Provided photos

ALBION – Members of the Rotary Interact Club at Albion High School delivered 10 dozen donut boxes to different groups of essential workers in community. Rotary Interact wanted to show their appreciation to the groups for their extra hard work during the pandemic.

The top photo shows the group delivering two boxes of donuts to staff at Community Action of Orleans & Genesee.

Pictured form left include Sarah Mathes, Kiarra Shuler, advisor Tim Archer, Leah Kania, Bonnie Malakie (director of children and youth service for Community Action), Renee Hungerford (director of Community Action), Annette Finch (director of community services for the agency) and Alison Mathes.

Leah Kania of the Rotary Interact presents a box of donuts to Vicki Havholm, Nutrition Program Coordinator for Meals on Wheels.

Sarah Mathes hands off a box of donuts to Melissa Blanar, director of the Orleans County Office for the Aging.

The Rotary Interact members delivered a box of donuts Supportive Care of Orleans (Hospice). Kathy Strong, an RN for Supportive Care, accepted the donuts on behalf of her coworkers.

Rotary Interact also brought donuts to The Villages of Orleans Health and Rehabilitation Center, the Public Health Department in Orleans County and the Orleans County Veterans Service Agency.

Albion man worked as a mechanic for 70 years, served in Lions Club for more than 50 years

Photos by Tom Rivers: John Keding is shown outside Keding Automotive in Albion when he celebrated his 80th birthday on Sept. 2, 2015.

ALBION – The community is mourning John Keding, a long-time mechanic and active member of the Albion Lions Club for more than a half century.

Besides fixing automobiles for decades, Keding served with the Lions since 1968. If people had the sausage and peppers at the Lions Club booth at the Strawberry Festival or at other community events, there’s a good chance that Keding was working the grill.

He was “the keeper of the roses” for the Lions Club, using space at his shop to store about 350 dozen roses that the Lions Club sold as a fundraiser near Mother’s Day. He also had a collection box at Keding Automotive for people to donate used glasses to Lions, which would give them to people in need.

Keding also cooked pancakes at the fly-in breakfasts at the Pine Hill Airport in Barre.

“He was the backbone of the Albion Lions Club,” said longtime member Dennis Smith. “He really helped to establish the Lions Club in Albion.”

For 25 years he did the thankless job of being club secretary, keeping track of reports and other paperwork and sending monthly reports to Lions International. The other club members often referred to him as “Mr. Lion.”

“I enjoy the camaraderie with the guys,” Keding told the Orleans Hub in February 2014, when he was recognized for 45 years in the Lions Club. “We do things for the community without getting paid for it.”

John Keding works the grill during the Rock the Park Festival at Bullard Park in July 2015.

Keding retired as a mechanic in August, a month before his 85^thbirthday. He intended to retire at 65 but enjoyed interacting with customers and getting their vehicles back on the road, said his daughter Christine Buorgiorne.

His last three years he continued to run Keding Automotive on East Avenue, despite needing dialysis three times a week due to failed kidneys. Often he would take a short nap after dialysis and show up at the shop, grabbing a wrench.

Kevin Howard, a retire state trooper and senior investigator, met Keding in the late ’70s when Keding worked on the patrol cars for the State Police.

“He was always so accommodating to us,” Howard said today.

Howard joined the Lions Club about 15 years ago and also served as a local town justice. Keding, even while battling health issues, kept showing up at work and for the Lions, Howard said.

“He was always willing to help the community,” Howard said. “He never seemed to want to quit.”

Keding started as a mechanic at age 14, first fixing lawn mowers and installing turning signals. He learned the auto mechanic trade at the General Motors Institute in Flint, Mich., beginning the two-year program in 1953. He worked for General Motors for three years before a two-year stint in Army at Fort Dix from 1958 to 1960.

He returned to Albion in 1960 and worked as a mechanic for a car dealership for 13 years before a brief stint as an electrician.

John Keding of Albion cooks sausage at the fly-in breakfast at Pine Hill Airport in September 2013.

He opened his own business at the East Avenue location in January 1974. During an interview in August, Keding said the work has become more high-tech with problems in cars more difficult to diagnose due to computers and electronics in vehicles.

“I’ve really enjoyed it,” he said about his career. “It’s something I always wanted to do.”

Keding also taught mechanics at BOCES and led an evening class that he called W.O.W. (Women on Wheels), giving women the basics in keeping a car running.

Keding and his wife of 63 years, Pat, raised three children in Albion. Their daughter Christine Buongiorne said her dad made family time a priority and enjoyed Sunday drives with his wife, including trips to Letchworth State Park.

Keding was a good teacher, and encouraged his kids, including two daughters, to know how to use tools.

“Dad was from a different era and time,” Buongiorne said today. “Being in a service club was a way for him to give back. With his career as a mechanic, he loved what he did. He was not a quitter in any way, shape or form.”

Leah Kania, Hannah Brewer qualify for international competition

Photos by Tom Rivers

ALBION – Leah Kania, a junior at Albion, is recorded on Saturday singing “Ständchen” in German by Schubert.

Leah and her classmate Hannah Brewer both qualified to perform at Carnegie Hall for the Crescendo International Competition. Leah also qualified a year ago and was able to sing at Carnegie in New York City.

An in-person event isn’t allowed right now, but the Crescendo International Competition will be doing a virtual concert featuring the singers with the hope they can come to Carnegie for an in-person concert later this year.

Hannah Brewer, a senior at Albion, sings “Nymphs and Shepherds” by Henry Purcell. Hannah and Leah did their recordings at the First Baptist Church in Albion on Saturday, a sanctuary with ideal acoustics.

They are both voice students of Wendy Williams, who runs the Sound Foundations Voice Studio in Batavia.

Hannah plans to be a music education major this fall when she starts college.

Leah Kania sings for her video of top performers in the Crescendo International Competition. Leah and Hannah submitted online auditions last month. There was more pressure for the audition, Leah said.

“This is just for fun,” she said about Saturday’s recording, which she did in one take.

The competition is for rising stars in classical music. Williams said about 5,000 singers auditioned with instrumentalists (piano, strings and winds), vocalists, duets and ensembles – with division from ages 5-22. Kania and Brewer are in the intermediate category, ages 15 to 18.

“It’s an enormous deal,” said Wendy Williams, their voice teacher. “I’m insanely proud of them.”

Kania and Brewer are both mezzo-sopranos.

Williams has three other students who also qualified for the competition: Erin Hess, a mezzo-soprano from Alexander; Murphy McDermott, a soprano from Appleton; and Liam Crawford, a baritone from Alexander.

Williams praised the students for their hard work and discipline in preparing for the competition.

“These kids have an internal drive,” she said. “I want them to discover how far they can take it.”

Hannah Brewer performs in the sanctuary at the First Baptist Church. Hannah sang a Baroque style song in English. She has sung songs in German and Italian in preparing for the competition.

“There are so many different languages,” she said.

She said she is grateful to have the event, which motivated her with her singing, especially after last year’s spring musical was cancelled.

Photo courtesy of Meghan Kania: Leah Kania is pictured outside Carnegie Hall in NYC last year for the Crescendo International Competition. She hopes the venue reopens for the event later this year.

Photo and information from Albion Central School: Albion High School Principal Jenn Ashbery, second from left, accepts $1,000 for the high school from representatives of Crosby’s in Albion.

ALBION – The high school today received a grant of $500 from the ExxonMobil Educational Alliance Program. Reid Petroleum and Crosby’s matched this with an additional $500 for a total of $1,000 to be used to support math and science education.

As noted on their website, “Exxon and Mobil are fueling young minds and helping create aha moments through the Educational Alliance. Since its inception, we’ve committed over $34 million to this national program, which funds math and science programs at schools in need. It’s part of our ongoing effort to support science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) education within the communities we serve.”

The Albion funds will be put to use in support of STEM instruction at the high school.

“We are appreciative of the additional opportunities this presents for our students,” High School Principal Jennifer Ashbery said.

Last year, the funds were used to purchase MakerBots, which introduces students to the technology involved in 3D printing and helps encourage students to develop innovative solutions and designs.

In the coming weeks, Ashbery plans to meet with teachers in order to decide how these new funds will be used to support math, science and engineering for our students.

Photos by Tom Rivers

ALBION – Volunteers, nearly all for the first time this morning, help distribute food in Albion from the parking lot at the Main Street Thrift Store.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture funds the USDA Farmers to Families Food Box Program nation-wide. It is expected to continue locally through February.

The schedule for the rets of January includes:

• January 22nd, Orleans County Cornell Cooperative Extension, 4-H Fairgrounds, 12690 NYS Route 31, Knowlesville, entrance is on Taylor Hill Road and not on Route 31. The line on Taylor Hill will need to go south away from Route 31.
• January 29th, Community Action Store, 113 South Main Street, Albion

John Kurtz of Albion, left, carries a box of food with produce, meat and dairy this morning. Jesse Underwood of Clarendon is at right. He volunteered as a member of ABATE, a local group of motorcyclists.

Cars started to line up around 6, about two hours before the event started.

Kurtz and Underwood were among a new group of volunteers at the event coordinated by the Orleans County Office for the Aging and Community Action of Orleans & Genesee.

“There are a lot more people in need right now,” Underwood said.

Leslie Spofford of Clarendon also volunteered for the first time this morning at a food distribution, which has been happening most weeks locally since April. Spofford had the day off from her job as Runnings in Brockport and wanted to help.

By 7:30 this morning the line of cars was down three streets in Albion. This shows vehicles on East Park Street. They were also waiting on McKinstry and Chamberlain streets.

About 300 boxes of food are given away at the events. The start times are approximately 8:30 a.m. (If the Foodlink truck is there and unloaded, the event may start sooner.) Organizers are ask people not to line up before 8 a.m. due to possible winter weather conditions.

Photos and information courtesy of Tim Archer, Albion Central School teacher

ALBION – Renzo Tomasi, a seventh grade Service Learning student in Albion, is shown with Melissa Ierlan, Clarendon town historian, today after a historical marker was reinstalled at Union Cemetery on Route 98. This sign is by the Watt Farms Country Market.

This was one of three historic markers that were reinstalled today, with assistance from Mark Radzinski, the Gaines town highway superintendent.

Ierlan worked with students to repaint the markers. She has given a facelift to many of the markers in Orleans County in recent years.

Service Learning teacher Tim Archer said the project has allowed the students to connect with the community during a school year when there hasn’t been any field trips.

“These are civic-minded projects that help students appreciate their community’s past history and to participate in maintaining our heritage,” Archer said. “The students enjoy the hands-on aspect of learning.”

The other two historical markers are on Ridge Road, including one for the First Academy.

The marker for the First Church also was reset after getting a fresh coat of paint.

Nick Prest works on repainting a cast iron road sign from Gillette Road in Barre. Isaiah Riley also is working to restore the sign with assistance from Mrs. Kami Feder’s eighth grade art class.

Here is how the road sign looked before students started working on it.

Archer works with town officials to get approval and then has the highway superintendent take down the sign for restoration. Once completed, the sign will go back up on West Barre Road near the West Barre United Methodist Church.

“Periodically my 7th grade Service Learning classes restore local historic markers or historic road signs,” Archer said. “This is the second ‘West Barre’ area sign we’ve done.”

Archer asked Middle School Art Teacher Kamie Feder to include her eighth-grade art class, which includes Prest and Riley, to help with this second West Barre sign as part of an “interdisciplinary partnership.”

“Since it involved painting, and her room was more conducive to doing it, I asked Kamie if she would take some of her regular art class time to paint the sign,” Archer said. “She was kind enough to accept. Nick and Isaiah are in a small class with her and I had both Nick and Isaiah in class last year. This is an extension of the service-learning instruction that they were part of previously.”

Additionally, the three signs from the Town of Gaines that seventh-graders Brynn Dugan and Renzo Tomasi were working to restore this past September are finished and reinstalled roadside.

Since September, Town of Clarendon Historian Melissa Ierlan has been working on the fine lettering work on the signs.

As for the West Barre sign, it should be back up later this year.

Provided photos

ALBION – The Tree House, which opened in March 2020 in downtown Albion, has relocated to the space for the former Rainbow Preschool at the Arnold Gregory Office Complex, 243 South Main St., and given the site a vastly new look.

Michelle Waters

The move more than doubles the space to 3,500 square feet for the Tree House, which offers child enrichment programs, parent-child classes and birthday parties.

“We are able to have different classes and offerings at the same time,” said Michelle Waters, Tree House owner. “We are so excited!”

The space for many years was used by the Rainbow Preschool, until it was closed in late August by the Arc of Genesee Orleans.

The announcement today that Rainbow Preschool is closing ends a program that is nearly 50 years old.

For nearly 50 years, the Arc ran Rainbow Preschool, serving children ages 2 ½ to 5 with developmental and intellectual disabilities. At its peak, the school served 300 children. The enrollment for 2020-21 was at 26 students.

Michelle Waters opened The Tree House on March 12 at 116 North Main Street, 2nd Floor. That was just before the state imposed restrictions to slow the spread of Covid-19. Waters was forced to temporarily close to in-person services.

Waters was able to pivot the business that specializes in preschool and toddler programs. She developed activity kits to help families who suddenly had children home – nearly all the time. She delivered them throughout Western New York. Those kits were fun and educational.

The Orleans County Chamber of Commerce in November recognized The Tree House as the “New Business of the Year.”

Waters said The Tree House provides in-person programs that meet social distancing and public health guidelines.

“The Tree House is the place for the kind of loud and messy fun that promotes learning,” Waters said. “From musical instruments to the ooey gooey there is something sure to inspire wonder in your child.”

‘Her heart was very much with the poor. She’d do anything for the poor.’

ALBION – The death of Sister Marian Adrian comes as a shock to those who knew her and a great loss to the community.

Sister Marian Adrian

The Orleans and Genesee County areas will remember Sister Marian as the advocate for migrant workers and a stout supporter of the Genesee-Orleans Ministry of Concern.

Sister Dolores Dowd of Albion, a fellow sister of the Grey Nuns, called Sister Marian “a good and loyal friend.”

“Her heart was very much with the poor,” Sister Dolores said. “She’d do anything for the poor.”

Sister Marian died Dec. 14 at her retirement home in Philadelphia, where she moved in 2015 to join her sister Grey Nuns in retirement.

“Sister Marian was a passionate advocate for migrant workers and rural poor living in Orleans and Genesee counties, and was instrumental in the growth the development of the Genesee Orleans Ministry of Concern from the 1970s on,” said Nyla Gaylord, the current director of GOMOC. “As a Grey Nun, she frequently had the opportunity to speak at Catholic churches in the Buffalo area. The passion with which she spoke made an enduring impression on those who heard her and many responded by becoming faithful donors.

Gaylord spoke to Sister Marian on the phone just two weeks before her death to tell her about a donation GOMOC had received because of a talk Sister Marian had done years ago.

Nyla Gaylord, executive director of the Genesee Orleans Ministry of Concern, visits Sister Marian Adrian at her apartment near Philadelphia in 2017.

“She was so effective as a fundraiser,” Gaylord said. “She kept in touch with her students and was a great correspondent. More than 30 years ago she spoke at a church in Clarence, and one of the congregation who heard her just sent us a generous donation.”

Gaylord also shared a story about another $1,000 check they received from a man whose wife had just died. In going through her checkbook, he found she had been supporting the Ministry of Concern, so he sent another check in his wife’s memory.

“Sister Marian was a perfect example of the Bible verse in John 4:37, which reads, ‘One sows and another reaps.’ We are reaping today the seeds she sowed, which is enabling Ministry of Concern to continue its work.”

A wise investor, Sister Marian’s legacy gifts to the Ministry of Concern have established a strong foundation of resources that will help ensure the long-term continuation of this organization, Gaylord said.

Sister Marian was born in 1930 in Buffalo, an only child. She graduated from Holy Angels Academy, where she taught from 1954 to 1969. She earned a bachelor of arts in mathematics from D’Youville College in 1951, a master’s degree in philosophy from Catholic University in Washington, D.D. in 1960 and received her Ed D in science from Buffalo State in 1977. She held New York permanent certification in general science and physics, as well as mathematics. She is credited with several publications on science and relationships.

Sister Marian first came to Albion to visit and saw a child with no shoes walking in the snow. That touched her and set the path her life would follow. She became acquainted with the Rev. Tim Hoyt from Holley, who worked with migrant workers.

“She made a profound impact on people’s lives by sharing reality with them, particularly the young women at Holy Angels Academy,” Gaylord said.

Sister Marian started a summer mission program where the young ladies from Holy Angels would come to Albion to work with the migrants. This was before the War on Poverty and before any government funding for migrant workers. The young ladies who spent the summers here paid their own expenses.

Sister Marian was extraordinary for her time, Gaylord said. She taught math and science when women then didn’t go into those fields. She taught at Albion for 22 years and then became director of the GOMOC from 1991 to 2006. After stepping down as director, she supported the agency as director of development, director of communication and director of education, until retiring in 2006. She continued to volunteer for another year until her retirement.

As one of the founders of the Ministry of Concern, Sister Marian’s purpose was to give people “a hand-up rather than a hand-out.”

Gaylord called Sister Marian “an extraordinary woman who exemplified the mission of her order: “to be signs of God’s constant and unconditional love for every person.”

Sister Marian’s burial will be private due to restrictions caused by the pandemic. A memorial service will be scheduled at a later date. Arrangements were completed by the Beck-Givnish Funeral Homes in Philadelphia.

Assistant superintendent, Mary Leto, announces she will retire on June 30

ALBION — The Board of Education is suspending the 30-hour community service requirement for seniors who haven’t met the threshold.

Their graduation credits will be adjusted from 23.5 credits to 23. That is still more than the state graduation requirement of 22 credits.

During its monthly meeting on Monday, the board also voted to give seniors who were scheduled to have internships the opportunity to reschedule a different course or be released following the third block. Parent permission will be needed for early dismissals.

In other action at the Board of Education meeting:

• The board was notified that Mary Leto, the assistant superintendent for instruction, will retire, effective June 30, 2021.

Michelle Powley, the high school secretary, also notified the district she will retire on Jan. 31.

“We have some pretty significant retirements coming up which will leave a very big hole in the district,” said Board of Education President Kathy Harling.

Leto has been one of the district’s top administrators for several years. She was at Monday’s BOE meeting.

“It will be very difficult to imagine not having you here Mary because you’ve been such a huge part of the district for so long,” Harling said.

• The board accepted an anonymous $1,000 donation to be used to purchase a sewing machine in the 12:1:1 life skills program. The sewing machine will go to a graduating senior in the 12:1:1 program who shows an interest in sewing as an ongoing life skill. The award recipients will be chosen by the 12:1:1 high school teacher and the high school principal.

• The Board of Education approved the following extracurricular athletic appointments:

• Caleb Orbaker, modified baseball coach
• Keith Akers, modified softball coach
• David Skrip, middle school weight room, intramurals
• Patrick Uveino, middle school weight room, intramurals
• Michael Fahy, high school weight room, intramurals
• Ocie Bennett, high school weight room intramurals

• The Board of Education approved the following additional extracurricular appointments:

• Shari Berg, high school musical and play assistant director
• Kailey Winans, high school musical and play assistant director

Photo courtesy of Albion Central School: Bailey Nesbitt and Adonis Guzman Ramirez were recognized on Monday by the Albion Board of Education.

Press Release, Albion Central School

ALBION – Two students from Albion’s Charles D’Amico High School were honored as part of the Board of Education meeting on Monday.

The virtual meeting featured a pre-recorded video of High School Principal Jennifer Ashbery officially presenting seniors Adonis Guzman Ramirez and Bailey Nesbitt with the Board of Education Character and Leadership Awards for the month of January.

“Anyone who knows Adonis knows that when you pass him in the hallway, you will see a smile on his face,” Ashbery said, presenting him with the BOE Character Award.

“Adonis is always going above and beyond in the classroom to help the other students in the class,” Krenning said when nominating Guzman Ramirez. “He wants everyone in the class to be successful and consistently helps others before himself.”

Krenning also noted that when Guzman Ramirez helped with the FFA Food Drive last month, he didn’t stop until it was finished – “He was the last student working, laughing and enjoying every minute.”

Elizabeth Henn, a foreign language teacher who has worked with Guzman Ramirez for the past four years said, “ I am so proud of Adonis. So many kids in our school look up to you, a true role model for our district and a true example of ‘Value Everyone, Everyday, Everywhere!’”

Nesbitt, also a senior, was been nominated for the Leadership Award by FFA Advisor Betsy Krenning.

“Nesbitt has led the Albion High School FFA, serving as the chapter’s president for the past four years,” Krenning said. “Each year she takes the lead in the Annual FFA Food Drive and this year’s food drive proved to be a monumental success.”

Despite the challenges of Covid-19, having only virtual meetings with the other officers, a new FFA advisor and starting the process three weeks later than previous years, they collected 53,000 pounds of food to donate to Community Action – surpassing their goal and collecting more produce than ever before.

“Bailey continues to model our district’s value of Learn Today, Lead Tomorrow,” Ashbery said. “I have no doubt that Bailey will take her Albion leadership skills out into the world and continue to make a positive impact on those around her.”

ALBION — The First Presbyterian Church of Albion will be shifting to online-only services for at least the next three weeks due to rising cases of Covid-19 and the flu in the community, said the Rev. Susan Thaine, the church’s pastor.

The services will be available online through First Presbyterian’s Facebook page. That is for the service on Sunday, Jan. 3 and Jan. 10.

“Your church Session will continue to be in prayerful conversation with the Department of Health and will re-evaluate this decision at our January Session meeting,” Thaine said.

ALBION – The Albion Merchants Association on Christmas announced the winners of its first “Deck the Town” contest. The winners were determined by the number of “likes” they received on the AMA Facebook page.

The top photo is the first place winner. The property at 49 Meadowbrook Drive received 466 likes.

248 South Clinton Street was second with 430 likes.

106 West Park Street was in third place with 326 likes.

The first annual “Deck the Town” contest had a goal to spread joy and make the community shine bright, the group said.

The contest includes a $500 gift card from AMA businesses for first place, a $300 gift card for second and a $100 gift card for third.

“Thank you to all the participants and for helping get Albion in the holiday spirit!!!!” the Merchants posted on Facebook. “The town is gorgeous.”