Provided photo: This group of Albion seniors is shown after a rehearsal Friday for a Senior Showcase today. They include front row, from left: Aubrey Boyer, Emily Mergler and Annalise Steier. Back row: Hannah Brewer, Jacob Thom and Annabella Salisbury.

ALBION – The Covid-19 pandemic has curtailed fundraising efforts for the Class of 2021. A group of students and their parents have organized a Senior Showcase event today, which will raise money for the class and give some of the seniors a chance to perform.

The Senior Showcase will be live or online today at 1 p.m., 3 p.m. and 6 p.m. at the Cabaret at Studio B on East Bank Street in Albion. There will also be a basket auction where people can bid virtually.

Click here for more information on the auction and the Senior Showcase

The performers during the event include Annalise Steier, Emily Mergler, Hannah Brewer, Aubrey Boyer, Delaney Bovenzi, Madelin Tabor, Abby Allen and Annabella Salisbury. Jacob Thom will be the emcee for the program.

“The parents are sponsoring this because the AHS class of 2021 fundraising was cut short from last year due to the pandemic,” said Deb Boyer, one of the parents helping to organize the event.

The fundraising will help close out the year with homecoming, which was this past week, and the Senior Tea, Class Night and prom.

ALBION – The Village Board approved the 2021-22 village budget on Wednesday evening that increases the tax rate from $17.80 to $17.85 per $1,000 of assessed property. That represents a 0.3 percent increase. (For a home assessed at $80,000, that would be another $4 in village taxes and a total tax bill of $1,428.)

The budget is nearly $7 million at $6,981,799. That is nearly the same as the 2020-21 budget, where overall spending was $6,972,285.

The newly adopted budget includes $3,973,560 in the general fund, $1,715,124 in the water fund, and $1,293,114 in the sewer fund.

The board set the tax levy at $2,761,524, which is up 0.5 percent from the $2,747,669 in 2020-21.

The village saw a slight increase of 0.2 percent in its tax base or $343,777, going from $154,363,452 to $154,707,229.

Canal Concert series also returning for 4 events

File photos by Tom Rivers: Kiara Smith offers some pointers to Evan Kirby, then 7, in a game of badminton on June 26, 2019 at the start of Albion’s summer parks program.

ALBION – The summer parks program will be back at Albion this year in a reduced schedule.

The program, which normally runs five or six weeks, will be for four weeks, on weekdays from July 5 to July 30.

The Village Board approved the program on Wednesday, following a push from the Village’s Recreation Committee. John Grillo will continue to serve as the program’s director. He said there will likely be seven parks supervisors working from Bullard. There could be more depending on how many children sign up for the program which is free to children in the Albion school district. It runs from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.

The parks program is back at Bullard after being cancelled in 2020 and being based at Veteran’s Park at the corner of Linwood Avenue and Brown Street in 2019. Bullard was off limits that year due to construction.

This year the new splash pad will be open for kids. That spray park area is expected to open in June for the first time.

Grillo said he will be meeting with the Orleans County Health Department to go over Covid-19 guidelines for running the program.

He thanked the Village Board for giving the green light to having the parks program for the four weeks.

Mayor Eileen Banker said she favors a scaled-down parks program because Covid is still spreading in the community.

“I just want to be sure the kids are safe,” she said. “I still get almost daily messages from the school that a kid is testing positive.”

Banker also said the village is looking to add security cameras at the park after recent vandalism, which included a broken bench and spray-painted obscenities on the former bathroom building, which is now used for storage.

“If we catch the people we will hold them responsible,” she said.

Doug Egling of Albion performs a solo on his saxophone with the Trellis Cooper Band, which was featured on June 27, 2019. Last year’s concert series was cancelled due to Covid.

The Village Board also announced the Canal Concert series will be back this summer. It will be for four Thursday evenings near the Platt Street gazebo area by the Albion fire hall. The tentative schedule includes the last two Thursdays in July and the first two Thursdays in August or July 22, July 29, Aug. 5 and Aug. 12.

Village Clerk Linda Babcock coordinates the concerts. She will work with the Genesee-Orleans Regional Arts Council for the events.

Ron Albertson, a member of the Rock of the Park Committee, urged the village to shift the concerts to Bullard in the future, where there is a new amphitheater.

Banker said a grant that funds the concerts requires the village to hold them by the canal.

The village will go by the governor’s guidelines for outdoor events when the concerts are held. She said there is plenty of room to space people out for the concerts by the canal.

Photos by Tom Rivers

ALBION – Michael and Faith Smith thank Albion police officers Dillon Black, right, and Robert Wagner for their critical life-saving assistance of the night of March 21. They are shown outside the Village Board meeting room at the village office this evening.

Michael Smith, 58, and his wife were home on East Bank Street after a 7-mile walk.

Michael Smith presents a “lifesaver” award to officer Robert Wagner during this evening’s Albion Village Board meeting. Wagner has worked as an Albion police officer the past eight years.

The couple often walks along the village sidewalks and the canal towpath. They also are key volunteers at the Community Kitchen on Fridays at Christ Church. Mrs. Smith is the longtime coordinator at that site, and her husband is a cheerful presence and a hard worker at the kitchen.

The Smiths were home that night and Michael said he felt a warm feeling overwhelm him at about 10:30 p.m. It came out of nowhere, without any warning signs.

He tried to tell his wife he didn’t feel well, but he fell forward.

His wife came to him, and he was the color blue. The family called 911 and Mrs. Smith tried to do CPR. Her husband’s arms were in a locked position over his chest. She had to punch his arms out of the way to start compressions.

Within 2 minutes of the 911 call, Albion police officers arrived with a defibrillator. The Albion patrol vehicles all carry AEDs.

Robert Wagner and Dillon Black were able to get Smith’s heart beating again after shocking him with the defibrillator. They also did CPR until a crew from COVA ambulance arrived and took Smith to Strong Memorial Hospital.

Smith was at Strong for three days and came home on March 24, a Wednesday. Two days later he was back at the Community Kitchen.

He didn’t have a heart attack and his arteries are clear. He suffered sudden cardiac death or sudden cardiac arrest, which happens most frequently in adults in their mid-30s to mid-40s, causing 325,000 deaths in the U.S. each year, according to the Cleveland Clinic. Strong put in a biventricular defibrillator so if it ever happens again, Smith’s heart will be shocked back to a normal rhythm.

“I want the world to know that police officers are more than just the person who comes to arrest you if you do something bad and pull you over for a traffic violation,” Mrs. Smith said. “They are heroes to my family. Because of their quick response and determination my husband is alive and here with me today.”

Albion Mayor Eileen Banker presents commendations from the Village Board to Robert Wagner and Dillon Black. Albion PD Lt. David Mogle is at far right.

Banker credited recently retired Police Chief Roland Nenni for pushing to have each patrol vehicle outfitted with an AED and for having all of the officers trained in using them. The Albion PD responds to ambulance calls, and is often first on the scene.

Dillon Blank, a member of the Albion PD for two years, receives the “lifesaver” award from Michael Smith, who was revived with a defibrillator on March 21.

Faith Smith hugs Dillon Black during an awards presentation this evening at the Albion Village Board meeting.

“I thank you both for going above and beyond,” Mrs. Smith told the officers. “I am so thankful my husband is here today because of you.”

Press Release, Albion Central School

ALBION – There is still time to sign your child up for PreKindergarten at Ronald L. Sodoma Elementary School.

To be eligible for the 2021-22 Albion Universal Pre-K (UPK) program, a child must be 4 years old on or before Dec. 1, 2021 and reside in the Albion Central School District.

There are two sessions each day. The morning session will run from 9 to 11:30 a.m. while the afternoon session will run from 1 to 3:30 p.m.

If you are interested in registering a child for the UPK program, you will need to fill out and return the UPK application, the UPK Transportation Information form, and meal information form.

All forms must be completed and returned to Amy Castricone at the District Office by May 1 at 4 p.m. If you have any questions, please contact Castricone at acastricone@albionk12.org.

Cassandra Dash is in remission and working to get her strength back

Cassandra Dash

ALBION – An Albion woman will be leading a walk on Saturday morning to help the fight against multiple sclerosis.

Cassandra Dash, 39, and her family and friends will be among the participants who will gather at 10 a.m. at the Butts Road bridge and then walk about 2 miles along the canal east towards the village. Participants, however, can walk any length of distance they want.

Dash, an elementary school attendance secretary, encourages people to wear orange to support all of the “MS warriors.” People can sign up and donate by clicking here, which is a link to virtual MS walks in the Rochester region.

Dash is leading a team called, “NO CANE NO GAIN.” She was diagnosed with MS last month after a four-day stay at Strong Memorial Hospital in Rochester. At that point she couldn’t feel her legs below her knees and was walking with leg braces and a cane.

“I felt like I was walking around in a fog and could fall asleep if I sat still too long,” Dash said. “But, I had recently lost over 100 pounds and was living a completely different lifestyle than I ever had. I kept telling myself all these little symptoms were just because I was exercising or may have pulled a muscle. So, the diagnosis was a complete shock.”

She is working with a neurologist with a treatment plan that includes 5 days of steroid infusions at the hospital and then 5 days of chemo injections.  Dash said she felt very sick, and her hair started falling out in clumps.

“My doctor warned me that it was going to get way worse before it got better,” she said. “But, it did get better!”

She is now on a monthly home maintenance injection. She will soon start OT/PT to start getting her strength back.

“I can walk without my leg braces and my cane,” Dash said. “I am officially in remission. This community and my co-workers have shown my family so much love throughout all of this that I wanted to give back.”

Dash is determined to cover the distance on Saturday during the MS walk.

“I can’t walk very fast or for long distances, but I will finish!” she said. “A lot of people donated to me and my family and I wanted to pay it forward, to try and bring some hope to someone that is going through this. MS changes you, it changes your family. But you can’t give up! Just put one foot in front of the other – everyday!”

ALBION – There are two candidates for two trustee positions in a May 3 election for the Hoag Library of the Swan Library Association.

Kevin Doherty, the former library board president, and Dawn Squicciarini, an Albion special education teacher, will be on the ballot. Voting will be at the library from noon to 7 p.m. with results to be announced at the annual meeting immediately following.

All library service area residents are eligible to vote and attend the annual meeting. The service area includes the central Orleans towns of Carlton, Gaines, Albion and Barre.

Kevin Doherty

Doherty in his candidate bio on the Hoag website stated:

“I am excited to run again for a seat on the Hoag Library Board, after sitting out a term limit pause. We’ve done some great work since 2010, locating, designing, building and staffing the best library of its size in Upstate New York. The Hoag Library should be proud of the support it has received from our community, and the service it has provided to a broad section of that community.

“My first service to the Swan Library was as the representative of the Mayor of the Village of Albion. I was subsequently elected for a number of terms. Prior to and coincident with the first few years of that service, I was an elected member of the Board of Education for the Albion Schools.

“To be honest, I miss being there. I have confidence that I can provide some useful and positive perspective to the Trustees; and a documented track record of leadership.”

Dawn Squicciarini

Squicciarini said she and her family have been library users since moving to Albion in the early ’90s.

“Summer reading programs were a part of my children’s summer as much as soccer practice,” she said in her candidate statement. “Our love and respect for libraries was deepened by my sister-in-law who was the young adult librarian at the Fairport Public Library and founder of the Rochester Teen Book Festival which also became an important part of our lives. My youngest, Claire, is a teen representative on the TBF board currently.”

Squicciarini said her teaching career has shown her how important the libraries are, especially in the rural communities. She has been very active in the Albion Soccer Club, serving as treasurer, vice president and president over 12 years. She is also on the board of directors for the Oak Orchard Lighthouse at Point Breeze.

“The library should be a welcoming place for the community,” Squicciarini said. “A place where children are free to come learn as well as a respectful place of work.”

Library planning Summer Reading Program

Hoag Library remains open to patrons for browsing, copy/fax/print/scan/notary, and computer lab use. WiFi is available 24/7 in the parking lot and green space, and no password is required to access the public guest network. The outdoor garden – furnished with lawn chairs, benches, and picnic tables – also is open to the public.

Hoag Library said plans are underway for this year’s 2021 Summer Reading Program “Tails and Tales” with more details coming on the library website and social media accounts.

Photo by Tom Rivers

ALBION – Dan Conrad and Christina Nenni on Friday are shown putting together activity buckets that will be distributed to local kids. Those buckets include toys, bubbles, jump ropes, paddle balls and other activities.

Conrad is coordinating the effort. He did it last year and was able to deliver 50 of the activity kits to children in Orleans County.

On Friday, he and a team of volunteers put together 38 of the buckets, and they will be doing more. Conrad promoted the project on Facebook and received $500 in donations right away.

He wants to do more and welcomes people to send him a direct message through Facebook on details for donating or for receiving a bucket.

Nenni, co-owner of Best of Tymes Party Rental with Michelle Wiseman, offered part of their space at the Arnold Gregory Office Building in Albion to store and assemble the kits.

Conrad said he got the idea for the activity buckets after seeing people promote wine, beer and meat fairies for adults last year during the Covid pandemic. Adults could sign up and receive bottles of wine and beer, or packages of meat.

“I saw all of the things for adults but there was nothing for kids,” Conrad said.

Provided photo: Lt. Steve Fox of the Orleans County Sheriff’s Office picked up six of the buckets on Friday that will be distributed by the Sheriff’s Office.

Photos by Tom Rivers

ALBION – Lloyd Wright, a member of the Albion Lions Club, cuts and pulls down vines and branches that grew on a community sign on Route 98, north of the Village of Albion near the property known as Green Acres.

The sign shows some of the churches and service organizations in Albion. However, some of those groups don’t exist anymore because the sign was put up an estimated 40 years ago.

Jake Stinson of the Lions works on taking down small trees and brush that were obscuring the sign. The sign project was part of today’s environmental cleanup effort by the Lions Club. The group worked on other sites in the community.

Alexis Stinson, 8, is Jake Stinson’s daughter. She picked up lots of trash in the area near the sign.

Henry Smith Jr., an Albion Lions Club member, pulls down branches and vines on the blank side of the sign, facing south. The Lions Club and Rotary Club would like to turn this side of the sign into a mini billboard promoting a popular location in Orleans County. One idea floated around this morning was having this side with an image or artwork of a giant Chinook salmon, perhaps saying “Catch Me If You Can” and noting Point Breeze is located north on 98.

The surface area of the blank side of sign is about 14 feet wide and 9 feet high. The Lions and Rotary see it as untapped potential to promote the area.

Mark Johnson, left, and Kevin Howard of the Lions Club clear out the grounds near the sign. The Lions Club is planning to put flowers in the big flower box at the sign.

Provided photo

ALBION – A 16-year-old found this gun sticking partly out of the mud in the Erie Canal this morning during the Canal Clean Sweep. The gun was almost directly underneath the Ingersoll Street lift bridge. It was slightly to the east of the bridge.

Hunter Hering was out with his mother, Statira Holtfoth, on the annual Canal Clean Sweep, where volunteers pick up trash along the canal.

Hunter saw the handle of the gun with the rest buried in the bottom of the canal. He went down to get it, and then his mother called the police.

The Albion Police Department will clean the gun and try to find a serial number, Lt. David Mogle said. If that number can’t be found, Mogle said the gun will be turned over to a lab to see if it can find an identifying number.

Mogle said it appears the gun had been in the canal for a while, probably 10 to 20 years.

“It could have been used in a robbery or crime and thrown in there,” Mogle said.

Photos by Tom Rivers

ALBION – Bryce Wilson, an Albion FFA member, shows a sprayer to students in Emily Stavange’s kindergarten class during today’s FFA Mini Farm Day. The sprayer is owned by Panek Farms.

The event was cancelled last spring due to Covid-19, but is back this year with some changes. The Mini Farm Day in the past was open to all grades in the elementary school. This time it was limited to grades kindergarten through second. FFA members will make a video that will be available to other classrooms and students who are studying remotely.

Natalie Bertsch introduces second graders in Pat Levandowski’s class to a pig from the Neal farm in Albion. The stations were spread out more than in the past.

“A fun fact about pigs is they don’t have sweat glands so they like to roll around in the mud,” Natalie said.

Gina Sidari shows these students Josie, a week-old calf owned by Samantha Basinait, an Albion sophomore and FFA member.

Kyle Van Ameron shows these students a John Deere tractor owned by Panek Farms. Kyle said the tractor weighs 37,000 with 375 horsepower. The thick tires give the tractor traction in a muddy field, Kyle said.

The Van Lieshout farm in Barre also brought a tractor for the day.

Jeffrey Brown talked with these second-grade students in Mark Skurzewski’s class about a rabbit.

Chris Glogowski, Albion’s school resource officer, stops by to greet Oops, a mini horse owned by ninth-grader Meganne Moore.

‘We just wanted to lift up her spirits. We want her to know she is loved by many.’

Photos by Tom Rivers

ALBION – About 15 vehicles, decorated with balloons and birthday greetings, drove by the front entrance of The Village of Orleans Health and Rehabilitation Center this afternoon. The vehicles all stopped so the drivers and passengers could wish Angela McNeil a happy 52^nd birthday.

McNeil (second from left) is known also by her nickname “Bookie.” She worked as an aide at The Village for about 30 years. She recently suffered several strokes and is a resident now at The Villages and shares a room with her mother, who worked in the kitchen at the nursing home.

Sandy Flugel gives Angela an enthusiastic greeting. Flugel worked with McNeil for many years.

“She was the best aide ever,” Flugel said. “She took care of so many people. She has so much love.”

Robin Davis has been best friends with McNeil for 40 years, since they were kids. Davis and Latricia Poole organized today’s birthday celebration for McNeil.

“We just wanted to lift up her spirits,” Davis said. “I want her to know she is loved by many.”

Many of McNeil’s close friends presented her with a card and then danced to “We are Family” in the parking lot.

McNeil waves to one of her greeters.

The group gathers around McNeil for some dancing.

Photos by Tom Rivers

ALBION – Harvest Christian Fellowship, which is looking to establish a new ministry next to the church on Route 31 in Albion, was helped in gutting the upstairs of 574 East Ave. on Saturday.

A team from the New York Adult & Teen Challenge Buffalo arrived in the morning and stayed through the afternoon in the project. They removed insulation, took out bathroom fixtures and did other work to get the site ready for a remodel.

The new ministry will be known as Trade 180 and will be a caring community of support for the young marginalized people in Orleans County, ages 18-25, said Heidi Dorpfeld, coordinator of the program.

She wants to connect the young adults with trades professionals in the community. The young adults can learn job skills, and receive spiritual support, Dorpfeld said.

“We want to help people discover their purpose,” Dorpfeld said on Saturday. She is shown outside the Trade 180 building. “We believe every individual is created in the image of God.”

Dorpfeld works as a job coach for students at the Niagara-Orleans BOCES in Medina. She said Trade 180 will assist younger adults who often “fall through the cracks” and need some help connecting to a career.

The team from Buffalo Teen Challenge assists men 18 and older who struggle with life controlling issues. The team is shown removing some of the insulation form the upstairs. The group spoke at Harvest Christian Fellowship during today’s church service.

Dorpfeld, shown upstairs with some of the team from Buffalo, said fixing and upgrading the old house is a strong symbol for the new ministry. “We’re restoring a house that has been forgotten,” she said. “We want to do the same with people and help to renew and restore and put them on a path for success.”

For more on Trade 180, click here or send Dorpfeld an email at tradeoneeighty@gmail.com. She is hopeful the program can start in the fall. She welcomes businesses and mentors to be a part of Trade 180.

Show can be viewed through online streaming

Photos courtesy of Albion Central School: Myleigh Miller, center, is Ellie Blake who switches bodies with her mother in Freaky Friday. She is joined on stage by Leah Kania, left, who is Gretchen and Emily Mergler who is Hannah.

Press Release, Albion Central School

ALBION – With Broadway stages still shut down due to the coronavirus pandemic, the excitement is palpable as Albion High School’s Theatrical Department gets ready to launch its virtual spring production of Disney’s “Freaky Friday.”

According to Director Connor Doran, while a lot of thought went into choosing this year’s show, taking into consideration the ever-changing safety restrictions but wanting to carry on the tradition of a spring musical, the goal remained the same: “choose a show that will make the students shine.”

Aubrey Boyer, right, portrays Katherine Blake, the mother who turns into a teen. She is on stage with Annalise Steier, who plays Fiona.

“As a new teacher, having no previous knowledge of the student make-up, and working in the confines of a pandemic, I wanted to choose something that would be meaningful, musically catchy, and also a challenge,” Doran said. “We made the decision back in November once we got the go-ahead from our administration.”

One of the deciding factors was that “Freaky Friday” has streaming options, which was ideal for the pandemic and ensured they could share the show with the greater Albion community.

According to Doran, one of the best parts of producing this show was finding creative solutions to the challenges it posed.

“Between producing a theatrical work while masked, making sure everyone was comfortable, creating our protocol sheet and following it to a ‘T’, reimagining the way some things are done in a pandemic world, pushing our students to reach their potential, and allowing everyone’s creativity to shine through, there was a lot to consider,” Doran said.

The cast rehearsed for two hours a day, Monday through Saturday, every week leading up to the filming of the show.

“What you don’t see are the countless hours of practicing lines, music, choreography, set building, lighting design, props creation, organization, and general creativity,” Doran explained. “What one would see in a rehearsal is only a fraction of the time that led up to the preparation of that moment.”

Myleigh Miller, who plays one of the leads, Ellie Blake, in the show, said that even with all the hours of preparation, she was still finding new ways to improve and learning about her character during the live shows.

“The most challenging aspect was the limited amount of time we had,” Miller explained. “I found myself learning new things about the characters I portrayed in the middle of a live performance, and having to be done with the show, just as I was getting to truly know the characters, was a bit hard.”

The show went on for the Albion High School Theatrical Department with the production of Freaky Friday. There won’t be an in-person audience but the show will be available to stream online Friday through Sunday.

Another difficulty was learning how to communicate their characters’ emotions while wearing their masks.

“In order to be heard, I had to learn some techniques on how to project [my voice] more and adjust my breathing since it was so much harder to hear us,” Miller explained.

The production’s costume team – led by Kathy Winans and Karen Dibley and included countless other volunteers like members from Winans’ Life Skills class – created, designed, and sewed each performer their own “singing mask.” Each costume received a matching mask and, for some performers, that means they had four masks.

“The masks were one of the hardest parts about the show because you had to rethink as an actor how to express emotion and tell a story using only your eyes,” said Miller’s co-star Aubrey Boyer, who played Ellie’s mother Katherine Blake.

Annalise Steier is Fiona and Rowan Ford is Adam in the Freaky Friday musical.

Despite these challenges, the duo said that the best part about this year was getting to perform again, especially since their production of “The Little Mermaid” was canceled last spring due to the pandemic.

“The whole process of putting together a show was something I’d worried about missing this year,” Miller explained.

Boyer agreed, adding, “my favorite part of the show was working with the cast. These people are so amazing and are like one big family. The memories you create will last a lifetime.”

With the first virtual show set to premiere Friday, April 16, at 7 p.m., the actors promise the show will be fun yet sentimental.

“Audience members can look forward to fun songs, fun costumes, and fun characters; Freaky Friday is an all-around fun time,” Miller said.

“This show is an absolute rollercoaster but an amazing ride,” Boyer emphasized. “The audience can look forward to a laugh and maybe even some tears.”

This vibrant, colorful, funny, heartfelt performance can be streamed on Friday and Saturday at 7 p.m. as well as on Sunday at 2 p.m. Tickets are $5 and can be bought online by clicking here.