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Apex says local support grows for wind energy project

By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 27 October 2015 at 12:00 am

YATES – Apex Clean Energy says public support is building for the company’s plan to build 60 to 68 turbines in the towns of Yates and Somerset that would peak at 570 feet high.

The company issued a press release about “political posturing” by Save Ontario Shores, a citizens group opposing the turbine project.

SOS on Oct. 16 opened 421 surveys of Yates property owners, asking their opinions about the turbine project. Of the respondents, 77.9 percent of Yates property owners say they oppose the project. Somerset town officials also did a survey of residents that showed strong opposition to the turbines.

Last Friday, Save Ontario Shores and Somerset town officials gathered at the lighthouse in Barker for a press conference and rally against the turbine project. The town has retained Dennis Vacco, a former state attorney general, to fight the Apex project.

Apex issued a statement saying it will continue to do public outreach about the project. As more residents learn about the plan, they tend to support the turbines, the company said.

“More and more residents in the project area are choosing to participate in the project,” said Dan Fitzgerald of Apex Clean Energy. “We continue to add participants as people have the opportunity to research and learn about this.”

Apex said the recent surveys in Yates and Somerset “deliberately excluded residents” of both towns.

The company released quotes from a resident in each town that support the wind energy project.

Floyd Koerner of Somerset said the town is paying Vacco $270 an hour “in a clear attempt to score political points for the election, based on a well-funded misinformation campaign against advanced energy solutions in our local community.”

“In direct contrast, we are local residents and landowners interested in progress over politics, based on scientifically supported facts, benefits and the long-term future of our community,” Koerner said. “When the election is over, we’ll still be here fighting for the good of our community.”

Susan Campbell of Lyndonville has written letters to the editor to the Orleans Hub in support of the wind energy project.

“SOS claims to be worried about the health of the people in Yates and Somerset, but in truth I feel that they just want to continue to pollute our air and water with outdated energy technology,” said she in a news release from Apex. “In my opinion, the only fact that SOS brings up that cannot be disputed is that they don’t like the way the turbines look. This is the only planet we get and it is time we take the responsible steps to preserve it. The wind turbines will be a big step in that direction.”

Bronze statue sought for monument by Medina Armory

By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 27 October 2015 at 12:00 am

Rendering courtesy of Company F Memorial Committee – A fund-raising effort has started for a bronze statue of a soldier about 7 feet tall that would be on top of an existing stone base that is 6 feet, 10 inches in height.

MEDINA – In October 2008, a stone monument was dedicated with plaques listing soldiers who trained at the Medina Armory and fought wars on behalf of the United States.

Now, seven years later the Company F Memorial Committee wants to put a finishing touch on the monument: a bronze statue of a soldier with a rifle over his shoulder.

The statue would be almost 7 feet high. That project, plus replacing a vandalized plaque and making name changes and additions on others, would cost about $90,000, said Bill Menz, chairman of committee.

The new fund-raising campaign would also pay for a flag pole about 30 feet high for the American flag. Right now it shares a pole with a Prisoner of War/Missing in Action flag.

Menz would like to have the project complete next year.

“This is the history of Orleans County,” said Menz, who led the efforts for the Company F Monument’s first phase. “We’re trying to wake up the historic spirit of the community.”

The Medina Armory opened in 1901 for Company F, which formed in 1891. It trained at a different location prior to the Armory. In 1977, the National Guard left the Medina Armory, a site on Pearl Street. The site has been used as a YMCA for more than three decades.

Courtesy Medina Sandstone Society – Company F prepares to leave Medina Oct. 24, 1940 for training at Fort McClellan and active duty in WWII. Saturday was the 75th anniversary of their departure.

Menz was one of the soldiers to train in the Armory. That was for 18 months when he was in the National Guard in the 1950s. He served on active duty in Greenland. He attained the rank of a corporal E-4.

The monument includes 550 names of local soldiers who fought in wars on behalf of the United States. The soldiers enlisted and trained at the Medina Armory for conflicts from 1898 to 1945 including the Spanish-American War, Mexican-American, World War I and World War II.

In 2006, a group of Medina veterans, their family members and representatives from the Medina Sandstone Society embarked on a project to provide a permanent tribute to the 550 soldiers from Orleans County and the surrounding area who joined Company F.

Photo by Tom Rivers – Bill Menz is pushing to have a statue and another flag pole by the monument next to the Medina Armory.

After two years of planning, fund-raising and building the monument, it was dedicated on Oct. 14, 2008.

The Company F Memorial Committee is working with the Orleans County Joint Veterans Council and Lincoln Post No. 1483 VFW for the additions to the monument, including the statue.

Any donations for the statue can be mailed to Company F Monument, P.O. Box 522, Medina NY, 14103. For more information, click here.

Fraud at Murray Superette could be in hundreds of thousands of dollars, police say

By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 27 October 2015 at 12:00 am

Photo by Tom Rivers – Members of the Orleans County Major Felony Crime Task Force and outside agencies raided the Murray Superette on Route 104 this morning at about 7 a.m.

MURRAY Three brothers – Alexander, Myron and Olec Salamaca – have been charged with grand larceny, welfare fraud and other crimes following a raid today by police officers.

The raid followed a 15-month investigation where the brothers and some employees allowed customers to illegally exchange food stamps in the Supplemental Nutritional Assistance Program (SNAP) at 70 percent of their value, the Orleans County Major Felony Crime Task Force reported.

Customers were given cash, and then often used that to buy items not authorized by the food stamp program, such as untaxed cigarettes, alcohol, lottery tickets, gasoline and other non-permissable items, said Joe Sacco, supervising investigator for the Task Force.

The Task Force and other officers executed search warrants at the Murray Superette, the Salamaca Estate Winery, and the brothers’ residences this morning.

Police seized 64 cartons of untaxed cigarettes, more than $22,000 in cash, a loaded handgun, several rifles and shotguns, numerous financial records, several NYS benefit cards and PIN numbers, several computers and an EBT terminal for food stamps.

The following were charged:

Alexander R. Salamaca, 49, of 2900 Kendall Rd., Holley; Myron B. Salamaca, 60, of 2874 Kendall Rd. Holley; and Olec L. Salamaca, 62, of 16569 Ridge Rd., Holley.

They were all charged with 1 count of misuse of food stamps, food stamp program coupons, authorization cards and electronic devices, which is a Class D felony.

They also have been charged with grand larceny in the third degree (Class D felony), 1 count to scheme to defraud in the first degree (Class E felony), 1 count of criminal possession of untaxed cigarettes – more than 10,000 cigarettes (Class E felony), 1 count of criminal tax fraud in the fourth degree, intent to evade NYS sales tax exceeding $3,000 (Class E felony), and 41 counts of criminal sale of untaxed cigarettes.

Alex Salamaca

Myron Salamaca

Olec Salamaca

Olec Salamaca faces an additional charge of criminal use of a public benefit card in the first degree (Class E felony).

All three Salamacas were arraigned in the Gaines Town Court by Justice Bruce Schmidt. They were committed to Orleans County Jail on $20,000 cash bail. They are to return to Gaines Town Court at 3 p.m. on Nov. 2.

“This investigation is ongoing with more arrests and charges pending,” said Joe Sacco, supervising investigator for the Task Force. “The total fraud could reach into the hundreds of thousands of dollars.”

District Attorney Joe Cardone said he expects people who traded their food stamps for cash will also be kicked off public assistance. He said at least 50 people have been identified for misusing their benefits, and the list is expected to grow.
The raid this morning follows an investigation going back to July 2014 by the Task Force and the Welfare Fraud Unit in the Department of Social Services.

The Task Force was aided with seven search warrants this morning by the U.S. Department of Agriculture Office of the Inspector General; NYS Department of Taxation and Finance; the U.S. Department of Justice Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms; U.S. Department of Homeland Security; the Orleans County Sheriff’s Office; and the Welfare Fraud Unit at DSS.

Buffalo Armory cited as perfect example of Medina Sandstone – on a massive scale

Posted 26 October 2015 at 9:00 am

Provided images – This shows a drawing of the massive Armory in Buffalo, which last Thursday was inducted into the Medina Sandstone Hall of Fame.

Press Release, New York State Division of Military & Naval Affairs

BUFFALO – The New York State Division of Military and Naval Affairs Connecticut Street Armory was one of four structures inducted into the Medina Sandstone Hall of Fame on Thursday, Oct. 22.

The massive 116 year-old building was recognized by the Medina Sandstone Society during a ceremony in which it’s photograph and a short history was added to the Hall of Fame located in the Medina City Hall.

Other structures honored by the group, which is dedicated to noting the importance of the local sandstone in the architectural history of the region, are St. John’s Episcopal Church in Medina; Martin Manor, a private residence in Buffalo; and St. Mary’s Roman Catholic Church in Holley.

Like most monumental 19th Century buildings in western New York and Buffalo, the Armory, which occupies 4.87 acres on Buffalo’s west side, was constructed of a specific type of sandstone which was discovered in Orleans County during the 1820s as the Erie Canal was being built.

“It was a very popular building material because of its strength and beauty,” explained Donald Colquhoun, one of the Medina Sandstone Society trustees and a member of the hall of Fame committee. “At one time there were over 30 quarries here in Orleans County.”

The Connecticut Street Armory is a perfect example of Medina sandstone construction on a massive scale, he said. The building is 280,362 square feet.

When picking nominations for its Hall of Fame, the group looks for historically and architecturally significant buildings that have weathered the period of time. It also needs to be a building that is beautifully maintained, Colquhoun said.

For these reasons, the Armory was an easy pick to make the 2015 list of outstanding Medina sandstone buildings maintained by the Sandstone Society, Colquhoun said.

The Medina sandstone is an amazing building material, said Joe Murray, the regional superintendent for the state armories in western New York. The stone in the Connecticut Street Armory looks just as good today as it did when the structure was completed in 1899, Murray said.

The Armory in Buffalo is monstrous at nearly 300,000 square feet.

Taking its name from the village of Medina which was in the heart of the quarry area, the sandstone was durable, came in shades ranging from white, to red, to brown, to pink, and was fireproof.

“It last literally forever,” Colquhoun said. “In buildings that were built 150 years ago the sandstone looks the same.”

In the days prior to steel framed, concrete structures, Medina sandstone was the go-to material for large-scale construction, Colquhoun said.

The famous “Million Dollar Staircase” in the New York State Capital is constructed of Medina sandstone and blocks were shipped across the country. There is even Medina sandstone incorporated into work in Buckingham Palace in London, Colquhoun said.

So when the New York National Guard’s 74th Regiment began building its massive new home in 1897, it was only natural that the building designer, Williams Lansing, who was a captain in the 74th Regiment, decided to use sandstone from the nearby quarries around Medina.

The initial cost of the building was too high. The state was willing to pay $400,000 for the armory and the low bid was $600,000 for a Medina sandstone building.

But Lansing didn’t want to build the armory of brick, so the modified the design to get the contractor to come in under budget.

When it was finished in 1899 the Connecticut Street Armory was the largest National Guard armory in the United States. It was also empty inside.

The state had agreed to pay for the building, the interior details had to be paid for by the 74th Regiment. So from Oct. 23 to Nov. 6, 1899 the soldiers hosted a bazaar inside the armory, which included food vendors and exhibits.

This picture shows the Armory under construction during the horse-and-carriage era.

Among those exhibits, according to the book New York’s Historic Armories were a 30-foot-high replica of a medieval castle filled with period weapons and armor and a reproduction of San Juan Hill, which was stormed at regular intervals by the Guardsmen of the 74th.

One of the selling points of sandstone construction was its resistance to fire. When the massive drill hall of the armory caught fire in 1982 – 120 trucks were stored there – the Medina sandstone pretty much performed as expected, Murray said.

While the roof and interiors of the drill shed burned, the Medina sandstone walls remained mostly intact.

The sandstone walls didn’t go totally unscathed, Murray said. When DMNA rebuilt the structure some sandstone on the west end of the building had to be replaced. Doing so meant reopening the quarry the stone came from in 1898 and cutting stone to match, he said.

Murray, who is responsible for 31 armories from Gloversville to Jamestown, thinks it was worth it.

“It is a castle that is incredibly kept up by DMNA,” he said. “It is a showplace of the community, of an era when things were outstanding in the 1880s and 1890s.”

Walk at Watt’s raised $35K for Cancer Society

By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 26 October 2015 at 12:00 am

Photos by Tom Rivers – Pam Allen and her daughters Trinity, center, and Savannah have cups of apple cider to start the 5-kilometer walk through the Watt Farms orchards on Saturday.

About 500 people, many of them wearing pink, walked the orchard at Watt Farms on Saturday.

ALBION – More than 500 people raised about $35,000 during the Making Strides Against Breast Cancer walk on Saturday at Watt Farms.

The farm market has hosted 11 Making Strides walks and raised about $350,000 for the American Cancer Society.

“The Saturday event was a moving example of passion in action,” said Michael Crisona, senior market manager for the American Cancer Society. “Our Making Strides Against Breast Cancer walk unites the community together with a shared determination to help finish the fight. Making Strides participants can be proud that their fundraising efforts are helping to save more lives from breast cancer.”

Karen Watt, a breast cancer survivor, said the farm is looking to partner with a local organization in the future for fund-raising walks through the orchard.

On Sunday, she was honored with a humanitarian award from the Pullman Memorial Universalist Church for her efforts to raise money for cancer research and support services for people affected by the disease, as well as her other community involvements.

She praised her husband Chris for mowing the orchards and getting the route ready for the public for the Making Strides event.

Farmhouse damaged in fire will be razed

By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 26 October 2015 at 12:00 am

Grand structure was year-round residence for 6 farmworkers

ALBION – The fire that badly damaged a grand old house on Route 98 has displaced six year-round farmworkers for Watt Farms and will also result in the building being razed, said Karen Watt, co-owner of the Watt Farms with her husband Chris.

The fire broke out at about 2 p.m. on Sunday in a house owned by Watt Farms at 3161 Oak Orchard Rd. The house is the year-round residence for six workers. Some of the workers lost their possessions during the fire, Watt said.

The Red Cross paid for them to stay at Dollinger’s Motel last night. Watt Farms will move them to a seasonal housing for the short-term. Watt said she is working on housing for the winter, as well as clothing and other supplies for the workers.

They are the core members of the farm’s work crew, with some of them working for Watt for 20 years.

“We’re trying to figure out what to do,” she said. “That was their home, but it would be cost prohibitive to fix it.”

Here is how the house looks this afternoon, a day after the fire. A new metal roof had recently been put on the house.

The red brick house was built about 150 years ago with additions to follow. It had “a beautiful staircase and woodwork,” Watt said.

Fire investigators told her it looks like an electrical fire triggered the blaze.

The building will be knocked down. It was part of the former Harding farm.

“It’s really too bad,” Watt said.

Albion firefighter James Fisher was one of the first on the scene. He sprays water on the fire yesterday afternoon. Watt said the fire destroyed the framework for the brick house.

Medina man sentenced to year in state prison for drug crime

By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 26 October 2015 at 12:00 am

ALBION – A Medina man who was unsuccessful in staying off drugs during Drug Court was sentenced today to 1 year in state prison.

Matthew J. Albone, 33, of Medina was charged in January 2014 with two counts of criminal sale of a controlled substance in the fourth degree and two counts of criminal possession of a controlled substance in the fifth degree.

He pleaded guilty on June 9, 2014 court to CPCS in the fifth degree and CPCS in the seventh degree. He admitted in court to selling prescription narcotics that were prescribed to him.

If he completed Drug Court the charge of CPCS in the 5th degree would have been dismissed. However, Albone continued to use drugs.

His attorney, Shirley Gorman, said he was successful for six months at a residential treatment program and another five months of supportive living. But he met somebody he knew from when he used drugs and that triggered a relapse, Gorman said in court today.

In one case he had to be revived after being found unconscious in a field in Rochester.

“It’s certainly a long difficult path that brought you here,” Orleans County Court Judge James Punch said during sentencing. “You’ve been provided numerous services and treatments. There are people who would give anything for the treatment you have rejected.”

In other cases today:

Kaylee M. Loiacono, 27, of Brockport admitted she sold cocaine from her home on Taylor Road on April 6, 2015.

She pleaded guilty to criminal possession of a controlled substance in the fifth degree. That charge normally carries a maximum of 2 ½ years in state prison. As part of a plea deal, she will face a maximum of six months in the county jail.

An Albion man rejected a plea offer that would have capped his state prison sentence to 4 years. Brandon A. Honore, 30, of East Park Street has been charged with 2 counts of criminal sale of a controlled substance in the 3rd degree, and 2 counts of criminal possession of a controlled substance in the 3rd degree (Class B felonies).

Honore and Loiacono were among 19 people arrested in July following a seven-month investigation into the sale and distribution of drugs in Orleans County.

Honore’s trial will begin Feb. 17.

Joseph Koneski, 49, of Holley was arraigned for violating his probation. He was previously sentenced for driving while intoxicated in Ontario County. He allegedly violating his probation by drinking alcohol, using drugs and leaving the jurisdiction without notification, Judge Punch said during arraignment today.

Koneski was remanded to jail on $2,000 bail.

Pride Pak plan passes County Planning Board

By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 26 October 2015 at 12:00 am

This shows a rendering of the new building on Maple Ridge Road across from GCC.

MEDINA – The Orleans County Planning Board reviewed the site plan for a new 62,000-square-foot vegetable processing facility last week and recommended the Village of Medina approve the plan.

Pride Pak wants to break ground on the project next month and be ready for production in June. The Canadian-based company says it will hire 85-100 employees in phase one of the project. It expects it will expand from the 62,000-square-foot building in the future and employ 200 people.

The company will build on Route 31A across from Genesee Community College in an area zoned as light industrial in the Maple Ridge Overlay District.

The company is proposing 106 parking spaces, with 100 designated for employees and six for visitors. The village code for the Maple Ridge Overlay District calls for 5 spaces per 1,000 square feet for a building, which would be 310 spaces for a 62,000-square-foot building. For light industrial sites, there should be 2 spaces per 1,000 square feet or 124 for Pride Pak, according to the code.

However, Medina allows for “a reasonable reduction” in parking spaces if the company can show there isn’t an overflow parking problem and it won’t adversely impact access roads.

The County Planning Board said additional parking could always be added if it proves a problem, but the board didn’t foresee a need for more than 106 given the production-only nature of the facility.

The site plan goes to the Village Planning Board for a final vote on Nov. 3.

‘I need help,’ woman says, before being sentenced to year in jail for drug crime

By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 26 October 2015 at 12:00 am

ALBION – One woman was sentenced to a year in jail today while another man scheduled for sentencing was jailed without bail and had his sentencing delayed after he showed up in court under the influence of drugs.

Nathan L. Parsad, 24, of Williamson was due to be sentenced today for criminal possession of a controlled substance. But Orleans County Court Judge James Punch said Parsad was clearly under the influence. He was swaying while trying to stand up in court, and showed up for sentencing more than an hour late.

Parsad admitted in court he had been using heroin.

Parsad was driving on Jan. 12 on Ridge Road in Gaines when he was in an accident. Parsad and two of his passengers – Caitlin E. Jones, 29, of Canandaigua and Eric L. Shirley, 28, of Canandaigua – all faced drug charges after police found drugs in the vehicle.

Parsad and Jones were both due to be sentenced today. They were initially eligible for Drug Court. If they completed that court, the drug charge would have been reduced to a misdemeanor. But they were kicked out of Drug Court when they tested positive for drugs.

Parsad will be sentenced on Thursday after he is given three days to sober up. He is being held in jail without bail.

Jones also was an hour late for sentencing. She admitted she had recently been using cocaine and heroin. However, she said she wasn’t under the influence of the drugs and could be sentenced today.

Her attorney Lance Mark asked that Jones be sentenced to treatment.

“She has a long history of drug problems,” Mark told Judge Punch.

Jones was given an opportunity to speak at sentencing.

“It’s been ruining my life,” she said about drugs. “I need help.”

The judge said Jones said she didn’t want Probation, which could have included conditions for treatment.

“You don’t seem to have the wherewithal to overcome this problem,” Punch told her. “We can’t force you to accept treatment.”

Albion DPW beats the cold with paving work

By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 26 October 2015 at 12:00 am

Photos by Tom Rivers
ALBION – Jay Pahura, a motor equipment operator for the Albion Department of Public Works, runs a roller over fresh pavement on Friday on Hamilton Street.

The DPW has been busy with paving projects just before winter hits. The DPW on Monday put new pavement around manhole covers on East Avenue.

The village this year also paved portions of Caroline Street, Brown Street (from canal going north to village line, Lyndon Drive, East State Street and West Bank Street.

Bryan Hazel, an employee with the Orleans County Highway Department, operates the paver while Tim Banker of the DPW works behind the big machine. The county shares the paver and some of its personnel for the paving projects.

Dale Brooks, the DPW superintendent, oversees the project on Hamilton Street. Brooks will likely become the new Barre highway superintendent on Jan. 1, replacing the retiring Dale Ostroski. Brooks is unoppsed on the Nov. 3 election after winning a Republican Primary.

Fire heavily damages house for farmworkers owned by Watt Farms

By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 25 October 2015 at 3:22 pm

Photos by Tom Rivers

GAINES – A fire broke out at about 2 p.m. today in a house owned by Watt Farms at 3161 Oak Orchard Rd. The house is the year-round home for six farmworkers.

The house is at the northeast intersection of the Five Corners where Route 98, Bacon Road and Route 279 all intersect.

Albion firefighters hurry to attach a hose to a hydrant.

Flames were feasting on the house, a big residence.

Darryl Szklany of Albion surveys the scene. Several other fire departments sent crews to help contain and put out the fire.

Firefighters spray water on the fire.

The fire gave off big clouds of smoke after water was directed on the house.

Rotarians stay committed to eradicating polio

Posted 25 October 2015 at 12:00 am

Local dentist shares how polio took his mother’s life when he was a young boy

Photos by Kim Pritt – Albion Rotary Club member Don Bishop, a dentist, speaks about Rotary’s efforts to defeat polio during Thursday’s meeting at Tillman’s Village Inn. Bishop shared his family’s difficult experiences with the disease.

By Kim Pritt, Correspondent

ALBION – Rotary Club International joined the fight to eradicate polio in 1985 with their Polio Plus Program – a world-wide commitment to raise funds and awareness to combat this devastating disease.

Poliovirus is a highly contagious virus that affects humans with no known cure. At one time 350,000 children were diagnosed with polio each year world-wide. Through research and vaccines made available in the early 1950s, polio has been nearly wiped out in most of the world.

This past year, only two countries – Afghanistan and Pakistan – have reported new cases of polio and Africa has not seen a new case in over a year. However, as long as there continue to be new cases reported, Rotary Club International’s Polio Plus Program will continue its work to raise awareness and funds.

Locally, Albion Rotary Club has been a strong supporter of the Polio Plus Program since its inception in 1985. To commemorate World Polio Day, the Albion club devoted its regular Thursday meeting to raising awareness and funds for this disease and the program committed to eradicating it.

The eradication of polio is not only a priority for the Albion Rotary Club, but it is also very personal for Albion Rotary member, Don Bishop.

Bishop spoke at the Thursday meeting about his personal experience with polio. When he was a child, his family was exposed to the poliovirus, resulting in two of his family members contracting the disease. Bishop’s mother was severely afflicted with the disease, causing her to be completely paralyzed from the neck down and confined to an iron lung.

Bishop talked about visiting his mother in a clinic in New York City where she was isolated with other polio victims in an effort to control the spread of the disease. They were eventually able to bring their mother home with her iron lung after they converted their living room into a hospital room for her, but she soon had to return to the hospital and succumbed to the disease in 1957.

Albion Rotary Club President Karen Sawicz, right, presents Don Bishop with a certificate for 25 polio vaccinations to be donated in his name.

He went on to say that at the age of 7, he and his sister, aged 4, were placed in a vaccine trial because of the unknown risk of them passing the disease on to others. They discovered that he did receive the vaccine, but his sister had received a placebo. Shortly after that, his sister began to exhibit symptoms of the disease.

Bishop’s sister developed a much milder case and responded to various therapies over the years, including painting therapy. She earned an art scholarship to Nazareth College and went on to a career as an art teacher.

Bishop talked about seeing images of clinics with rows and rows of thousands of iron lungs and stated those images were not an exaggeration, as he witnessed similar scenes while visiting his mother. As further research and the success of the vaccine helped to reduce the numbers of people diagnosed with polio, the use of the iron lungs has also reduced.

Bishop shared that he recently read that in 1959 there were 1,200 people confined to an iron lung and in 2004 there were only 39 such people. Others in the group commented about knowing children here in our community during the 1950s and 1960s, who had polio and how terrifying it was during the height of the epidemic.

During the Albion Rotary Club’s meeting two sets of Sabres hockey tickets were donated and auctioned off for the purpose of donating the funds raised to the Polio Plus Program. The Gates Foundation has teamed up with Rotary Club International and will do a two-to-one match of any funds raised for the Polio Plus Program. So, thanks to the Gates Foundation, the $120 raised in the auction will be tripled to make a $360 donation to the Polio Plus Program.

In addition to raising awareness and funds for the Polio Plus Program, it is Albion Rotary Club’s practice to present a certificate to their guest speakers indicating a pledge to vaccinate 25 children in countries still reporting new polio cases in the name of the guest speaker. Don Bishop was presented with a certificate for sharing his family’s story at the Thursday meeting.

Doug ‘The Plumber’ gets roasted to benefit Children’s Foundation

By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 25 October 2015 at 12:00 am

Photos by Tom Rivers

GAINES – Marcy Downey plays Ernestine, a telephone operator, during a roast on Saturday night of Doug Bower, right. Bower works as a plumber and co-host of the WHAM Home Repair Clinic with Jim Salmon, left.

Bower provided plenty of material for the sold-out roast at Tillman’s Village Inn, which was a benefit for The Salmon Children’s Foundation. That foundation has donated more than $7,000 to Albion High School graduates in scholarships in memory of Nicholas Kovaleski.

Downey pretended to be a 9-1-1 operator who received an emergency call from Bower. He was injured in an accident on July 22, 2012, when his van, which was left in neutral, rolled back in the Wal-Mart parking lot. The van tripped Bower and ran over his right leg and torso. He was seriously injured that day, but has recovered from those injuries and can now joke about the accident.

Jim Salmon took delight in picking on his friend and radio co-host Doug Bower.

Kelly Kovaleski tells Bower and more than 100 people at the Celebrity Roast that her son, Nicholas, had a great sense of humor and enjoyed making people laugh.

Nicholas was 15 when he died from leukemia on June 29, 2011. He was a guest on the Home Repair Clinic with Salmon and Bower and talked about fighting cancer.

The memorial scholarship for Nicholas goes to a student who “Lives With Purpose,” which was Nicholas’s motto.

Charlie Nesbitt, a former state assemblyman, took a turn roasting Bower.

Phyl Contestable, “The Reverend Mother,” also joined the roasting revelry, picking on both Salmon and Bower.

Gary Simboli portrays the comedian Foster Brooks, pretending to be a short-lived plumbing partner for Bower early in his career, during Saturday’s roast.

Big donations make van possible for paralyzed Albion teen

By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 24 October 2015 at 12:00 am

$20,000 given by West Herr, $5K by Lions Club

Photos by Tom Rivers – Ashley Wiegele’s mother Danielle Shulenburg is overcome with emotion while holding a ceremonial check for $20,000 given by the West Herr Automotive Group. She is pictured with Scott Green, left, a guidance counselor at Albion High School and Rich Wilkinson, general manager for West Herr.

ALBION – Organizers of a benefit today for Ashley Wiegele, a paralyzed Albion teen-ager, hoped to raise $10,000 to go towards a van with modifications that would allow her to travel to the grocery store, the movies, her doctor’s visits and other places in the community.

That $10,000 was seen as a good start towards the van. It might not be enough to buy it outright.

When a benefit for Ashley started a 3 p.m. today, the general manager for West Herr Automotive Group in Rochester showed up with a check for $20,000. No one expected that.

Ashley Wiegele is pictured in her senior photo.

Rich Wilkinson, general manager for West Herr, said one of the company’s owners called him at 10 a.m. this morning and wanted to help Ashley, who was injured in June 2014 in a boating accident, just days before she was to walk the stage at graduation.

“We heard about it,” Wilkinson said about the fund-raising event for Ashley. “We’ve been blessed, and community is a big part of what we do.”

West Herr isn’t alone in supporting Ashley. The Albion Lions Club announced a $5,000 donation towards the van.

Ron Albertson, a Lions member, made the annoucement during the benefit today at the Elks Club.

Ron Albertson

“The Lions Club is very community oriented,” he said. “Albion is a great place to live.”

Ashley’s mother, Danielle Shulenburg, accpeted the donations with tears in her eyes.

“I am overhwelmed,” she said. “This is unbelievable. It is amazing how the community comes together to help someone in need.”

Staff at Albion High School, led by guidance counselor Scott Green, worked to organize the benefit, which includes bands and live music from 3 to 9 p.m. There are also 100 baskets to be raffled off.

Green said the community was generous in donating the baskets.

Sandy Linberg looks over some of the baskets at the raffle to benefit Ashley Wiegele.

Ashley has been paralzyed from the chest down since the accident on June 20, 2014.

She is home in an Albion apartment with her mother, and receives physical and occupational therapy. Ashley is hopeful she will one day walk again.

For right now, she is mostly limited to her apartment, which isn’t handicapped accessible.

Her mother said the van will make it easier for Ashley to receive outpatient therapy.

She said the community support will give her daughter a big boost and lift her spirits.

“Hopefully she can be an inspiration to other people,” Shulenburg said.

Today’s event continues until 10 p.m.

Shannon Vanderlaan is among the performers at the benefit today for Ashley Wiegele.

Narby’s in Carlton was once a hotel

By Matthew Ballard, Orleans County Historian Posted 24 October 2015 at 12:00 am

CARLTON – This image shows the old “Two Bridges Hotel” located in Carlton near the Oak Orchard River and Marsh Creek. Residents of the area may recognize this building as it stands today as “Narby’s Superette and Tackle.”

The hotel area of the structure was located on the west end. Two doors are located on the front end of the building, one marked “Bar Room” and the other marked “Hotel Entrance.” A sign outside of the main doorway shows that oysters were being offered in the dining room.

Along the west side of the building, “Two Bridges Hotel” is painted between the windows on the second floor and the name of the hotel is again depicted at the peak of the building on the front side. The two bridges that gave the area its name are shown; the covered bridge spanning the Oak Orchard River and the bridge crossing Marsh Creek.

Located on the east end was the general store and postmaster’s office. Prior to the advent of rural delivery, Carlton’s post office was located at this site. Further to the east was a stable for horses. These two pieces were later removed.

The earliest hotel on this site was a brick structure built prior to 1870. When that building burned, this structure replaced it. The hotel had a long list of proprietors starting with R. R. Tenant in its earliest years and later falling under the ownership of Whaley & Palmer, Wyland & King, George Gunther, George Root, Ashley Blake, Philip Podgers, Charles Conley, and Benjamin Bamber.

The store also had a lengthy list of owners who often doubled as postmaster during their tenure. Benjamin Fowler, who was likely the owner of the store when this photo was taken, and James Waldron were two of the earlier proprietors of the business before Ben Bamber took control.

The hotel was the center of community events during its heyday. Proprietors frequently held parties for New Year’s Eve, Washington’s Birthday, Independence Day, and other patriotic celebrations. The store was one of the few local spots where residents could purchase dry goods and other necessities such as medicines.

In 1937, the area ceased to exist as “Two Bridges” when the name was inadvertently changed to “The Bridges” with the addition of the Rt. 18 span over the Oak Orchard River. I suppose with the removal of the Oak Orchard River Road Bridge, we can once again call the area “Two Bridges.”