at Brockport State College.
Hawley said he will meet with residents personally throughout the district if they schedule an appointment by contacting hawleys@assembly.state.ny.us or by calling the district office at 585-589-5780.
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 15 May 2013 at 12:00 am
MEDINA – The village hasn’t increased its water and sewer rates in a decade. That will soon change.
The Village Board will meet 7 p.m. May 28 to schedule a public hearing for an increase. First, the board needs to determine how much the rates will go up for village users and out-of-village customers in the towns of Shelby and Ridgeway.
“We have 10 years of increases to catch up on,” said Mayor Andrew Meier.
Medina has been working with a consultant, Paul Bringewatt of Canandaigua, to determine how much the rates should increase. The village also has been looking at how personnel and other budgeted expenses are credited to either the water or general fund.
Some of the village fund expenses, which are paid solely by the village-only property owners, may be shifted to the water budget, which includes both village and outside-village users. That would ease some pressure on the general fund, and village property owners.
Meier said the issues will be discussed May 28 and during the public hearing, which has yet to be set.
Medina buys its water from the Niagara County Water District. Village residents pay a retail rate to the village, while the towns receive a wholesale rate from Medina. The towns of Shelby and Ridgeway then sell then water to residents in their water districts.
