ALBION – The Albion Board of Education filled a vacancy on the Board of Education on Monday, turning to a former board member.

Marlene Seielstad was nearly elected this past June when there were seven candidates for three spots on the board. Seielstad came in fourth in the election, behind John Kast, Chris Kinter and Kurt Schmitt.

Margy Brown, a board member, said it makes sense and follows past practice in filling a vacancy to pick Seielstad. She had the most votes among those who weren’t elected in June. Seielstad also expressed interest in filling the vacancy and is familiar with the issues and interworkings of being on the board.

Seielstad, a real estate agent for 28 years, also served on the board for the Niagara-Orleans BOCES. She said in an email to the board that her career has given her experience in negotiations which will be needed as the board picks the district’s next superintendent.

She can start right away once she takes the oath of office. The board has a special meeting this evening to discuss the next steps in picking a new superintendent with its consultants.

Seielstad will fill the seat vacated by Elissa Nesbitt. Seielstad will be in the role until the next board election in May. The final two years of Nesbitt’s term will be then filled in the election in May.

Two board members, Board President Kathy Harling and Linda Weller, didn’t vote for Seielstad. They instead favored Joyce Riley, who had 12 fewer votes than Seielstad, 614 to 626, during the June election.

Riley was on the board up until June whereas Seielstad was last on the board in June 2017. Riley is also black and would bring needed diversity to the board, Harling said.

Victoria Elsenheimer also sent in a message to board for public comment. She urged the board to have more diversity. The nine members on the board are all white. They don’t reflect the diversity of the student body, Elsenheimer said.

Nesbitt resigned following public pressure when three families were upset she called 911 on three 10-year-old boys, saying they refused to get off a wall at Hazard Parkway. The families saw it as racial profiling.

Nesbitt has disputed that but didn’t want the issue to be a distraction for the board. She has apologized in letters to the families for misjudging the situation.

Harling said the district’s lawyer continues to investigate the situation and is expected to give the board a report soon.

Elsenheimer asked that the report be shared with the community. She urged the board to have training on being culturally competent.

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Photos by Tom Rivers

ALBION – Justin Suarez of Rochester works on painting a reindeer on the north side of the building for the Lake Country Pennysaver and Orleans Hub at 170 North Main Street.

Suarez and his friend Jon Finlayson worked on the mural today. The project is led by Natasha Wasuck, owner of Tinsel and the Lockstone, next to the Pennysaver. She solicited donations in the community for the project and reached out to Suarez through Instagram.

Jon Finlayson, left, and Justin Suarez worked on the mural today that proclaims Albion as home of the original Santa School. The late Charles Howard ran the school from 1937 to 1966. The school continues in his name today and is located in Midland, Mich.

Jon Finlayson works of the lettering for the Santa School.

Justin Suarez, 36, specializes in wildlife. He has completed many murals in the Rochester area in the past 10 years.

“It’s a great thing for towns,” Suarez said about murals. “This will be a very welcoming sight coming into town. For not much money you can have a big visual impact.”

Besides a large reindeer and an owl, Suarez said he will be painting many trees and snowflakes as part of the scene. He expects to complete the project next week after several days of more work.

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‘Law enforcement never solicits bail money and never requests money or funds to be sent via mail or other means of delivery.’ – Albion Police Chief Roland Nenni

Press Release, Albion Police Chief Roland Nenni III

ALBION – The Albion Police Department is investigating several phone scams that have been attempted and completed within the Village of Albion.

The scam involves the victim receiving a phone call from an unknown out-of-state phone number and the caller advising the victim that one of their family members has been arrested and taken into custody by “the Drug Task Force.” The caller then advises that bail money is needed to get the family member released from custody.

The caller, identifying themselves as law enforcement, then instructs the victim to send cash inside a random book that is placed into a box and shipped via UPS to an out-of-state address. The victim is advised to send the package with the money via next-day delivery and to call back with the tracking number provided with the shipment.

The caller informs the victim that they and their family member are in danger if they tell anyone about the arrest. On one occasion the victim was allowed to talk to the “family member in custody.” The victim stated that the voice was muffled and hard to hear, thus making a recognition of the voice impossible.

On one occasion the caller requested more money on a second call and gave a different out-of-state address to ship to. The money was sent to addresses that were vacant homes that were for sale or otherwise unoccupied.

One of these cases involved the loss of $15,000 from the victim.

Law enforcement never solicits bail money and never requests money or funds to be sent via mail or other means of delivery.

The Albion Police Department is working with our Federal partners in this investigation. These types of phone scams are almost impossible to trace and are very common.

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Albion may shift next distribution to Bullard Park to ease congestion

Photos by Tom Rivers

ALBION – Andrew Dreschel, a senior at Holley, volunteered this morning in Albion with a food distribution at the Main Street Store parking lot.

Today the number of boxes per vehicle was reduced from three to 1, with each vehicle also given additional bags of peppers and romaine lettuce.

The boxes contained about 30-40 pounds with 10-12 pounds of produce, 5-6 pounds of dairy, 5-6 pounds of meat and a gallon of milk.

There was a long line of vehicles down Main Street. The line started on Chamberlain Street, went down McKinstry Street, East Park and then on Main Street. The next distribution in Albion on Oct. 30 may be moved to Bullard Park to help with the traffic congestion on Main Street.

The schedule for the rest of October includes:

• Friday, October 9th – no delivery this week
• Friday, October 16th – New location at Clarendon Fire Hall, behind the Fire Hall at 16169 E. Lee Road (Route 31A). No lines before 8 a.m., line up to the east on 31A-north side of 31, if needed, north on Hulberton Road.
• Friday, October 23rd – Ridgeway Fire Department, 11392 Ridge Road, Medina – no lines before 8 a.m. The entrance will be on Horan Road and the line will be facing north towards Ridge Road. Exit will be on to Ridge Road
• Friday, October 30th – May be at Bullard Park on Route 31 or Community Action Main Street Store, 131 S. Main Street.

Danielle Figura, interim mental health director in Orleans County, volunteered this morning.

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Photos courtesy of Albion Central School: Service Learning teacher Tim Archer and student Brynn Dugan put the finishing touches on the First Academy historic marker.

Press Release, Albion Central School

Renzo Tomasi paints the First Church historic marker.

ALBION – Field trips and class visitors may be on hold for the time being, but that hasn’t stopped Albion Middle School’s Service Learning teacher Tim Archer from finding ways for his students to get hands-on experience with local history.

Working with Clarendon Town Historian Melissa Ierlan, Archer brought three historical markers to the school this week.

On Wednesday, two of Archer’s 7th grade Service Learning students, Brynn Dugan and Renzo Tomasi, came to the school to help paint the markers that Ierlan had previously restored and primed.

The three markers are from the Town of Gaines, denoting the history of First Church, First Academy and Union Cemetery.

“These projects help kids learn history and engage in their community in a lasting way,” said Archer, who loves working with people like Ierlan who have a passion for local history.

These are the 23rd, 24th, and 25th signs in the area that Ierlan has restored.

“It’s fun,” said Ierlan when asked why she continues to work with the markers. “And you get to see some pride in town history restored.”

Dugan and Tomasi helped Archer and Ierlan get the base blue layer onto all three signs. Once they’re dry, Ierlan will do the detail work of painting the lettering in yellow, and then the markers will be remounted, bringing a fresh face to local history.

Melissa Ierlan paints the First Church historic marker.

Brynn Dugan works on the Union Cemetery historic marker.

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ALBION — The school district is reporting that an elementary school student has tested positive for Covid-19.

The student was last in school on Friday, Scott Bischoping, interim superintendent, said in a letter to the community.

The Orleans County Health Department will do contact tracing and determine if there is a public health risk. The Health Department will go back 48 hours from the onset of symptoms or from when the student had the Covid test with the contact tracing to determine if anyone needs to be quarantined.

“Our cleaning, social distancing and face covering does a great deal in preventing the spread of any virus on campus,” Bischoping said. “Students and staff have done a wonderful job up to this point of adhering to the protocol that we have put in place.”

The district will work closely with the Health Department on whether any Covid cases rise to the level of closure for students and staff on site. This Covid case doesn’t warrant a closure, Bischoping said.

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Advice: Don’t flush wipes or put instant mashed potatoes in garbage disposal

Photo by Ginny Kropf: Tony Sanders, owner of Albion Bower’s Plumbing, tells how the pandemic has affected his business. He is shown here ready to unplug a drain in a customer’s basement.

ALBION – An Albion plumber has words of advice for homeowners during this pandemic.

Tony Sanders, owner of Albion Bower’s Plumbing, has encountered some very unusual problems during the past six months, most of them attributed to the pandemic.

First, many residents have been stuck at home and not able to work, so many have decided to tackle odd jobs around the house.

One call he got was from a lady whose garbage disposal wouldn’t work. It seems like she decided to clean out her cupboards in her spare time and throw out some outdated foods. This included packages of dry instant mashed potatoes, which she dumped down the drain, right out of the bag. When the moisture got to them, they set up and caused the disposal to explode.

Talking about garbage disposals, Sanders thought he would remind homeowners of other things one should never put down a garbage disposal, such as egg shells and coffee grounds. He said one thing homeowners should do regularly is fill their drain with ice and turn on the garbage disposal. It cleans it and helps with the smell, he said.

Another big problem has been caused by the toilet paper shortage. Customers were buying whatever they could get, which often turned out to be generic brands, some of which were thick, almost like paper towels. As a result they plugged toilets.

Sanders said it was almost impossible to believe the women who still try to flush their personal products down the toilet.

“I could send my kids to college on the money I’ve made from those calls,” he said.

With college kids home more, appliances are being used overtime. This also applies to septic systems.

Sanders and his stepfather Jim Arnold purchased Bailey’s Septic three years ago.

“You take an average 500 gallon septic system now being used twice as much or more, and it can’t handle it,” Sanders said.

Talking about toilets, Sanders warned homeowners who want to install those jet flush toilets in an older home.

“Those high-efficiency toilets use as little as .28 gallons of water, instead of the three and one-half gallons used by a traditional toilet,” Sanders said. “Now you have the old cast iron plumbing and not enough water to carry the waste through.”

Flushable wipes which everyone has been purchasing during the pandemic are really not flushable, Sanders said.

“Use all of them you want, but throw them in the trash,” he said. “People have to realize their toilet is not a magic portal to nowhere.”

In an average year, Sanders said his plumbing business would average five to seven normal calls a day. For three months straight during the pandemic, he has averaged eight to 12 calls a day, of which four to six were emergencies.

“I’ve been in business since 2007 and I’ve never seen a season like this,” he said.

For a while, Sanders said it seemed like firefighters, police and his crew were the only people out there.

He said it has started to level off, but with cold weather just around the corner, calls will begin to come in about frozen lines.

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Sheriff’s Office will check car seats Saturday at Public Safety Building

ALBION — There will be three car seat safety checks in Albion this month, with the first one today from noon to 4 p.m. at the Save-A-Lot parking lot, 320 West Ave.

“We will have technicians there to inspect seats and install them correctly,” said Roland Nenni, Albion police chief. “If the seat is out of date or a new one is required we will provide that free of charge.”

There will two other child passenger seat safety checks this month by the Orleans County Sheriff’s Office with the first one Saturday, Sept. 19, from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the Public Safety Building in Albion, 13925 Route 31.

There will be another one from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Sept. 26 in Albion at the Dollar Tree parking lot, 330 West Ave. The Orleans County Sheriff’s Office will have certified child passenger safety technicians on site to check car/booster seats.

These check events are sponsored by the Governor’s Traffic Safety Committee, which provided funding for new car seats.

Child safety seats reduce the risk of fatal injury by 71 percent when used correctly, Nenni said.

More than 90 percent of the seats aren’t installed correctly, he said.

Residents can call the Albion PD anytime at (585) 589-5627 to schedule an individual appointment to have a child car seat inspected.

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Photos by Tom Rivers

ALBION – Mount Albion Cemetery employees have cut down nine cherry trees near the entrances of Mount Albion Cemetery on Route 31. This is one of the prominent trees near the main entrance of the cemetery, shown on Tuesday evening.

The trees all had significant decay. The stumps will soon be removed and new flowering trees are expected to be planted next week, said Jason Zicari, the cemetery superintendent.

This photo from May 2019 shows the cherry blossoms near the entrance of Mount Albion Cemetery. The trees looked good while in bloom for a few weeks each year, but the rest of the year their cracks and dead spots were becoming more obvious, Zicari said.

Rather than replace the decaying trees one at a time, Zicari and the village opted to take the trees out and plant new ones in a group.

The new trees will have some variety with flowering pink and red, white and purple blossoms.

“There should be some nice color once they get bigger,” Zicari said about the new trees.

The village did a tree inventory of the cemetery and the Davey Resource Group near Ithaca identified the cherry trees as ones that should be removed and replanted.

“I was reluctant to have then removed but they were looking in such poor condition,” Zicari said.

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Photo by Tom Rivers

ALBION – Village of Albion DPW workers Charlie Ricci, left, and Ron Ricker install a banner recognizing World War II veteran Karl Kast. They are on South Main Street near the railroad tracks.

The banner is one of 36 new ones that will be added in the next few days on South Main and West Avenue. The DPW needs to add hardware holding the banners on the utility poles.

The DPW in June put on the first group of 33 banners. There was more interest from the community and Mayor Eileen Banker, who is coordinating the effort, was able to order more banners.

She will do another order beginning in February. Family and friends of the veterans are paying the cost for the banners. For more information, send Banker an email at ebanker@villageofalbionny.com.

The banners will go up after the Strawberry Festival in June and remain in place to approximately Veterans’ Day in November.

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ALBION – The Board of Education voted on Monday evening to approve a 5-year contract with the Albion Teachers’ Association.

The labor agreement gives the 163 teachers an average salary increase of 3.1 percent annually over the next five years. The ATA has already voted in favor of the contract.

Teachers will also continue to pay 16.5 percent towards their health insurance plans.

The new contract is a year longer than prior agreements. The past two contracts were for four years each time.

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Students with symptoms could be out of school for a while with current state protocol

ALBION – School leaders say they are concerned about the impact on Albion families of a State Department of Health policy for students who are home sick or if they have Covid-19 symptoms.

Those students can’t return to school in-person until they have a negative Covid test and a doctor’s note saying they are OK.

That could slow down the return to the classroom for students, interim superintendent Scott Bishoping told the Board of Education on Monday.

“The biggest issue that I’ve seen us dealing with so far is the concern about what happens when we have a report of a student being ill, either from home or we have to send them home,” he told the Board.

The current DOH guidelines require a doctor’s note, a Covid negative test and no symptoms in order to return.

If parents call in, saying a child has symptoms or isn’t feeling well, the student can’t come back to school until there is a negative Covid test or a doctor’s visit. Students have to meet that same threshold if they are sent home from school, feeling sick or with Covid symptoms, even if it’s just a headache.

“It has to be difficult for parents,” Bishoping said. “We hope there is some adjustment to that.”

Linda Weller, a Board of Education member, said the current state policy will be a strain on families, who may have to pay for a test in the county and then pay to go to the doctor’s office.

“It is so unfair to the economically disadvantaged,” she said.

There are free Covid test options in Niagara and Monroe counties, but not in Orleans. The test results often take a week or more to come back.

Ideally, there would be a rapid test with the results known very quickly, but that isn’t an option for Albion students right now, Bishoping said.

Advocacy groups are pressing the state to change the policy, he said, to either require a doctor’s visit or a negative Covid test, not both.

“We want more chances for students to get those tests so they can get back to school,” he said about Covid testing. “Or there needs to be a change in the language.”

In other action at Monday’s BOE meeting:

• Discussed how public relations and communication services will be handled at the district this year. Albion has contracted with BOCES for PR and communication services for the 2020-21 school year.

Susan Starkweather Miller served in that role for many years, as well as being a grantwriter and managing the district’s internship program. She retired on Aug. 31.

The district will have BOCES do the communication piece, with a BOCES staffer on campus and afterschool, often on campus five days a week and sometimes on weekends.

Bishoping told the Board of Education one advantage with the BOCES arrangement is Albion also has access to other BOCES staff if there was a crisis situation and Albion needs those communication services.

The district will see how the arrangement goes and could switch back to hiring a district employee from the community, perhaps next year.

The district isn’t doing the internship program to start the school year and Mary Leto, the district’s assistant superintendent for instruction, handles most of the larger “entitlement” grants. Starkweather Miller wrote the applications and managed the “competitive” grants, but there have been fewer of those options.

“I don’t think we have enough to support a part-time or full-time grant writer at this point,” Leto said.

The BOCES staffer also is expected to help Albion roll out a more active district presence on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

• The board accepted the athletic trainer bid of $30 per hour from Karen Renner of Holley. The board said it needed to accept the lowest responsible bidder. Renner is a lower cost than Charlie Palmer’s proposal of $35 per hour. Palmer has served in the role in recent years for Albion.

• Approved a bid for $41,820 from Lakeshore Property Maintenance LLC in Waterport to provide snow removal services on the district campus. The bid is up 2 percent from Lakeshore bid of $41,000 last school year.

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Photos courtesy of Constance Duggan

ALBION – Father Richard Csizmar, pastor of Holy Family Parish in Albion, blesses the Little Free Library constructed and donated to the parish by Rachel Duggan for her Girl Scout Gold Award.

The library is located on the grounds of St. Joseph’s church between the rectory and the church on West Park Street.

Rachel, 17, will start her senior year at Christian Brothers Academy in Syracuse. She spends her summers in the Albion area. She has been a Girl Scout for 12 years and is a member of Troop 10401 of NYPENN Pathways.

The Gold Award is the highest award given in Girl Scouting. Rachel built the library, took up donations for the books through a community newsletter and purchased a plaque that will locate the library on the internet through Littlefreelibrary.org. Take a book leave a book for all ages.

Rachel’s family ties to Albion go back to her great grandfather, born in Albion and baptized at St. Josephs in 1904. Her great-great-grandfather immigrated from Ireland to Albion in 1893. She has been a summer resident in Orleans County all her life.

There was a ceremonial ribbon untying today just before noon.

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Photos by Tom Rivers

ALBION – Julie Horton, left, and Hannah Donley of Iroquois Job Corps in Medina were among the volunteers this morning during a food distribution in Albion at the parking lot of the Main Street Thrift Store.

One of the delivery trucks was later than expected. Normally the distribution starts around 8:15 to 8:30, but didn’t get going until about 9. At that point some people had been waiting since 6 a.m. There was a long line of vehicles down Chamberlain Street, McKinstry Street, East Park Street, and down Main Street past the intersection with Route 31.

There were three boxes of food for each of the more than 300 vehicles. The event ended about 10:30.

Ashtin Fiegel of the Iroquois Job Corps Center sorts out boxes of fruits and vegetables. Most of the people received a box with grapes, strawberries, peppers, Brussels sprouts, apples, blackberries, raspberries, radishes and oranges.

The Job Corps had a team of volunteers and they were instrumental in getting the food sorted and set in the vehicles this morning.

The food distributions are made possible through a state-funded program called Nourish New York. This funding allows Foodlink to purchase local product.

On a federal level, the USDA has implemented a new initiative called CFAP (Coronavirus Food Assistance Program). In this program, distributors who would normally serve schools, restaurants, and municipal programs are able to pre-pack boxes of perishable product and deliver to distributions being done all over the country.

Kenneth McNeil, left, and Greg Gilman of Community Action of Orleans & Genesee get the pallets of food ready this morning after it was delivered to Albion.

The next food distribution will be in a week on Sept. 18. The location has been moved from Medina Central School to the Ridgeway Fire Hall, 11392 Ridge Rd.

The entrance will be on Horan Road and the line will be facing north towards Ridge Road, where vehicles will exit.

The events is promoted to start at 9 but could begin earlier if the delivery trucks and volunteers are in place.

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