By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 11 December 2015 at 12:00 am
Photo by Tom Rivers – Some of the members on the toy drive effort for Community Action of Orleans & Genesee include, from left: Kris Hartwig, administrative assistant at S.B. Whistler and Sons (Phinney Tool and Die); Annette Finch, community services director for Community Action; Marsha Rivers, executive director of the Orleans County United Way; Michelle Figueroa, case manager for emergency services at Community Action; and Megan Piccirilli, administrative assistant for Community Action. Some other committee members include Carolyn Wagner, human resource manager for BMP in Medina; and Wendy Hinkley. The toys in this picture were donated by Gary the Happy Pirate in Rochester.
ALBION – Businesses and residents accepted the challenge to play Santa Claus to nearly 400 children in the Albion area.
The community members bought toys for 377 children in a toy challenge. Donors were given gift tags for children, listing their first name, age and three desired gifts. The residents, business owners and employees then want out and shopped.
It was the first time Community Action of Orleans & Genesee tried the gift tags where donors knew the name of the child they were shopping for and their desired gifts.
“It became more personal,” said Kris Hartwig, an administrative assistant at S.B. Whistler and Sons in Medina, a regular participant in the Community Action toy drive. “You know you’re getting them something they like.”
There were 53 donors who gave gifts to 377 children and 54 adults. Donors also gave $2,500 to the effort and Community Action and volunteers will use the money for gifts and food for the families.
“I like the feeling of helping the family,” Hartwig said. “Everything that is given stays in our community.”
Each family will get a holiday basket with food, and much of that will come Saturday morning when the Albion FFA chapter delivers food collected from local farmers. Some of that bounty will be shared with food pantries around the county.
Michelle Figueroa works as case manager for emergency services for Community Action. She has helped organize all the toys and food. She is impressed by the community’s generosity.
“I think it’s awesome,” Figueroa said. “It’s showing the love. They have that holiday spirit.”
In addition to the effort in the Albion area, Community Action has organized a toy and holiday basket drive in Holley and Kendall for about 125 children and their families. The Lyndonville Lions are collecting toys for about 125 children. The Medina Area Association of Churches also runs a toy drive for children in the Medina area.
Altogether, the organizations will direct toys to 800 to 1,000 children in Orleans County, said Annette Finch, community services director for Community Action.
Donald Stirk could be sentenced to 20 years in prison
BUFFALO – U.S. Attorney William J. Hochul Jr. announced today that Donald Stirk, 36, of Albion pleaded guilty to importing αPVP into the United States before U.S. District Judge Elizabeth A. Wolford.
The charge carries a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison and a $1,000,000 fine.
Stirk was arrested in April for importing synthetic drugs. Assistant U.S. Attorney Frank T. Pimentel, who is handling the case, stated that on March 5, 2015, Customs and Border Protection officers in Memphis, Tenn. conducted a routine inspection of a package mailed from China and addressed to the defendant “Donald Starks” in Albion.
The contents of the package were listed as “Betaine HCL,” a dietary supplement. Further inspection revealed the package actually contained Alpha-PVP, a Schedule I controlled substance, the U.S. Attorney’s Office reported.
Law enforcement officers on March 13 determined there was another package from China addressed to “Donald Starks” at the Albion Post Office. Further inspection revealed the package contained Alpha-PVP, according to Hochul’s office.
As the investigation continued, law enforcement officers continued to identify more packages from China intended for Stirk. On April 15, 2015, officers performed a controlled delivery of several of the packages to Stirk at his Albion residence on Route 31 and then executed a search warrant at the residence revealing an additional quantity of αPVP.
According to Hochul’s office, the defendant purchased the chemicals to help him with his mental illness. Stirk also sold the chemicals to another individual, the U.S. Attorney’s Office reported.
The plea by Stirk is the result of an investigation by Special Agents of Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Homeland Security Investigations, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge James C. Spero.
Sentencing is scheduled for March 23, 2016 at 11 a.m. before Judge Wolford.
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 10 December 2015 at 8:00 am
Photos by Tom Rivers – Elizabeth Cooper has been making one-of-kind-dolls since 1980 with her business, Cooper Dolls. She has her studio at 107 Pearl Street and will be open during the weekends before Christmas on Saturdays from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Sundays from noon to 4 p.m.
MEDINA – The dolls are shipped all over the country and world, noting they are “Made in Medina, NY.”
Fisher-Price may have left town two decades ago, but a Medina woman, Elizabeth Cooper, keeps up a Medina tradition of producing desired and whimsical creations.
Cooper has worked for 35 years making dolls. Santas and fairies are her most popular, but she also has other series featuring immigrants and popular characters such as Peter Pan and Snow White.
She discussed the business and the art of making dolls during an interview last week at her studio on Pearl Street.
Some of the fairies created by Cooper are next to a Fairy House she also made.
Question: How did you learn how to do this?
Answer: My father (the late James Cooper) was an art teacher at Roy-Hart and he was always working in clay. He did a lot of sculpting and painting. Much of what I’ve learned is through observation. I grew up with clay and art materials. It’s just a matter of practice.
People will ask, ‘How long does it take to make a doll?’ If I’m having a good sculpting day, it may take a day but it’s 30 years of practice.
Q: I would consider your brothers, Tim and James, to both be artists. Certainly Tim has a knack for historic preservation. (Cooper’s studio in Medina is a building her brother Tim renovated.)
A: Tim (owner of Cooper Funeral Home) is very much into restoration and history. That is his creative outlet. He has worked on quite a few buildings in town.
Q: The other brother James is an artist.
A: He is a licensed architect who does quite a bit of painting. He does watercolor renderings of homes.
We’re all self-employed. It’s a generational thing because the Cooper family was in Medina for six generations. They started a grocery store on East Center Street. That’s where they started the Cooper building.
My mother (the late Rosemary Cooper) was a real estate broker in Medina and my grandfather on the maternal side, he owned O’Briens bar. We’ve all been self-employed.
Cooper created these dolls of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs.
Q: Were you a teen-ager dabbling in doll-making?
A: I grew up with art materials and clay. I’ve always loved figurative sculpture. After college – I had a psychology degree from Wells College – I decided I would get my art certification from Buffalo State. My mom got sick right after I graduated. We all kind of came back home after she got sick. We stayed in Medina.
As far as clay, having clay in my hand is something I’ve had for my whole life. I’m most comfortable with a piece of clay.
Q: Did your dad do clay work?
A: Yes, he did sculptures. He did soldiers. My father also did several paintings and sculptures on the canal. The grocery store that my great-great grandparents owned was built during the canal days.
Q: When people hear art, they might just think painting and drawing. But there is more.
A: We always had art projects going on.
Cooper sculpts a hand for one of her dolls.
Q: I wonder when you got serious about making dolls?
A: I started doing my first shows when I was living in Ithaca. It was the Kenan Center in Lockport about 35 years ago. I started doing that and did many, many shows just as a hobby. In 1993 after my mom had died I just decided to do what my heart said.
So I went out and got a studio. I researched the most collectible item in the country. In the early ’90s it was dolls and Santas. I said, OK, I will do that. I produced them and did every show I possibly could do. My business started growing. That’s pretty much how it started. I decided to follow my heart and do what I wanted.
Q: How do you term these, one-of-kind dolls?
A: The term is called artist dolls in the business. We produce our own dolls. In the country there used to be quite a few artists who did dolls. A lot of them decided to produce in China, but I would never to that.
Q: They would subcontract it out and have people make them in China?
A: They would design a doll and send it to China to be produced so they would have an edition of maybe 200 to 5,000, something like that.
These are some of the angels made by Elizabeth Cooper.
Q: Yours seem to be all different.
A: The ones I have are all one-of-kind.
Q: They seem to have relatives or go together.
A: Once you do it thousands and thousands of times, they’re all cousins I think.
So I do a lot of shows. I was in Kansas City at a show in July. I’ve done Boston, Washington, D.C. and Disney. Disney used to host an artist doll show.
These are all conventions. That’s my market, collectible dolls.
Q: Are there a lot of people like you?
A: There’s not a lot anymore. I was just asked to do, as one of seven artist dollmakers, a convention in Washington, D.C. I was one of seven so that’s quite an honor.
Q: Why aren’t there more?
A: It’s a hard business to sustain. I don’t have any children so I can devote most of my time to my work. You have to be willing to travel.
Q: I know you have the studio here where people can come in and buy dolls, but how else do you sell them?
A: I sell through magazines and my website (click here), and I have a lot of collectors who will come to my studio.
Q: It looks like the dolls start at $95 for the smaller ones. I have to think the bigger ones are much more, as they should be, given the effort.
A: Sometimes they will have auctions and some of my work goes for $1,200. I do ornaments for $20 if somebody wants a gift for the office, just for the Christmas season.
Q: If you weren’t doing this what would you be doing?
A: When I was first looking into colleges, I really wanted to become an art teacher. My father, who was an art teacher, said get a liberal arts education, and then get your certification. So that is what I did.
After my mom got sick I got my studio. If life had turned out differently, I probably would have been an art teacher right from the beginning or something involved in the arts.
Little Red Riding Hood and the Wolf
Q: There must be a lot of people who own a doll that you made.
A: There are, especially in this area because I’ve done the Kenan Center show for so many years and have built up a following. One of my ideas for my business was not to have something that people just want to buy one of. So I made them into collections, where people could add to their collections year after year. That was my business plan.
Q: What are some of the series?
A: The holiday themes. I do the Santas, children building snowmen or on sleds. Anything I did growing up comes out in my work.
Q: Why do you think people like these compared to grabbing something from Wal-Mart.
A: I think the uniqueness. They know it’s one-of-a-kind and no one else has it. It’s hand-made in this area, hand-made in Medina and I think that means something to people.
Q: Is that noted on the label, Made in Medina?
A: Yes.
Q: You make the dolls, but the clothes also seems a talent.
A: I usually look for vintage materials, vintage silks and vintage velvets. The fur trims on the Santas, I cut up old fur coats. I do all of the sewing and costuming myself, too. So it’s a full-time job.
Q: And you can make money at this?
A: I’ve done OK.
Q: You’ve had a presence in this building for how long?
A: I’ve been here for three years. My brother also owned a place on Park Avenue and I think I moved in there in 2000. My very first studio was in the Curry Building on the second floor in downtown Medina.
A lot of people don’t really know what I do. I’m open for the Christmas season but for the rest of the year I’m producing or doing shows. My place is really open from Thanksgiving to Christmas to the public, and then it’s by appointment. I host doll clubs that will come.
Q: You’re looking to move back to Medina?
A: I married Michael Leone in 1998. His father was a doctor in Medina. We lived two blocks apart but we never knew each other. When I moved back to Medina we met each other again.
Immigrants from Ireland
We both had also grown up on Lake Ontario so we built a house in 2003 at Point Breeze. Now we’re coming back to where our heart is in Medina. We really miss the sense of community.
Q: Could we look at some of your dolls. (Walks over to display room.) Do your early pieces have a similar style like your more current ones?
A: No. I first started in fabric as far as dolls went and then I went to polymer clay. These are my immigrants. Growing up we were always told the story of the immigrants coming over from Ireland.
Growing up we always went to Gallagher’s Hill for sledding so I had to recreate Gallagher’s Hill. I’m so pleased they are restoring the barn. It’s beautiful.
Sledders at Gallagher’s Hill
Q: Have you been written up in the doll magazines?
A: Many of the doll magazines have gone out of business, but I’ve been in most of them. I’ve won several awards for “Doll of the Year.”
Q: Are these Santas in their casual wear?
A: A lot of my Santas are European Santas. I do a lot of European Santas from different countries. I always like to include sheep or animals – I’ve always got dogs and cats.
I’m always doing something different. I’m never bored.
For convention shows I do storybook characters. I do Alice, Peter Pan, the Mad Hatter. I do a lot of fairies, which are very collectible.
Q: Do you get any creative help with all of this.
A: I always abuse my friends and family. They’re always helping me get ready for shows.
Q: How do you keep this interesting for yourself?
A: I don’t know what it is but I never get bored with it. Every year I try to bring in a new piece.
By Kristina Gabalski, Correspondent Posted 10 December 2015 at 12:00 am
File photo by Tom Rivers – This photo from October 2014 shows the side of the old Holley High School facing Route 31. The Landmark Society of Western New York named the school to its annual list of “Five to Revive.”
HOLLEY – Leaders in Holley say it is very preliminary at this point, but Village Board members have been meeting with a developer who has an interest in the old Holley High School building located at the prominent intersection of routes 31 and 237.
Deputy Mayor Brian Sorochty says Rochester-based developer Home Leasing, LLC, specializes in the development, construction and management of apartment-style communities.
“It’s early in the process,” Sorochty said. “There are many hurdles to get over.”
Those hurdles include issues regarding the title and back taxes, he said. Stakeholders met Tuesday afternoon to hear from the developer regarding, “what they are thinking and what are the next steps,” Sorochty said.
The former Holley High School was constructed in 1931 and was placed on the Landmark Society of Western New York’s “Five to Revive” list in 2013.
The building has been vacant for about 20 years. The Landmark Society is trying to get the site on the National Register of Historic Places, which would make a rehab project eligible for tax credits.
Home Leasing is currently a co-developer in the Eastman Gardens Complex in Rochester, which involves converting another historic building on the 2013 “Five To Revive” list – the Eastman Dental Dispensary – into apartments for seniors 55 years and older, Sorochty noted.
Village leaders plan to meet with Home Leasing again in January.
Regarding the regular meeting of the Village Board Tuesday evening, Sorochty said that board members approved the hiring of two new part-time police officers, pending background checks.
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 10 December 2015 at 12:00 am
Orleans plans to replace more bridges and culverts in 2016
Photos by Tom Rivers – Orleans County officials and contractors for the Oak Orchard Road bridge in Barre gathered for a ribbon-cutting celebration on Wednesday for the new bridge near the muck. Pictured, from left: Chris Bayer, a civil engineer with LaBella Associates; County Legislator John DeFillipps; Highway Superintendent Jerry Gray; Legislature Chairman David Callard; Chuck Nesbitt, county chief administrative officer; Legislator Bill Eick; Legislator Ken DeRoller; and Karl Snyder, the estimator and project manager for Redman Construction in Brockport.
BARRE – A bridge near the muck was torn out in August and a new precast box culvert was put in its place. The new bridge opened last week, and county officials and contractors celebrated the conclusion of the project with a ribbon-cutting on Wednesday.
That wraps up the infrastructure work in a busy 2015 in Orleans County. The county also replaced a bridge from 1934 over Beardsley Creek on Waterport-Carlton Road in Carlton, and two culverts on Knowlesville Road in Ridgeway over the Oak Orchard Creek.
(The county also put a new roof on the Public Safety Building, and added two new pole barns for the Highway Department on West Academy Street.)
Orleans has more projects in the works in 2016 and ’17. Next year it will replace a bridge from 1959 in Kendall on Carton Road over Sandy Creek, and a bridge from 1936 in Ridgeway over Fish Creek on East Scott Road. It will also replace two culverts on Platten Road in Yates, just east of the Village of Lyndonville.
The plan for 2017 includes bridges from 1928 in Ridgeway over Fish Creek on Culvert Road, and a bridge from 1956 in Kendall over Sandy Creek on Norway Road. The county will also replace two culverts on South Holley Road in Clarendon.
The new bridge in Barre goes over Manning Muckland Creek. The bridge has new guard rails, and is wider with more room on the shoulders.
The infrastructure work is part of an $8 million bond taken out last year to address bridges that had badly deteriorated. The federal and state governments would normally help pay for the projects, but those dollars have been hard to come by in recent years for Orleans County.
County officials worried the bridges would be “red flagged” by the state Department of Transportation with weight reductions. That would make travel more difficult, especially for the farm equipment, school buses and plow trucks.
The DOT considered 49 of the 131 bridges in the county to be rated deficient, as of Aug. 31, 2015. The DOT rates bridges on a score of 3.00 to 7.00. Anything less than a 5.00 is considered deficient.
The county will replace six bridges from 2015 to 2017, doing two each year. That should bring the number of deficient bridges down from 49 to 43.
The two bridges replaced this year had very low ratings. The bridge over Beardsley Creek in Carlton was rated a 3.80, and the bridge over Manning Muckland Creek in Barre was rated a 3.85.
The base of the new bridge in Barre notes it was built in 2015.
There has been a benefit to tackling the projects without state and federal help: far less cost and red tape. County officials estimate the projects are about one third cheaper than through the federal programs.
Those reduced expenses should allow the county to replace at least one more culvert or bridge as part of the infrastructure efforts.
“We can do it a lot cheaper,” said Jerry Gray, the county highway superintendent. “We’ve proved it.”
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 10 December 2015 at 12:00 am
File photos by Tom Rivers – Bent’s Opera House is in line for two state grants. The building is a dominant structure at the corner of Main and East Center streets in downtown Medina.
ALBANY – State officials announced about $2.25 billion in funding for projects across the state today, and some of those dollars will go towards efforts in Orleans County.
The biggest award is $600,000 for the Orleans Economic Development Agency for a new building in the Medina Business Park. The EDA is working to have the shell of a building up to entice a company. Having the exterior of the building in place with the local permits secured would speed up the process for a company to settle in Medina, EDA officials have said.
Other Medina projects were picked for funding include $335,000 in a Main Street NY grant that will be administered by the Orleans County Chamber of Commerce. The money will assist in renovation of mixed-use buildings in historic downtown Medina.
Downtown Medina will get $335,000 in a Main Street NY grant.
Bent’s Opera House, a landmark structure that opened in 1865 at the corner of Main and East Center streets in Medina, was approved for two grants. A $70,000 grant will go towards includes building stabilization, facade improvements, asbestos abatement and interior renovations at the three-story building.
The state also approved another $150,000 for Bent’s, which is owned by the Orleans Renaissance Group, for additional restoration work.
“This work will represent one phase of a multi-phase restoration project that will not only enhance its appearance, but will also enable public use,” according to the state announcement. “When complete, the Opera House will provide a safe and historic space for public gatherings and events, and will also provide space to several revenue and tax-generating businesses.”
Other projects include:
$200,000 to the Orleans EDA for microenterprise support, including downtown rental subsidies for businesses in the downtown districts in Albion, Holley, Medina and Lyndonville. Some of the state funds can also be used as grants for the small businesses adding equipment or a new line of products.
$126,210 for the chapel at Hillside Cemetery, which is owned by the Town of Clarendon. The Gothic Revival chapel was built of Medina sandstone in 1894. The state funding will go towards restoring the non-denominational chapel and repurpose it for new public uses. Anticipated use includes concerts, historical and art exhibits, and lectures.
The chapel at Hillside Cemetery was approved for state funds for restoration and repurposing.
$40,000 for the Kendall-Yates-Carlton Local Waterfront Revitalization Program. The funds will go towards updating the waterfront plan for the three towns, providing new data on current conditions, policies, and implementation tools and projects.
Issues to be addressed include community revitalization, erosion, transportation infrastructure, water quality, and harbor management. Stakeholder feedback and public input will be solicited throughout development of the amended waterfront development plan.
$36,000 for Orleans County for a law enforcement shared service and efficiency study.
“The Orleans County Sheriff’s Office and the Police Departments of the Villages of Albion, Lyndonville, Medina, and Holley will commission a study to explore the efficiency of current local law enforcement operations and compare them with alternative policing models, including the potential consolidation of the five departments,” according to the state announcement.
In addition, the Genesee-Orleans Regional Arts Council, which is based in Batavia and serves Genesee and Orleans counties, was approved for a $37,500 grant to create a full-time program director position to increase programming and service availabilities throughout its two-county region.
The Town of Alabama, just south of Shelby in Orleans County, was approved for a $1.5 million grant for new water lines to support the WNY Science and Technology Advanced Manufacturing Park (STAMP) and nearby residents.
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 10 December 2015 at 12:00 am
Photos by Tom Rivers
ALBION – Normally I’d expect to see snow on the ground with a trip to the Post Office on Dec. 10, but today it was roses.
An Orleans Hub reader told me I had to see the flowers in bloom on the south side of the Post Office on Main Street in Albion. I stopped by today and there they were, looking like it was spring.
I also saw bins full of apples in an orchard today and Mennonites working on a barn-raising in Knowlesville. (They asked that I not take their picture.)
The Erie Canal also is nearly empty of water. This picture shows a dock on the Albion-Eagle Harbor Road, just west of the Village of Albion.
The Orleans County Tourism Department reports that the drained canal has given the local fishery a boost, raising water levels and increasing flows in the local tributaries.
The temperatures will continue to be unseasonably warm with highs of 57 on Friday, 60 on Saturday, 63 on Sunday and 67 on Monday.
WASHINGTON, D.C.- Congressman Chris Collins (NY-27) today released the following statement after writing a letter to Department of Defense and Federal Aviation Administration officials expressing concern over a proposed wind turbine project along the Lake Ontario shoreline.
“Protecting the military missions and jobs supported by the Niagara Falls Air Reserve Station (NFARS) is my main priority,” said Congressman Collins. “The proposed wind turbine project along the Lake Ontario shoreline has the potential to jeopardize the base’s operations and viability. Any project that puts the base’s future at risk is unacceptable. NFARS has survived a number of closure attempts, and I will continue to do everything in my power to guarantee its doors remain open.”
Full text of the letter is below.
December 8, 2015
Mr. John Conger Ms. Elizabeth Ray
Deputy Under Secretary Vice President
Department of Defense Mission Support Services
Installations and Environment Federal Aviation Administration
3400 Defense Pentagon 800 Independence Ave SW
Washington, D.C. 20303 Washington, D.C. 20591
Dear Mr. Conger & Ms. Ray,
I am writing you to share my concerns with a proposed project in my district. I recently received a letter from the Niagara Military Affairs Council (NIMAC) regarding a proposal by APEX Clean Energy to construct wind turbines along the shoreline of Lake Ontario. I have included the letter for your reference. This letter raises serious concerns with the potential project and its proximity to the Niagara Falls Air Reserve Station (NFARS) military operating area.
NFARS was established in 1955 and is home to the Air Force Reserve Command’s 914th Airlift wing, the 328th Airlift Squadron, and the New York Air National Guard’s 107th Airlift Wing. Currently, the Air Force Reserves flies the C-130 mission and the Air National Guard has taken on the Remotely Piloted Aircraft mission. NFARS employs nearly 3,000 service members and civilians and provides economic growth and stability to the Niagara County and its surrounding communities.
If approved, the APEX Clean Energy proposal would put 70 wind turbines that stand 600 feet tall along the shores of Lake Ontario, in close proximity to the base. Encroachment is one of many key factors the military uses when determining the future of a base. Currently, NFARS is ranked favorably in that area and we cannot afford to allow any project to move forward that would jeopardize its future.
We have serious concerns that these wind turbines will impede the current airspace, making the base less viable for future missions. In 1995, the base was reviewed for closure during a Base Closure and Realignment Commission (BRAC). It was again reviewed for closure in a 2005 BRAC, and again in 2012 during the US Air Force Structure Adjustment. With an ever-present BRAC threat to the base and talks of another round in the next few years, we cannot risk these wind turbines jeopardizing the future of the Base and all those who are supported by it.
We must ensure that the future of the base remains viable and that any proposed projects do not interfere with its radar and flight operations. I am asking that before any decision is made, both the Federal Aviation Administration and the Department of Defense complete a thorough study of any potential impacts these structures would have on current and future operations at NFARS.
Sincerely,
CHRIS COLLINS
Member of Congress
Cc: The Honorable Andrew Cuomo, Governor of New York
Photos by Raymond Coniglio – Kari Powers of Le Roy speaks during a legislative forum Tuesday hosted by the Genesee ARC and the Arc of Orleans.
By Raymond Coniglio, Courtesy of The Batavian
BATAVIA – Kari Powers takes great pride in her daughter’s achievements.
Morgan, 8, was diagnosed with autism in 2009. She received early intervention through the Genesee ARC’s Rainbow Preschool, and is now enrolled in a “6:1:1” elementary school program six students, one teacher and one aide in Monroe County.
“I can’t speak enough about how much these services help my daughter,” Powers, who lives in Le Roy, said during a legislative forum Tuesday at the Genesee ARC Community Center in Batavia. “She is doing so well.”
Her pride is tempered by worry.
Worry, that state budget cuts threaten educational, housing and other services for children like Morgan, now and as they grow into adulthood.
“There are so many children diagnosed with autism or learning disabilities who are going to need services down the road,” Powers said. “It’s just so important that the funding continue.
“It matters to me,” she added. “It matters to Morgan and it matters to every single person in this room.”
Powers was one of 18 parents, caregivers and self-advocates who spoke for an hour-and-a-half at Tuesday’s forum. It was attended by state Sen. Rob Ortt, Assemblyman Steve Hawley, and Jay Grasso on behalf of state Sen. Michael Ranzenhofer. Ortt is chairman of the Senate’s Standing Committee on Mental Health and Developmental Disabilities.
More than 100 people attended the forum, which was hosted by the Genesee ARC and the Arc of Orleans, which are in the process of merging.
Powers’ words echoed “It Matters to Me,” the title of a grassroots advocacy campaign organized by the local agencies’ state affiliate, NYSARC Inc.
The campaign focuses on four issues:
Residential housing and other opportunities for people with intellectual or developmental disabilities who are living at home with aging parents or other caregivers.
The conversion of workshops into integrated businesses, to ensure employment for people with developmental disabilities.
Funding to boost wages for direct support professionals (DSPs) who serve people with developmental disabilities.
Increased state funding for preschools that serve special-needs children ages 3 to 5.
Assemblyman Steve Hawley, R-Batavia, speaks during Tuesday’s legislative forum hosted by the Genesee ARC and the Arc of Orleans. Jay Grasso, left, attended on behalf of state Sen. Michael Ranzenhofer.
Tammy Caldwell has worked for the Arc of Orleans for more than two decades, including the past 15 years at Rainbow Preschool in Albion. She said low wages and poor benefits, make it difficult to recruit and retain qualified employees.
“We have very dedicated staff,” Caldwell said. “They don’t come here for the money; they’re in it because they are truly passionate about their job and the kids they see.
“But it’s getting harder and harder, because of the lack of funding, to find good staff who want to come to a rural community like Orleans County and Genesee County.”
Wendy Eden said the starting wage for a DSP $9.66 an hour is “shameful.”
“Recruiting has been the biggest struggle,” said Eden, a residential supervisor for the Arc of Orleans. “We deal with staffing shortages on a daily basis.”
Alexis Arthur, a DSP at the Genesee ARC Day Habilitation Center in Elba, said it is “outrageous” that fast-food workers in New York will be paid $15 an hour while many of her peers work second jobs to make ends meet.
“My job is very rewarding, and I have a deep sense of pride and gratitude that I get to work with the people I do,” Arthur said. “My only wish is for myself and my coworkers to be compensated for our hard work.”
Loretta Stratton of Elba said her life changed when her son Hank was diagnosed with autism when he was 2 years old.
She switched careers, and trained to work with children like her son. “I thought I would be able to reach him,” she said. “And I couldn’t. I wasn’t able to reach my own child.”
Fortunately, help was available. Hank received in-home care, and attended preschool. By the time he started kindergarten, Stratton was in a position to insist Hank attend “regular” class.
By 10th grade he was taking Regents courses, and is now ranked third in his class. Stratton said he is Elba’s first special-needs student “in full inclusion” from kindergarten through senior year.
“We don’t want our kids to be a burden on society,” Stratton said. “We want to empower our kids to be the best that they can be at whatever ability they have.”
Hank is also an advocate, and spoke in support of job opportunities.
“We need people with special needs in the work force,” he said. “They really want to be a part of it, and they deserve the (same) respect as any other citizen.”
Hawley and Grasso said issues raised Tuesday, will be part of negotiations when work on the 2016-17 state budget begins in January. (Ortt had to leave early to attend a public meeting in Barker.)
Hawley hoped advocates would take their case directly to Albany, and “hammer away” at Gov. Andrew Cuomo and legislative leaders via letters, emails and YouTube videos.
Will their voices be heard?
Hawley pointed to the career of former Assemblyman Harvey Weisenberg, a Democrat who represented Long Beach until last year. He has an adult son with a mental disability.
In 2013, Weisenberg led a successful bipartisan effort to restore $90 million in funding that had been cut from the state Office of People With Developmental Disabilities.
Hawley was among the Assembly co-sponsors of the legislation. Ranzenhofer co-sponsored the Senate version.
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 9 December 2015 at 12:00 am
Photo by Tom Rivers – This house at the corner of South Main and Eagle streets is one of many decorated for the holiday season in Lyndonville.
The Lyndonville Lions Club will do its annual judging of houses decorated with lights on Dec. 15. Judges will canvass the community on Dec. 15 from 6 to 9 p.m. to look at the displays.
“Lyndonville has some of the best Christmas-decorated homes around during this wonderful time of the year,” said Lynne Johnson, the Lions Club president.
The Lions Club is also doing its annual toy drive for children. That started today and people are welcome to drop off toys at the M & T Bank and Yates Community Free Library, both on Main Street.
Last year, the toy drive resulted in 125 children receiving five toys each and a new pair of pajamas. The toys will be collected until about a week before Christmas.
“We hope we can exceed last year’s total and make each child happy and reflective on the Season of Giving,” Johnson said.
File photo by Tom Rivers – Genesee Community College and Orleans Hub honored four “Heritage Heroes” on April 24 during the Civil War Encampment at GCC’s Medina campus center. The following were recognized, from right to left: Doug Miller (accepting for his wife Susan Starkweather Miller), Andrew Meier, Holly Ricci-Canham, and William Menz.
Press Release, GCC
BATAVIA – Genesee Community College is eager to recognize the efforts of dedicated citizens who work hard to preserve the county’s history. The college is seeking nominations for the third annual Orleans County Heritage Heroes Awards. Nominations will be accepted through Feb. 15.
“Residents of Orleans County take great pride in their heritage,” said Jim Simon, associate dean of GCC’s Orleans County Campus Centers in Medina and Albion. “For our third consecutive year, we want to continue to recognize the time and investment of individuals who are tireless advocates for local history.”
Nominees for Heritage Heroes Awards can be any age but posthumous nominations will not be accepted. History professionals and GCC employees are also not eligible for the award, nor are those who serve on the awards selection committees. Nominees must be Orleans County residents.
Four winners were honored last year including Holly Ricci-Canham, Susan Starkweather Miller, Andrew W. Meier and William A. Menz. Because nominations are not retained for future consideration, nominees not selected to receive awards in previous are encouraged to re-submit a nomination again for this coming year.
“Many residents from all over the county work hard on restoring historic houses and protecting other community assets, including museums and churches,” said Tom Rivers, Orleans Hub editor. “The dedicated people working to preserve these treasures deserve praise for adding to the quality of life and character of our community.”
To nominate someone for the Heritage Heroes Awards, write up a brief statement outlining the person’s contributions, projects and community affiliations. Anyone sending in a nomination should provide their name (anonymous nomination packages will not be accepted), address, phone number and email address. The more in-depth the detail provided in the nomination, the stronger the submission.
Submit the nomination to:
ATTENTION: Heritage Heroes Committee
Genesee Community College / Medina Campus Center
11470 Maple Ridge Rd.
Medina, NY 14103-9675
Nominations may also be emailed to Jim Simon at jsimon@genesee.edu. Please write Heritage Heroes Nomination in the subject line.
A screening committee made up of community members, history professionals and GCC students will review the nominations and select finalists. From those finalists, a committee including GCC Associate Dean Jim Simon, Associate Professor Derek Maxfield and Orleans Hub Editor Tom Rivers will choose the Heritage Heroes.
“We’re excited to continue these awards,” said Maxfield. “When we held the Civil War Encampment in Medina for three years, it became obvious how Orleans County values its history and embraces its preservation. These efforts often go unnoticed. This is a way to shine a light on those who make many personal sacrifices in order to preserve history for future generations.”
The Heritage Heroes will be recognized during a ceremony at GCC in Medina in April 2016.
LYNDONVILLE – After being a certified AVID site for four years, Lyndonville Central School District has achieved Highly Certified Status, the highest possible certification at the high school and middle school level.
Advancement Via Individual Determination (AVID) is a college-readiness system designed to increase the number of students who enroll in four-year colleges.
At the high school and middle level, AVID students are enrolled in the school’s toughest classes, such as Advanced Placement, and receive support in an academic elective class, called AVID, taught within the school day by a trained AVID teacher.
What differentiates AVID from other educational reform programs is its astounding success rate. Of the 2013 AVID graduates, 86 percent planned to attend college; 76 percent to a four-year college. At LCSD, 100 percent of the AVID graduates have applied to a four-year college.
Director of Special Programs and Staff Development and CSE/CPSE Chairperson Anne Marie Holland said the school district is working to implement AVID into the culture of Lyndonville schools.
“This is a wonderful achievement. Thank you too all the members of our AVID site team for their hard work and dedication,” said Holland. “And thank you to Superintendent Jason Smith and the Board for their ongoing support of the system.”
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 9 December 2015 at 12:00 am
Photo by Tom Rivers – Roz Starkweather, left, and Sharon Midea, who have each worked nearly a half century in the insurance business, will both retire later this year. They work for Albion Agencies on Main Street.
ALBION – Two insurance agents in Albion have each spent nearly a half century in the business, helping to write policies for home owners, cars, motorcycles, businesses, farms and more.
Roz Starkweather and Sharon Midea have experienced big changes in the industry with the utilization of computers and a shrinking number of insurance carriers.
The two women are thankful for jobs that turned into long careers, allowing them to stay close to home with their families and also connect with so many customers.
“It’s nice to work in town and only have to drive three-tenths of a mile to work,” Midea said.
Both she and Starkweather will retire at the end of the year with their last day in the office on Dec. 22. They are both long-time employees at Albion Agencies. Midea started there in 1970. She handles most of the commercial accounts and is a certified insurance counselor. Starkweather started in insurance when she was in high school in Batavia.
“I started out at 17 and I didn’t know it would be my life work,” Roz said.
She worked for the J.R. Holt agency in Batavia, her hometown. She moved to Albion with her late husband Duane so he could run a gas station at the corner of Hamilton and West Avenue, the current site for Avanti’s. The couple raised three children in Albion.
Roz started working for the former Paganelli Agencies (where Snell Realtors is located). Roz said the insurance job was ideal when she had young kids in school. She would start the workday around 10 and be home when the kids were off the school bus at 3:30.
Starkweather worked at Paganelli’s for 20 years. She would often call Midea when Starkweather was looking for advice on how to handle a commercial account.
That has been typical of the insurance agents in town, the two said. They will call each other. It’s not a competition.
“It’s never been cutthroat,” Midea said.
Midea grew up in Perry, Wyoming County. Her husband Ben was hired as a funeral director at Merrill-Grinnell Funeral Homes, bringing the family to Albion. Sharon was working in the office for the former Bemis Bag manufacturing company in Albion (now the site of Environmental Construction Group across from Hospice of Orleans).
Mr. Midea saw Paul Haines, owner of Albion Agencies, and heard Mrs. Midea was looking for a job. That was in 1970. She has been a dedicated employee for 45 years. She said the insurance business “was overwhelming in the beginning.”
She started in claims, and there were reams of paperwork, “a lot of forms and carbon copies,” Midea said.
But she stuck with it, and learned many of facets of the business, becoming a licensed insurance agent and broker.
She remembers when Chris Haines joined the business out of college in the 1980s. Chris pushed to have the office computerized and for staff to have regular training.
“He’s been very progressive,” Starkweather said.
When she arrived at Albion Agencies in 1994, she had little experience with computers.
“I didn’t know how to turn it on,” she said about her office computer. “I still have my wars with my computer.”
But she is a convert to the technology. She can easily research issues and retrieve files and information.
“You used to have to go to big file cabinets,” she said. “There were tons of file cabinets. Now you hardly ever have to go to the file cabinet because it’s all on computers.”
The two women have put off retirement in recent years, opting for continuing education classes every two years.
Both Starkweather and Midea say the time is right to end their careers. Midea plans to spend seven months a year in Florida with her husband. The two will spend the rest of the year in an RV.
“This has been a great place to work,” she said. “That is why neither of us have left. We’re family.”
Starkweather said she is excited about the next phase of her life, but she will miss her many customers.
“Customer service is very, very important,” she said. “I babied my customers.”
Albion Agencies will have a retirement open house for community members to stop by on Friday to see Starkweather and Midea from 1 to 4 p.m. The office is located at 30 North Main St.
KENDALL – A highly successful Course Option Night was held recently at Kendall Junior/Senior High School with more than 200 people attending the interactive display of courses offered at the school.
Jeannine Gallina from the Career and Technical Education (CTE) department of Monroe 2-Orleans BOCES started the evening by highlighting the career opportunities available in the middle skills sector. After the presentation, everyone was encouraged to explore the hands-on exhibits.
Elementary students up to juniors in high school visited the display booths to find out more about current and new courses being offered. Nineteen staff members were on hand to provide students with information so they can make informed decisions about what courses to take next year. New course offerings connect NYS standards to students’ interests and include:
21st Century Computer Skills
Video Game Design
International Cooking
Fish and Wildlife Conservation Biology
Intro to Statistics
World History on Film
Woodworking
Robotics
Genocide
CEP 101- Career and Educational Planning
Overall, the evening was a great success, with students and parents in attendance saying that they felt the evening was helpful and informative. Principal Carol D’Agostino was pleased with the turnout at the event and comments from attendees.
“Course Option Night was a huge success,” she said. “Numerous parents and students expressed how much they appreciated the information that was demonstrated and presented. Students are really excited about our new electives and traditional courses.”
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 8 December 2015 at 12:00 am
Photos by Tom Rivers
MEDINA – Trinity Lutheran Church will celebrate its new organ with a 7 p.m. concert on Friday at the church, 1212 West Ave.
The organ actually isn’t new. The 28-rank organ was in Christ Episcopal Cathedral of Cincinnati. That church donated the Holtkamp pipe organ to Trinity in 2014. Chesapeake Organ Service was hired to clean, rewire, and reinstall the organ at Trinity.
The organ replaces one from 1925 with eight ranks or eight sets of pipes and two manuals or keyboards. Trinity’s new organ has three keyboards.
The organ, located in the balcony, debuted for the church on Easter Sunday on April 5, but only became near fully functional in the past three to four months.
“It’s had a marked change in the energy of the service,” said Andrew Meier, the church organist.
Friday’s concert will feature Tim Smith, founder and executive director of the Portageville Chapel in Wyoming County. That site offers retreats for organ musicians and has been booked every weekend from April through November.
Smith also owns Chesapeake Organ Service, the company that took out Trinity’s old organ and put in the much-improved instrument, which is distinguished by its exposed pipes, limited casework, and bright, assertive voicing.
Admission to the concert on Friday is no charge with a free-will offering.
Andrew Meier, organist for Trinity Lutheran, plays the instrument last week.
Meier said Medina has several high-quality organs. St. Mary’s Catholic Church in Medina also is putting in a new one.
The organs could add to Medina as a destination, said Meier, who is also Medina’s mayor. More importantly, the instruments add to the worship expeirence at local churches.
He said some churches shifted to electronic instruments, but now the organs are becoming more desired by some congregations.
“In the ’60s and ’70s, the trend was toward electronic organ technology,” he said. “But the pendulum is going the other way. It’s a bonus now when you have a pipe organ.”
Trinity’s organ has about three times as many pipes as the previous one that had about 500.
“There is a real presence a pipe organ has during a service that you don’t get with an electronic instrument,” Meier said. “Electronic is one-dimensional, but a pipe organ hits you from many levels.”
The concert on Friday includes a mix of traditional and classical Christmas music and carols.
