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Grants give Medina properties a facelift

By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 13 May 2013 at 12:00 am

Photo by Tom Rivers – This home at 204 West Center St., Medina, was one of 17 houses in the village to receive matching funds for improvements through a grant administered by the Orleans County Chamber of Commerce. The $200,000 grant also provided money to 11 businesses for façade and sign upgrades.

MEDINA – Kathy Blackburn drives down Main Street and some of Medina’s residential streets, and she sees new signs for businesses, fresh paint on buildings, and new siding and roofs.

And more of those projects will soon be tackled, with the prospect of more improvements next year.

Blackburn, executive director for the Orleans County Chamber of Commerce, is administering a $200,000 grant that provides matching funding for the projects that are all in the village of Medina. An anonymous funding entity is paying for the grant, and that entity will likely continue a second round in December, Blackburn said.

The grant has paid for $121,000 worth of work on 17 houses and $68,000 for 11 businesses. Some of the projects have been completed, and others will soon get under way, Blackburn said.

More than 50 applicants sought matching funds through the program after it was announced in November. A committee reviewed the proposals.

“We would have liked to do more projects, but you only have so much money,” Blackburn said.

The committee included Medina Code Enforcement Officer Marty Busch, a contractor, investor, banker and accountant.

The group was focused on projects that would have the biggest impact for “curb appeal,” Blackburn said. The grants were capped at a maximum of $20,000 per property.

The grant program is expected to be focused on the Medina area again if a new funding round goes forward, Blackburn said.

“This project pulled at your heart strings because it is helping some people stay in their homes and do work they couldn’t have afforded on their own,” she said.

Panek Farms will work 63 acres for school district – for free

By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 13 May 2013 at 12:00 am

Albion farm will give profits from district land to ag program

ALBION – Panek Farms will soon start planting a crop on 63 acres of land owned by Albion Central School.

But before the seeds are planted, the farm will meet with students in Albion’s agricultural program to explain its reasoning for planting the crop. Panek will include students in growing, harvesting and selling the crop as well.

The farm on Monday was picked by the Board of Education for a two-year lease on the land the district acquired from Pete Dragan about a decade ago. With that deal, Dragan had use of the land until he died.

Dragan, a long-time local corn and soybean grower, died last Aug. 7 at age 96. The farm has completed the last cycle of a Dragan crop. Dragan Farms submitted a bid to continue using the land. It offered to work with the students and share some of the profits.

But the district asked that all the proceeds, after the farm’s expenses were paid, be turned over to the school district to support the ag program. Five farms were sent proposals, and only two returned with a bid. Only Panek Farms agreed to essentially work the land for free.

“It’s exciting,” Margy Brown, the Board of Education president, said tonight after the board accepted Panek’s offer. “I know it’s outside the box, but it’s a very exciting addition to what we offer the students.”

Michael Bonnewell, the district superintendent, will consult with the farm on how the donation will be used to benefit the school’s ag program.

Bonnewell and Shawn Liddle, the district assistant superintendent for business, both praised Panek and Dragan Farms for their generous proposals.

“It shows the strong level of support for agriculture in our community,” Liddle said.

The lease includes a $70 per acre annual payment to the district or $4,410. That will be factored into Panek’s operating costs for using the land. The agreement gives Panek a two-year lease for the land plus a chance to extend the lease in one-year increments for three additional years if both parties agree.

Panek’s profits on the land will reviewed in profit-loss statements by Albion ag students. The profitability will then be reported to the district clerk. Net losses for farming the land are solely the risk of Panek Farms, according to the agreement with the district.

County historian welcomes more markers about local history

By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 13 May 2013 at 12:00 am

New marker in July will recognize Albion pioneer residents

Photos by Tom Rivers – This marker by the Pullman Memorial Universalist Church on South Main Street notes that Albion is the hometown for Terry Anderson, who was taken hostage for about seven years after he was kidnapped in Beirut.

ALBION – They give a quick snapshot of local history, and Bill Lattin says the many historical markers placed in the community also prompt people to stop and look around.

Lattin, the Orleans County historian, has helped place many of the markers in the county, especially in the Courthouse Square and Downtown Albion historic districts.

He supports an effort by Al and Chris Capurso to place a historical marker on the southwest corner of the courthouse lawn, a sign that will highlight Albion’s pioneer residents, William McAllister and his wife. That marker, with a log cabin logo, will be dedicated during a 1 p.m. ceremony on July 6 at the County Clerks’ Building.

“It will be stunning,” Capurso told the County Legislature last week, when the board formally approved the project. “It will be unique to the Courthouse Square.”

The new marker will tell a community story from 1810, when McAllister bought 368 acres, what is now the east side of the village, from the Holland Land Company. Other markers highlight the origin of the historic churches and other buildings in the Courthouse Square.

One marker by the Presbyterian Church notes that immigrants from Ireland, Poland, Italy and Britain worked in sandstone quarries to provide the stone for many of the local churches and buildings.

This marker by the Presbyterian Church on North Main Street notes that the community was home to many quarries that drew immigrants to the community.

Another marker honors a recent prominent resident. Terry Anderson grew up in Albion and was working as a journalist in the Middle East when he was taken hostage from March 16, 1985 to Dec. 4, 1991.

“Whenever you see a historical marker that’s just the tip of the ice berg,” Lattin said. “There’s a lot of history here.”

The state Education Department used to pay for the markers. The Capurso family is paying for the one honoring the McAllisters. That marker, which will be cast in aluminum, will cost about $1,000.

Lattin noted the Courthouse Square used to have a wooden kiosk. It lasted about a decade but was removed when it fell into disrepair.

The markers are far more durable. The one on Ingersoll Street honoring Sanford Church, an Albionite who served as lieutenant governor, has been up since the 1930s.

‘Big Apple’ shines along the canal

By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 13 May 2013 at 12:00 am

MEDINA – I was in Medina this evening and stopped to look at “The Big Apple,” a sculpture by Richard Bannister of Barre. The artwork was installed in Medina along the Erie Canal in 2000. The sculpture is next to the Glenwood Avenue bridge. Bannister created the giant apple as a tribute to Western New York fruit growers.

I also like how Medina’s truss bridges are painted black, compared to most of the others in Orleans County that are green. And it’s hard to beat the spires on St. Mary’s Catholic Church as an iconic landmark in a canal town.

Wrong turn to Niagara Falls leads to moving discovery in Lewiston

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

Photo by Tom Rivers – Lewiston is home to the Freedom Crossing Monument, which was dedicated about four years ago along the bank of the Niagara River.

Photo by Tom Rivers

Photo by Tom Rivers

I tried to stay on Route 104 last night on the trip to the Aquarium of Niagara. Somewhere in Lewiston I missed a turn and ended up next to the Niagara River. I was running late, and didn’t welcome another delay.

I was taking my son and his little sister to spend the night with Scouts from Pack 164 in Albion at Aquarium of Niagara. We would “camp out” in the aquarium. We went on this outing two years earlier and I trusted my memory to basically stay on 104 until Whirlpool Street.

I missed a sign in Lewiston and we traveled through the historic village and then reached the Niagara River. We were clearly off course.

But the wrong turn was a blessing. We stumbled upon the “Freedom Crossing Monument,” which now ranks as the most moving statuary memorial I’ve ever seen.

This memorial was dedicated on Oct. 14, 2009, on the bank of the Niagara River. It shows slaves trying to flee into Canada with help from some locals. A baby is being passed to a mother, who appears desperate to keep moving, to head for freedom.

The memorial celebrates the historical importance of the Niagara River as a gateway to freedom on the Underground Railroad. I’ve heard snippets about Orleans County homes along the route to freedom, but I don’t know any specifics. I’d like to learn more.

The memorial in Lewiston includes five figures and a boat. The Historical Association of Lewiston pushed for the project, which cost $230,000.

I’ve been trying to rally support for a quarrymen’s memorial in Orleans County. I think Albion makes the most sense for a statue of a quarrymen. Albion is centrally located in a county that was home to thousands of immigrant quarry workers.

Many people support the memorial concept for the quarrymen. Others have told me I’m crazy. But after seeing the memorial in Lewiston, I think we should consider a bigger project than just one statue to honor the quarrymen, with sites in Medina, Albion and Holley – canal villages that all were boomtowns because of the sandstone quarries.

To the people of Lewiston: Well done. Thank you for honoring our Western New York heritage.

Making memories with Thomas

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

Photos by Tom Rivers

MEDINA — Many mothers and their children chose to spend Mother’s Day in Medina with Thomas the Tank Engine. Thomas will be in town for another weekend at the Medina Railroad Museum from May 17-19. The children’s attraction is making his eighth annual visit to Medina. Thomas draws 2,000 to 3,000 visitors each day to the community.

Proclaiming Mother’s Day

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

Photo by Tom Rivers

ALBION — Neil Johnson, a member of the First Presbyterian Church in Albion, volunteers with his wife Joanne in putting the messages on the church sign on Main Street. For the past week, the church urged the community to honor mothers. Johnson was getting ready for a new message for the sign at around noon today. Next up: “Things are happening at this church.”

Firefighters recognized for training hours

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

Shelby tops in Orleans for fire, Ridgeway leads for EMS

Photos by Tom Rivers – Shelby Volunteer Fire Company Chief Jason Watts, left, and Francis Woodward, the second assistant chief for the Ridgeway Volunteer Fire Company, hold the awards after Shelby was honored for the most fire training hours and Ridgeway for the most EMS training in 2012-13.

EAST SHELBY – John Miller II says knowledge is power, and often can make a life-saving difference.

The Shelby volunteer firefighter for each of the past two years has led Orleans County in fire and EMS training hours. He completed 279 hours in 2012-13, with 199 in EMS and 80 in fire. The previous year, Miller racked up 176 hours of training.

“It pays to train,” he said Friday night after the annual training recognition banquet for firefighters. “It makes sure we’re ready to do the job for the community.”

Miller worked as a truck driver before being hired last year as an EMT for Mercy EMS in Batavia.

“Every bit of knowledge you can gain gives you an upper hand in a critical moment when it’s needed,” Miller said at the recognition dinner at East Shelby Fire Hall.

Four other firefighters topped 200 hours in training: Glen Busch II of Ridgeway, 202; Daniel Gleason of Albion, 204; Nicolas Elliott of Barre, 217; and Jordan Willis of Kendall, 228. The 200-hour-plus firefighters are recognized on a plaque at the Emergency Management Office on County House Road in Albion.

Five Orleans County firefighters were recognized for topping 200 hours of training, including from left: John L. Miller II of Shelby, Dan Gleason of Albion and Nicolas Elliott of Barre. Glen Busch II of Ridgeway and Jordan Willis of Kendall also exceeded 200 hours.

The county also recognized the Shelby Volunteer Fire Company for amassing the most fire training hours with 1,081. Ridgeway led all fire departments with its 994 hours of EMS training. Those departments also will be highlighted on a plaque at the EMO and the County Legislature chambers.

Ridgeway had five firefighters complete the 190-hour EMT course, with two others taking the 72-hour refresher class.

“People want to take training to keep up with their skills,” said Francis Woodward, Ridgeway’s second assistant chief.

Altogether, firefighters in the county completed 4,528 hours of fire training and 4,101 hours of EMS. Firefighters can train to battle fires, do vehicle extrication drills, and provide EMS. But they faced many events last year beyond the norm, including wind storms and a sinkhole in Albion last July caused by a breach in the Erie Canal.

There isn’t a “tree-cutting” course offering or a “dam broke” course, said Paul Wagner, the county’s emergency management director. He praised firefighters for their response to those and other emergencies throughout the year.

“It’s because of your folks’ diversity to be handle these things that we’re able to get through them mostly unscathed,” Wagner said.

Visitors flock to Medina RR Museum

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

Photo by Tom Rivers

Kurt Brunner of Rochester holds his 3-year-old son Mateo up high to view the largest HO-scale model train layout in the country. The 204-by-14-foot layout inside the Medina Railroad Museum includes 7,000 artifacts.

Brunner and his family were in town Friday for the Thomas the Tank Engine adventure. Thomas began his six-day run in Medina on Friday. Visitors can take a 25-minute train ride with Thomas and try other activities at the museum on West Avenue.

Thomas events continue today and Sunday and on May 17-19. The attraction drew 14,000 people to the museum last year. The museum has 150 volunteers to help with the event, which is now in its eighth year at Medina.

Play Ball!

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

8 teams start season in Albion Midget League

Photos by Tom Rivers – Shawn Whittier throws out the ceremonial first pitch to start the Albion Midget League season.

Shawn’s brother Taylor smiles after catching the first pitch.

ALBION – More than 100 players on 8 teams kicked off the Albion Midget League season today with a ceremony at the Albion Midget League field behind the Town Hall on Clarendon Road.

Shawn Whittier, son of the late Carlton Clippers coach Scott Whittier, threw out of ceremonial first pitch to start the season. His brother Taylor served as catcher. The Carlton team on Thursday dedicated a new backstop in honor of Whittier, who was a player on the team as a kid and coached the Clippers for eight years.

Coaches and players from the eight teams passed the microphone and introduced themselves with the Actives, last season’s champion, getting the first chance to use the microphone.

Caleb Hyde, a member of the Actives, introduces himself during opening day ceremonies.

Greg Bennett, an assistant coach for the Rotary Lions, holds the microphone while player Jason Dash says his name to the crowd.