Ben Gerbig, Dick Reynolds, Carol Brakenbury will all be inducted into Athletic Hall of Fame
The soccer team was coached by Ben Gerbig, back row, far right.
Press release, Kendall Central School
KENDALL – Three coaches with long careers at Kendall will be inducted into the school’s Athletic Hall of Fame during a June 5 banquet.
The coaches – Ben Gerbig, Dick Reynolds and Carol Brakenbury – will be in the HOF’s second class. Basketball great Roosevelt Bouie went into the HOF as the inaugural inductee last year.
Gerbig was a physical education teacher whose career spanned four decades. He oversaw a boys soccer program that earned 18 Genesee Region League Championships, appeared in Sectional finals eight times, and won two sectional championships. He is Kendall’s all-time wins leader in boys soccer (297), and was recognized as Section V Class B Coach of the year four times. Coach Gerbig was inducted into the Section V Hall of Fame in 2000.
Dick Reynolds, front row at left, coached the basketball team.
Dick Reynolds coached basketball and baseball four decades-plus. In his 20 seasons as the KCS varsity baseball coach, the team won 10 Genesee Region championships, made five Sectional finals appearances, and racked up 152 wins.
Reynolds was basketball coach during Kendall’s glorious run, highlighted by undefeated seasons with Bouie. Reynolds coached the team from 1963 to 1977 and amassed 186 wins and only 72 losses. During his tenure, Kendall won five Section V championships and held the Section V record for consecutive wins with 57. Reynolds also oversaw the KCS athletic program from 1967 to 1992, serving as the longest tenured athletic director in KCS history.
Brakenbury was a pioneer coach at Kendall. Her career began in 1964, and she worked as a physical education teacher at KCS until her retirement in 1998.
Carol Brakenbury was influential in the development of Kendall’s sports program for girls.
Coach Brakenbury guided her soccer teams to three sectional championships, 13 Sectional finals, and 13 Genesee Region League Championships. She earned Section V Class B Girls Soccer coach of the year in 1982. Her team also won 42 straight games in the Genesee Region League.
As the KCS softball coach, Brakenbury won five Genesee Region League Championships and guided her team to the Section V finals in 1976. Coach Brakenbury is credited with beginning the girls’ athletic program at KCS in 1975, and she is the first coach of the girls soccer, softball and volleyball programs.
Anyone interested in attending the KCS Athletic Hall of Fame Induction/KCS Senior Athlete night, sponsored by the KCS Sports Boosters, should contact the KCS main office at 659-2706 to reserve tickets. The event will be at Hickory Ridge Country Club in Holley.
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 10 May 2013 at 12:00 am
Photo by Tom Rivers – Orleans County Chamber of Commerce events coordinator Ginny Kropf, left, and Gaines artist Carol Culhane hold palettes that will be featured in an upcoming Chamber project. Culhane painted a scene of fishermen in the Oak Orchard River by the Archer’s Club. Kropf is holding a blank canvas, one of 50 the Chamber wants to be painted as part of the “Palettes of Orleans.”
ALBION – A new Orleans County Chamber of Commerce initiative will showcase local artists, scenes and businesses.
The “Palettes of Orleans” aims to have 50 palettes painted that will be displayed by local merchants for at least the summer. The palettes will be auctioned off during a celebration in October at Hickory Ridge Country Club in Holley. Some of the proceeds will go towards art scholarships at each of the five school districts in the county.
So far businesses have agreed to sponsor 30 of the palettes, and Chamber officials are confident they will meet their goal of displaying 50. Businesses pay $10 to have a palette displayed in their storefront until the auction in October.
The Chamber will develop a map of the palettes, and will encourage residents and visitors to follow the trail and vote for their favorite piece of artwork.
“We are absolutely thrilled with the reception,” said Kathy Blackburn, the Chamber director.
She learned about the palette project from a similar initiative by businesses at Keuka Lake. Palettes of Keuka has been an annual event the past six years.
In Orleans 20 artists have agreed to paint the palettes for free. The artists will benefit from exposure, said Carol Culhane, an artist from Gaines. She has painted the first palette, fly fishermen in the Oak Orchard River by the Archer’s Club. Culhane also has agreed to paint a Charles Howard-themed palette with the Santa Claus School. That will go inside the Five Star Bank for a few months.
The Chamber has a list of the participating artists. Businesses that join the program will connect with the artist and pick a theme for the palette. The Chamber wants to have all the palettes claimed by June 1. Proceeds form the auction will help fund art scholarships that will be awarded beginning in 2014.
For more information, contact the Chamber at 589-7727.
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 10 May 2013 at 12:00 am
Photos by Tom Rivers – Taylor, left, and Shawn Whittier say their father Scott loved sports and coaching kids in both baseball and football. A new backstop dedicated in memory of Scott Whittier was dedicated by the community on Thursday.
A plaque on the backstop notes that Scott Whittier, 44, played and coached the Carlton Clippers. It includes his saying, “Always Do Your Best.”
CARLTON – Scott Whittier played for the Carlton Clippers when he was a kid. When his sons were old enough to play, he was eager to volunteer as a coach for the Little League team.
“He loved sports and working with the kids,” said his son Shawn, 18.
“He was an all-around active guy,” said oldest son Taylor, 20.
For eight years Scott coached the Clippers. He also worked with youth football teams.
“He was very good with the kids,” said Dennis Jones, an assistant coach for the team the past 19 years. “He never singled out any kid. We worked with them all, each and every kid.”
Whittier was 44 when he died last May 13 on Mother’s Day. He fell three stories while doing a roofing job in Brockport, and died following complications from surgery, his family said.
On Thursday, the Carlton Clippers, community members and Whittier’s family dedicated a new backstop in memory of Whittier. A plaque on the fence lists Whittier’s popular saying to the team: “Always Do Your Best.”
Dennis Jones, an assistant coach for the Carlton Clippers for 19 years, leads the dedication program Thursday for the new backstop in memory of Scott Whittier.
The field behind the Carlton Recreation Hall on Route 98 has long needed a new backstop. Many foul balls passed over the top of the old fence and players had to retrieve them in the woods, sometimes brushing against poison ivy.
The new backstop has a crown on the top to help contain foul balls to the field.
Memorials for Whittier, as well as donations and a bowling tournament fund-raiser covered the cost for the project, which was spearheaded by Whittier’s fiancée Donna Hess.
“He loved to coach sports, whether football or baseball,” Hess said. “We wanted something that would be here for generations as a memorial. Scott played here and coached here, so it’s perfect.”
Bryan Caitlin, the team’s coach this year, said Whittier was well liked by players and their parents.
“He was a great guy who would do anything for you,” Caitlin told the crowd on Thursday. “It’s not easy to lose someone like that but he’s here everyday.”
The Carlton Clippers, community members and Scott Whittier’s family all gathered at the town park on Thursday evening to dedicate the new backstop. The old one is pictured in back.
MEDINA – The Medina Mustangs Band Boosters met on Monday and picked the group’s leaders for 2013-14, including President Trisha Laszewski and Vice President Mary Morgan. The group is excited about the Mustangs trip to New York City on May 16-19 to compete in the Music in the Parks Festival.
Pictured include, from left, front row: Julie Granchelli, delegate; Mindy Kenward, delegate; Amy Strickland, chaperone chair; and Karen Furness, student accounts. Back row: Marcia Toussaint, uniform chair; Christine Pask, secretary; Trisha Laszewski, president; Kathy Dreyfus, publicity; Doug Waild, transportation chair; Mary Morgan, vice president; Kathy Bogan, delegate; and Kelly Allen, treasurer.
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 10 May 2013 at 12:00 am
ALBION – I heard the bell on the Main Street lift bridge a little after 9 this morning and headed out the door with my camera, just in time to get this boater passing underneath the bridge, working his way westward with his dog as a companion.There are 16 lift bridges along the canal, and Orleans County has seven of them. There are four in Niagara County and five in Monroe.
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 10 May 2013 at 12:00 am
Albion mayor: ‘We’re not going to stop having parades’
Photo by Tom Rivers – The Albion marching band performs during a Memorial Day parade last year along Route 98.
ALBION – More police officers, more flag men, more barricaded side streets. That’s what Albion and other communities may face if the want to continue having parades during Memorial Day and for other community celebrations.
“They put out these requirements and it puts the dollars on us,” Roland Nenni, the Albion police chief, told the Village Board.
The state Department of Transportation wants detailed plans from communities at least a month in advance of a parade on a state road. The DOT says the municipality will either have to post a detour when there is a parade or have police officers, peace officers and certified flag men at strategic locations along the parade route.
In Orleans County, auxiliary police officers technically aren’t peace officers and can not be used to meet the DOT requirements, Nenni said. And the fire police from the Fire Department also aren’t technically peace officers or certified flag men.
Albion wants to limit the number of police officers and Department of Public Works employees for traffic control because of over-time costs. Those employees likely would be busy with other tasks anyway, especially during the Strawberry Festival.
“We’re not going to stop having parades, and we’re not going to spend a small fortune for having parades, I mean come on,” Mayor Dean Theodorakos said.
Nenni believes there is way to use fire police for traffic control during a parade. If they are on the route to provide emergency egress for fire trucks, Nenni thinks they could also direct traffic and appease DOT’s requirements. The village could also sent up pylons at some intersections to block off traffic.
“We’ll work to comply as cheaply as possible,” Nenni said.
Many communities have complained about the new requirements from the DOT, and State Assemblyman Steve Hawley, R-Batavia, said he is in “continuous contact” with the DOT, telling them to back off the onerous requirements.
“Our community has maintained many proud traditions throughout the generations, and holding parades to honor our veterans, fire departments and citizens is an integral part of our identity,” Hawley said. “The DOT’s plan seeks to bring all of that to an end. Meddling in a practice that we have conducted safely and successfully for countless decades is a glaring example of big government run amok.”
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 9 May 2013 at 12:00 am
ALBION – The Village Board intends to resubmit a grant to upgrade Bullard Park. The village sought state funds last year for $430,000 worth of park improvements, including 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.
Mayor Dean Theodorakos on Wednesday said the Bullard upgrades are worth pursuing and would enhance the community. The board is considering paying J O’Connell and Associates of Clarence up to $3,500 to resubmit the grant with some changes. The firm told Theodorakos it has ideas to strengthen the application.
The village could also pay LaBella Associates of Rochester $1,000 to resubmit the grant from a year ago with few changes.
The state hasn’t set a deadline for when the applications are due. Last year the deadline was in early July with the grants announced in December.
Theodorakos said he wants to hear more from J O’Connell and Associates on how the village could improve the grant before committed money to the firm.
Village officials may also seek a grant to replace sanitary 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 said it would do the income surveys for $500 with Albion also paying the costs for mail.
The board may decide how it wants to proceed with the grants at its May 22 meeting.
Village officials are moving ahead with another project. The board approved paying Chatfield Engineers of Rochester $3,630 for work designing a parking lot on Main Street.
The board wants to expand an existing lot with about 20 spaces to a bigger lot with 40 spots. The lot is located between the Presbyterian Church and the former Sneezy’s Bowling Alley.
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 9 May 2013 at 12:00 am
Ted Pietrzak says Orleans needs to tell its sandstone story
Photos by Tom Rivers – Ted Pietrzak, a consultant working on a plan to develop the Bent’s Opera House, believes the site in Medina should tell the story of the region’s sandstone treasures, including the Canal Culvert in Ridgeway, where he is pictured on Wednesday.
MEDINA Ted Pietrzak wants to tie it all together, Orleans County’s Erie Canal heritage, the community’s sandstone legacy, and stories of the thousands of immigrants who were drawn to Orleans because of the canal and the quarries.
Pietrzak has been hired by the Orleans Renaissance Group to develop a plan to best utilize the three-story Bent’s Opera House building on Main Street in Medina. He sees at least the first floor of the mostly vacant building as a welcome center that would showcase the county’s sandstone history.
He is pleased the Medina Sandstone Society is going to establish a Sandstone Hall of Fame. A site for the HOF hasn’t been determined, but Pietrzak sees the opera house – a Medina sandstone building – as an excellent home for the Hall of Fame.
“The sandstone is the connecting thread to these communities beyond the Erie Canal,” Pietrzak said Wednesday, after we spent 2 ½ hours driving around the county. “You have all of these monuments to the sandstone industry.”
The former opera house also is eyed for a restaurant on the second floor and a performing arts venue on the top floor. Pietrzak sees it as a cultural hub that could showcase the history of the community, including its dominant industries of sandstone and agriculture. He thinks locally grown produce and farm products should be sold at the building.
Pietrzak has been interviewing community leaders the past two months, soliciting ideas for a reuse plan for the opera house and a greater vision for Medina. I knew he was working on a plan for Medina, and I suggested to Medina and Orleans County officials that the plan be strongly sandstone-based, and include a sandstone trail that would stretch from Medina to Albion, Hulberton and Holley. We once had more than 100 quarries along the canal in these communities.
This photo from about a century ago shows quarry workers in Hulberton.
Medina sandstone is a well-known brand, and is prominently featured in some of the finest buildings in Buffalo, Rochester, Albany and other villages and cities in the state. We should be using this famous stone to help build the community today.
Pietrzak, the former director of the Burchfield Penney Art Center in Buffalo, was willing to listen to me, and here is a snapshot of what I told him, how I think we show claim our sandstone heritage and use it to promote community pride and attract tourists:
The first sandstone quarry opened in Medina in1837, just north of the lift bridge near Route 63. I think this site should be clearly marked, cleaned out, and turned into a park with a sandstone walking trail. A massive historic sandstone building is nearby, a relic of Medina’s industrial heyday in the late 1800s.
Medina and Orleans County should petition the state and federal government to turn this quarry and old building into a National Historic Landmark, a park-like setting that could explored and experienced. This could be the start of a sandstone trail that would run countywide along Route 31.
The Sandstone Trail would have roadside markers along 31, stretching from Medina to Holley. We should use directional arrows to point to sandstone attractions that are down some side roads, such as the Canal Culvert in Ridgeway and the tower in Mount Albion Cemetery.
The trail would link the canal communities, which don’t often work together. I’d suggest using the top of the Mount Albion tower as the iconic logo for the roadside signs. The tower is a county Civil War memorial, built in 1876 of Medina sandstone.
Both the tower and the Canal Culvert could be experienced, rather than merely observed. You can drive or walk through the Culvert, an engineering marvel that goes under the Erie Canal. The tower at Mount Albion has an 84-step spiral staircase that allows people to ascend to the top, 68 feet high.
The tower at Mount Albion Cemetery is a top-notch sandstone structure that could be a bigger attraction with better marketing.
We have cavernous churches that tell community and religious stories, reflecting the wealth and fervor of the community between about 1850 and 1900. We need interpretive panels – those mounted explanatory signs you see at state parks – that share the history of the buildings, explain the architectural features, and highlight some of the wonders inside, including 150-year-old pipe organs and Tiffany stained-glass windows.
We should develop walking tours, so local residents and visitors can learn about a great American story that took place here from about 1850 to 1920. That is when most of our landmark buildings – the courthouse, the churches and downtown commercial buildings – were constructed.
I think the Sandstone Hall of Fame should highlight some of the great buildings and structures made from Medina sandstone. I would like to see another site that told the immigrant story of the thousands of quarrymen who came to our community.
Albion and Holley had more quarries and more people working in them than Medina. I would like to see the old Swan Library turn one of its three floors into center that tells that immigrant story, how people came from Ireland, Poland, Italy and Great Britain to work here. Their descendants could provide photos of their grandfathers and great-grandfathers, first-generation Americans who worked here. Those pictures would make for an emotional gallery.
I have been pushing the Albion Village Board for about six months to allow a vacant piece of land on Main Street to be used as a quarrymen memorial site, featuring an 8-foot-high bronze statue of a quarrymen. The site should also have interpretive panels, giving a brief overview of the immigrants who worked in the county, while another display highlighted the sandstone trail and some of the impressive buildings made of the local stone.
Bill Koch of Buffalo submitted this design of a bronze statue of a quarryman for a memorial in Albion.
The Village Board has instead chosen to make that space part of a larger parking lot on Main Street, which I think is a horrible mistake. We would stand a good chance of getting a state grant to help pay for a well-done quarrymen’s memorial site on Main Street. It would provide a focal point, explaining why Albion and the canal villages are blessed with so many awesome structures.
When the village showed its reluctance for the quarrymen memorial, County Legislature Chairman David Callard suggested a piece of the courthouse lawn could be the home for the statue. But historic preservationists and other community members think the statue wouldn’t be prominent on the corner of the lawn, and it would compete with the courthouse. Most people I talk with agree the downtown site on Main Street, with the Presbyterian Church as a sandstone backdrop, would be perfect.
The village hasn’t paved the site yet, so there is still time to pursue the memorial site. We have a rendering of the statue, and could still meet the deadline to apply for a state grant. If you support the quarrymen project, please tell the Village Board.
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 9 May 2013 at 12:00 am
Medina resident was first woman to serve as mayor, legislator
Courtesy of State Sen. George Maziarz’s office – State Sen. George Maziarz stands with Marcia Tuohey in Albany on Tuesday when she was recognized as a “Woman of Distinction.”
MEDINA – Marcia Tuohey, the first woman to serve as Medina’s mayor and then chairwoman of the Orleans County Legislature, was recognized in Albany as a “Woman of Distinction.”
Tuohey was nominated for the award by state Sen. George Maziarz, who picked her from his district that also includes a portion of Monroe County and nearly all of Niagara.
“Marcia has been a mainstay in business and government in Orleans County for many years,” Maziarz said.“More that than though, she’s been a trailblazer for women who want to take an active role in improving their communities. She has worn many hats – literally and figuratively – but today our hats are off to her.”
Tuohey often appears at public events in stylish hats. She currently represents Orleans County on the board of directors for Western Regional Off-Track Betting Corp. She also is a member of Medina’s Planning Board.
Before she ran for the Village Board, she enjoyed an active business career in Medina for 30 years as the co-owner and operator of a nursing home, motel and restaurant, mobile home park, and rental properties.Her success can be attributed to a great aptitude for recognizing and meeting the needs of the community, and possessing a strong work ethic, Maziarz said.
Tuohey was first elected as a trustee in Medina in 1979, and in 1982 she became the village’s first woman mayor.In 1990, she became Orleans County’s first female county legislator, and then was picked by her peers on the seven-member body to serve as chairman of the Legislature from 1996 until 2006.
Maziarz said Tuohey’s “forceful advocacy and close supervision” pushed several projects along in the county, including renovations to the historic Courthouse and County Clerks buildings, an addition to the County Nursing Home, and the creation of a new Public Safety Center and Fire Training Facility.
During her time in office, Tuohey also helped lay the groundwork for the expansion of Genesee Community College in Orleans County and the construction of an ethanol plant in the Town of Shelby, Maziarz said.
Tuohey was honored at a reception in Albany on Tuesday, where her photograph and biography were on display during a special public exhibit at the Legislative Office Building.
The Senate’s “Woman of Distinction” program was created in 1998 to honor women who exemplify personal excellence, or whose professional achievements or acts of courage, selflessness, integrity or perseverance serve as an example to all New Yorkers.
ALBION – An Albion woman was charged with welfare fraud and grand larceny on Wednesday following a two-month investigation by the Orleans County Major Felony Crime Task Force, Department of Social Services Welfare Fraud Unit and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
Mary A. Cruz, 32, of 14870 East Lee Rd. allegedly received $46,934 in benefits she wasn’t entitled to for a day care from April 2010 to March 31, 2013, the task force reported.
She was arraigned in Albion Town Court by Judge Kevin Howard and committed to the county jail with bail set at $10,000 cash or $10,000 bond. She is scheduled to appear in Town Court at 9 a.m. on June 19.
The investigation also revealed that an alleged undocumented resident was living in the house. Rochel Carrillo-Ramos, 24, was charged with criminal possession of a forged instrument in the second degree. He was arraigned by Judge Howard and committed to jail with bail set at $5,000. He is also being held on a federal detainer for allegedly re-entering the country illegally after being deported.
As a result of the search warrant execution, the task force reported another man was hiding in a closet who was determined to be in the country without legal documents. Marvin Ramirez-Tomas, 22, was transported to the federal detention center in Batavia, where he is held on a federal retainer.
Police seized more than $1,600 in cash and numerous fraudulent documents during the raid, the task force reported. The investigation is ongoing and more charges and arrests are pending, the task force reported.
