By Ginny Kropf, correspondent Posted 2 June 2020 at 12:57 pm
Photos by Ginny Kropf: Current and former students of Ami Sidari rehearse a routine Monday night on Sidari’s lawn, which was marked off to ensure safe distancing. Laiken Ricker, left, leads a group of dancers during rehearsal Monday night on Amy Sidari’s lawn. Ricker and Janie Schultz (center), who are both cousins of Sidari, choreographed the routine in preparation for making a video. Rehearsals will continue this week and parents and the public are invited to park across the street in the bowling alley or on Sidari’s lawn to watch.
ALBION – Amy Sidari has had enough of sitting around and decided her students have too. The pandemic has taken its toll and she has decided to do something about it.
“I have dozens of students uniting for the first time since March 12,” said the dance instructor and owner of Gotta Dance Studio in Albion. “Some of these students I haven’t seen in years, but they are making the effort to attend and dance. We are going to make a music video, and are following all the rules and guidelines to do this.”
Amy Sidari, owner of Gotta Dance by Miss Amy, chats with her cousins Janie Schultz, left, and Laiken Ricker prior to rehearsal on Sidari’s lawn Monday night to prepare for making a video.
Sidari said she checked with the health officials and is following all their guidelines, wearing masks and dancing apart in spots marked off on her lawn. Spectators are watching from a distance in their cars, or may sit apart on their own lawn chairs if the weather is warm enough.
Sidari put the word out and expected 25 students to participate. She ended up with 39.
“Some of these alumni I haven’t seen in six years,” Sidari said through her mask Monday night, the first night of rehearsal.
Today’s practice has been postponed until Wednesday at 6:30. She hopes the group will be prepared to shoot the video soon.
“It will be entertaining and educating to see how we create a film,” Sidari said. “For me, the most difficult thing is not hugging everyone I see.”
Jennifer Viza of Albion, whose daughter Maleah, 16, is one of the dancers, said she was ecstatic about getting the kids back together again.
“Maleah has missed her lessons big time,” Viza said. “I’m not worried about them getting together, because these girls are big enough to know how to follow the guidelines.”
Sidari chose the music of the song “A Different Beat” for their routine.
“It is symbolic of our times and the title and lyrics go further, to the individual person,” Sidari said. “I sum up the song as ‘all about being yourself,’ which is different than anyone else. ‘Different’ is accepted, respected and anything done with love is a winner.”
Two of Sidari’s cousins, Laiken Ricker, a senior at Albion High School and teacher at Gotta Dance, and Janie Schultz a former dance instructor and currently a high school special education teacher, choreographed the routine. Schultz actually came home from Nebraska to take part in the dance routine.
Ricker and Schultz said they based the routine on the skill level of the dancers.
“It will be cool to see what Amy does on the music video,” they said.
Sidari said she plans to post the video on Facebook, the studio website and in a mass e-mailing.
As the dancers began their routine, learning eight beats at a time, cars began pulling up across the street. Sidari recognized them as some of her Cabaret regulars.
“It’s a joy to give them something to watch,” she said.
Kiarra Schuler, a sophomore at Albion Central School, is one of Sidari’s dance students who said she has been “very, very bored” not being able to attend dance lessons, and she was thrilled with the opportunity to dance again.
Alumni students came from Albany, as well as from all over the local area, to participate in making the video, Sidari said.
“It’s a heartbreaking situation to be separated so long,” Sidari said. “I want to get their mind and body working, like we used to do in the studio, but my priority is making it safe.”
“I was thrilled to see so many alumni students of mine and the parent support for the students I am still teaching,” Sidari said. “Anyone is welcome to come and watch this week from the safety of their own car. There is no harm to the community to watch from their car. We have tried to keep the kids busy via website instruction and fun activities. Now that the government is reopening gradually, phase by phase, I can really get the kids moving. This would not be possible at this time in our studio, but the outside works. My yard is big enough to bring goodness to everyone.”
Sidari lives at 3300 Oak Orchard Road, across from Oak Orchard Bowling.
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 1 June 2020 at 9:20 pm
Photos by Tom Rivers
ALBION – Susan Daiss, a lay leader at the Pullman Memorial Universalist Church in Albion, speaks at a vigil for peace and justice on the church’s lawn this evening.
About 20 people attended the vigil that lasted about a half hour. Darrel Dykes of Medina holds a Black Lives Matter sign.
He attended a march on Saturday in Buffalo. He said the event was “overwhelmingly positive and peaceful” in the beginning. He could tell the atmosphere was changing later in the evening and he left before there was widespread vandalism.
He regrets that most of the news coverage and social media attention on the marches has focused on the looting and detracted from the message of peace and justice.
The church wanted to offer “safe space” to pray and send energy for justice, peace and healing “during these troubling and chaotic times in our nation and communities, as well as observe a moment of silence for all of those lost to racial violence so far this year.”
The group gathers outside the church on East Park Street. They responded to the death of George Floyd, an African-American man who died a week ago after a police officer knelt on his neck for nearly nine minutes despite Floyd’s anguish and pleas that he couldn’t breathe.
That death led to nationwide protests, with many resulting in damage to businesses and public spaces, including in nearby Buffalo and Rochester.
Lance Zink, 18, right and his mother Jennifer Bagley light a candle at the vigil. They are from Gaines and recently moved to the area. Bagley said she was grateful there was an opportunity for a gathering to express remorse about George Floyd’s death in Minneapolis. She said she supports the Black Lives Matter movement.
Jessica Geroge, chairwoman of the board for the Pullman Church, shared a reflection during the vigil.
“Our world needs so much right now. So much love, and compassion, and kindness, and justice, and peace, and understanding. We are called here tonight as people of conscience. People outraged by the disregard for human lives that we are seeing, outraged by the divisiveness we see in our communities, and by the dehumanization we are seeing from people in positions of power and authority.”
She urged the group to “love radically” and challenge “systemic oppression.”
The Pullman church wanted to offer a place during a scary time for the country. Besides the death of Floyd, the country has seen the images of looters, and has endured nearly three months of restrictions due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
“We are called here tonight to seek a more compassionate, peaceful, and kind world,” George said. “We are moved to be here as people that are committed to seeing our world, our nation, and our society be better for all of us. We are moved to search not only for justice, but for equality, fairness, equity and peace.”
Al Capurso also sang a song during the vigil – “Here Comes the Sun” by The Beatles.
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 29 May 2020 at 3:58 pm
Photos by Tom Rivers
ALBION – About a dozen picketers were outside The Villages of Orleans Health and Rehabilitation Center in Albion today for about an hour.
They said they wanted to show support for the staff and residents at a nursing home where 26 people have died from Covid-19. The Villages has had 88 of its residents test positive for Covid-19.
Picketers faulted management of the facility for not providing staff with enough personal protective equipment (gowns, masks, N-95 respirators) to prevent workers from becoming infected and spreading the virus.
Richard Brakenbury holds a sign that says, “I Miss My Wife” during the picket. His wife of 61 years, Connie Brakenbury, died on May 12. The family said she contracted Covid-19 at The Villages while in the rehab section. She was trying to build back her strength after being dehydrated and feeling weak. She was at The Villages for 20 days.
Mr. Brakenbury said his wife was put in a room with someone who was Covid-19 positive.
The facility has had nearly all of its residents test positive for Covid-19. Those that are negative have recently been moved to a sister facility in Williamsville that is also owned by Comprehensive Healthcare Management Services LLC.
The nursing home in Albion used to be owned by the county. It was sold for $7.8 million on Feb. 6, 2014 to Comprehensive.
Angelo and Ondrea Pate were among the picketers today. Connie Brakenbury is Mrs. Pate’s mother.
Ondrea Pate worked 7 years as an LPN at The Villages. She picketed several times in 2013 when the county announced it would be selling the facility due to the deficits that topped $2 million.
Pate worried then that privatization would result in frequent staff turnover and less accountability to the community.
She left 18 months after the sale, became an registered nurse and now works in Brockport.
The management at The Villages has done a poor job communicating with the community about what’s going on inside the nursing home, and sharing a strategy to slow the spread of the virus and save residents’ lives, Pate said.
She started an online petition for a change in the director of nursing. That petition has 1,400 supporters.
Pate said the deaths were unnecessary if the proper precautions were taken.
“It should never have happened,” she said about the high loss of life. “It’s heart-breaking.”
Amanda Dixon, a former employee who worked in human resources, was among the picketers today.
The State Attorney General’s Office, Orleans County Sheriff’s Office, Orleans County District Attorney’s Office, and State Department of Health are all investigating how The Villages has responded to Covid-19.
The Villages passed a state DOH inspection on April 29, but in a May 9 inspection the facility was cited for immediate jeopardy, where noncompliance puts residents in serious harm, according to a May 27 article in The Buffalo News.
The Villages took action and the immediate jeopardy was lifted, although the state DOH continues to closely monitor the nursing home, The Buffalo News reported.
Pate wants a leadership change at The Villages, particularly with the director of nursing.
She hopes the picket today, across the street from the nursing home, sent a message to staff and residents that community members are pushing for a safer nursing home.
“We want to support the residents and staff and show them we are here for them,” Pate said. “We want to make it better.”
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 25 May 2020 at 10:05 am
Photos by Tom Rivers
ALBION – Wally Skrypnik, commander of the American Legion in Albion, plays Taps during an observance on Memorial Day in front of the Albion Middle School. There is usually a large crowd for the Memorial Day service each year at the school.
There is no Memorial Day service or parade today with social gatherings still limited to no more than 10 people due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
Today, there were eight veterans in the Honor Guard.
The Honor Guard, however, did a gun salute and played Taps at eight sites in Albion – cemeteries and memorials for veterans.
Joe Gehl of Kent is part of the Honor Guard in Albion that went to many local cemeteries and memorials this morning to honor soldiers who were killed in action.
Gehl is shown with the Honor Guard at the older St. Joseph’s Catholic Cemetery on Brown Road.
Gehl served in the Korean War, where he said two of his classmates from Corning were killed. Another friend from basic training also was killed in Korea.
“I always remember them during this time,” Gehl said.
The Honor Guard met at 7 this morning at the Orleans County Vets’ Club on Platt Street. They did a gun salute and then Taps was played by Wally Skrypnik, commander of the American Legion in Albion.
Wally Skrypnik, left, assists Gary Befus with the American flag after the gun salute and Taps at St. Joseph’s Catholic Cemetery on Route 31.
Befus asked the Honor Guard members if they would be willing to honor veterans at the local memorials and cemeteries as they usual do on Memorial Day, even though there wasn’t a parade today.
The group was willing and would visit eight sites to honor veterans this morning.
Befus said the Honor Guard usually gets together frequently during the year, often at funerals of veterans.
“This is the first time we’ve seen each other in months because there haven’t been any funerals,” Befus said.
Mike Donahue looks for an empty shell after the gun salute at Mount Albion Cemetery.
Matt Passarell lowers the flag at St. Joseph’s Cemetery on Route 31 in Albion. Kevin Christy is at left.
St. Joseph’s Catholic Cemetery on Route 31 includes a memorial for two World War II soldiers –Tech Sgt. Joseph F. Christopher who was killed in North Africa on April 28, 1943 and Cpl. John A. Christopher who was killed in North Africa on Nov. 26, 1943.
The Honor Guard includes, from left: Phil Warne, Kevin Christy, Joe Gehl, Mike Donahue, Matt Passarell, Orville Preston and Gary Befus.
These veterans look for their empty shells after an observance in front of the Vietnam War memorial in front of the Albion Middle School, where there is usually a large Memorial Day event each year.
Orville Preston, left, Kevin Christy, center, and Joe Gehl stand at attention while Taps is played at the Orleans County Vets’ Club this morning.
To see two videos from this morning’s observances, click here at St. Joseph’s Cemetery on Route 31 and click here to see the Honor Guard at Mount Albion.
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 22 May 2020 at 10:27 pm
Photos by Tom Rivers
ALBION — The Thurston family in Albion doubled in size today with the adoption finalization of three siblings.
Stephanie and Jeff Thurston adopted twin sisters, Jennifer and Kylee, both 12, and their brother Aiden, 9. They join little brother, Evan Wayne, 8. The adoption was finalized in a hearing this afternoon through Skype. (Pictured from left include Jennafer, Aiden, Stephanie. Jeff, Kylee and Evan Wayne.)
Orleans County Family Court Judge Sanford Church presided over the hearing. The Thurstons originally were scheduled to adopt Jennafer, Kylee and Aiden on March 17. But a day before at 5 p.m. that hearing was called off because the courthouse was closed to the public due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
“We’ve been waiting a long time,” Stephanie Thurston said at the family’s home on West Bank Street. “We feel
There was a celebration outside their house after the hearing. Many of their friends and neighbors drove by, honking horns.
Stephanie Thurston inquired with the court last week about doing an adoption over Skype. She read about other courts doing them through videoconferencing.
Judge Church was willing to do the hearing through Skype. He presided over his first adoption through Skype on May 14.
The Thurstons served as foster parents for the three siblings for 409 days. They met the three at Our Light of Victory Church o Brown Street in Albion, where the Thurstons are youth ministers. The three were staying with a different foster family at the time.
“We got to know the kids and they were on my heart,” Mr. Thurston said. “We grew to love them.”
Mrs. Thurston works as the executive secretary at the church. Mr. Thurston is a hair stylist in Lockport, working at Full Circle Salon.
The couple said they had been praying for about two years about being adoptive parents. They connected with Hillside Children’s Service in Batavia and took classes for six months. They became certified to serve as foster parents in April 2019. The three siblings joined them that month and right away were a good fit with the Thurstons.
This group stopped by the Thurstons’ driveway to congratulate them on the adoption finalization.
Mrs. Thurston said the family needs to be well organized to stay on stop of schoolwork and appointments. That has been one of the bigger challenges, just being busier.
The Covid-19 pandemic has actually slowed down the pace, and the family has enjoyed spending more time together at home.
“It has definitely been an adventure and it will only get better as we make memories and get stronger together,” Mrs. Thurston said. “I feel totally blessed.”
The Thurstons would like the three children to stay in touch with their biological parents.
“We’re very thankful for the blessing their birth parents gave us,” Mrs. Thurston said.
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 17 May 2020 at 5:25 pm
Diane Conrad has recovered after more than week on ventilator
Photos by Tom Rivers
ALBION – Diane Conrad and her husband Kelly wait in front of their house on South Main Street this afternoon. Their family organized a motorcade of well-wishers for Mrs. Conrad. About 50 vehicles were in the motorcade.
Mrs. Conrad worked 13 years as an LPN at The Villages of Orleans Health and Rehabilitation Center in Albion. She contracted Covid-19. She didn’t realize she had it until April 29, when she was taken to Strong West in Brockport after being short of breath and disoriented. Her oxygen levels also had plummeted to the 60s.
She was taken by ambulance that night to Strong Memorial Hospital in Rochester. The next day she was on a ventilator. She came off the ventilator nine days later and continued to rebound. She was able to come home on Friday after 16 days in the hospital.
“Thank you all for your continued support,” she said before the motorcade started. “I made it this far with everyone’s prayers.”
The Sheriff’s Department led the motorcade that included some of Conrad’s co-workers at The Villages, her family and friends. Her son Dan is in the Albion Lions Club and many of those members joined the caravan of honking vehicles. State Assemblyman Steve Hawley also joined the group of well-wishers.
The Villages has been decimated by Covid-19 with 21 residents dying from the virus and 87 total testing positive. Conrad is grateful she pulled through the illness after being hospitalized.
She said it is painful to look at the obituaries and know so many people from The Villages have died.
“It breaks my heart,” she said. “I’ve lost so many friends.”
Her daughter Casey Conrad said her mother has made a remarkable recovery.
“I amazed because she couldn’t walk and spent over a week on a ventilator,” Casey said.
Conrad is waiting a few more days to make sure she is totally recovered from Covid-19. Once she is deemed to have defeated the virus, she looks forward to embracing her family. Right now, she is keeping her distance.
“When I can hug my grandchildren that will be my happiest day,” she said.
These well-wishers, including a dog in back, show some love to Diane Conrad.
Photo by Tom Rivers: This group of volunteers distributed T-shirts on Friday to the adopters of members of the senior class in Albion The shirts say, “Senior Skip Day Champions – Class of 2020.” Pictured from left include kindergarten teacher Angie Wolfe, her son Caleb, Lynn DiBella and Sara Mathes.
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 17 May 2020 at 9:47 am
Provided photo: Pretty Sweet Bakery in Albion made these eagle cookies for a senior.
ALBION – The Albion community has been showering members of the senior class with gifts and treats the past month as part of an Adopt-A-Senior program.
Many community members leave baskets full of snacks by the front doors for students. It’s mostly anonymous.
“This community has such an outpouring of love for these kids,” said Sara Mathes, one of the coordinators of the effort. “It’s been amazing.”
Mathes has a daughter, Chloe, who is in the Class of 2020. She and her classmates haven’t been in the school building on March 13. The Covid-19 has forced students to do remote learning. It has kept them from seeing their friends and teachers in person.
The pandemic also has derailed the spring sports season, the school musical and other extracurricular programs.
A typical graduation ceremony is iffy. The district is considering a virtual graduation on June 26 with a larger ceremony possibly later in the summer if restrictions are eased. The senior prom has been moved from June 12 to Aug. 6.
Sara Mathes feels bad the students are missing many moments together and there is still so much uncertainty.
Photo by Tom Rivers: Sara Mathes holds one of the T-shirts for seniors.
She created a Facebook page, “Adopt a AHS Class of 2020 Senior.” She was inspired after seeing another district, Ken-Ton in Erie County, adopt a senior.
Albion has 136 members in the senior class. Mathes was nervous there might not be 136 people willing to adopt a senior, especially during tough economic times.
She didn’t need to worry about that. Numerous people stepped forward to adopt a senior, so many that each senior has two people or families that have adopted them.
Mathes assigned the students randomly to the people in the community. She asked students their favorite snacks, hobbies and other interests and passed on the list to the adoptive community members.
About three weeks the gift baskets and boxes started showing up at seniors’ homes. The items have continued since then and probably will right up to graduation in late June.
Mekhi Rivera, a senior, posted his appreciation on the Adopt A Senior Facebook page.
“I am so thankful to be a part of this adopt a senior thing we are doing!” he said. “Cassie and Brian Schomske and Debbie Prest made me so happy with these gifts! Thank you for doing this and ever body else that is doing this we are all thankful for the time and money you have put into us it means a lot.”
Provided photo: Mekhi Rivera has a big smile when he received a gift from an adoptive community member.
Some seniors know their adoptive community members, but many do not. Mathes has kept it anonymous, leaving it to the community members if they want to reveal themselves.
“Every June at graduation we pack the gym and cheer for them,” Mathes said about the usual commencement, which is attended by about 2,000 people in the high school gymnasium. “This is a way to keep doing that. They see that the community cares for them.”
On Friday, Mathes was at the gazebo by the Erie Canal in Albion, distributing “Senior Skip Day Champions – Class of 2020.” The community is covering the cost of the shirts for every member of the class.
The shirts were picked up by the adoptive community members to be added to the next gift basket or box for the seniors.
Debbie Liberti, a teacher’s aide and the cheerleading coach, adopted one of the students. Liberti has enjoyed showering the student, one of her cheerleaders, with love during a stressful time.
“I know some of the seniors are feeling bad,” Liberti said. “So this is for a good cause. These kids deserve so much.”
Lynn DiBella retired as an aide in the prekindergarten program last year. She organized the T-shirt effort. DiBella initially just wanted to get a T-shirt about skip day for her adopted senior. She put it on Facebook, seeing if anyone else wanted to go in on an order. It quickly gained steam for enough orders for all seniors.
Angie Wolfe, a kindergarten teacher, helped with the distribution on Friday. She is impressed to see the Purple Eagle community rally around the senior class.
“I feel bad the seniors are missing out on so much,” Wolfe said. “I just want to brighten their day.”
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 16 May 2020 at 9:44 pm
Photos by Tom Rivers
ALBION – A caravan of vehicles heads down Main Street in Albion at about 10 a.m. today. They were about halfway through a 50-mile ride in Orleans County that started in Holley and ended in Lyndonville.
Adam Johnson, owner of the 39 Problems bar and grill in Albion, is in the lead car. He organized the event, which he estimated had about 200 participants for different parts of the journey.
Johnson wanted to highlight the diversity of small businesses in the county, and show how many have struggled due to the economic shutdown from the Covid-19 pandemic.
DC Hauling and Excavating joins the ride through downtown Albion.
Reg Cichocki, owner of Orleans Ready Mix in Medina, brought two vehicles from his concrete business for the ride. His wife Anna is in the truck in the front seat.
Cichocki said he has been able to do concrete jobs for some agricultural projects, but the residential construction has been at a standstill for about two months.
“We need to get the residential construction going,” Cichocki said. “It’s a spinoff for the whole economy.”
He said the small businesses and community have stepped about their precautions to protect from the virus.
“This is something that has never happened in our lifetimes,” he said.
The vehicles head up Main Street in Albion after crossing the Main Street lift bridge over the Erie Canal.
Liz Groat is president of the Downtown Browsery, which includes about 70 vendors at locations in Albion and Medina.
The stores have been closed for the past two months. She said both sites will be ready to open in about two weeks. They are installing plexiglass screens at cash registers, putting in hand sanitizer stations and putting markings on the floor to emphasize social distancing of at least six feet.
Groat said she expects many customers at the Browsery because many flea markets are closed and she doesn’t anticipate as many garage sales this year due to Covid-19.
“People will be looking for a place to shop with non-Walmart things,” she said. “They are also ready for some normalcy to return.”
Vehicles head up a quiet Albion Main Street where dance studios, hair salons and barbershops are waiting to get approval to reopen.
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 16 May 2020 at 12:20 pm
Photos by Tom Rivers
ALBION – Cars lined up by the Albion fire hall this morning on Platt Street, where the fire department distributed free cloth masks beginning at 10 a.m.
Albion and the 11 other fire departments in the county all distributed cloth masks from 10 a.m. until noon or for how long supplies lasted.
State Assemblyman Steve Hawley hands off some of the masks in this photo. Also is the photo from left include Dennis Hunt, Fire Chief Harry Papponetti, Albion Mayor Eileen Banker and Gregg Marston.
There were 7,500 masks available to be distributed this morning. They were made by Hanes. The Orleans County Emergency Management Office secured the masks and delivered them to the 12 fire departments.
Dennis Hunt and Harry Papponetti helped distribute the masks this morning. Cars started to line up at 9 a.m., an hour early. Firefighters gave out two masks per member of a household over 2 years old.
Gregg Marston and Eileen Banker hand off masks this morning.
Assemblyman Steve Hawley also assisted in the effort.
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 12 May 2020 at 7:23 pm
Photo by Tom Rivers: Gordmans employees and local officials celebrate a grand-opening of the Gordmans store on Feb. 18 at the Route 31 plaza in Albion. The store opened following a change-over from Peebles. That day Gordmans presented a check for $1,000 to Albion High School as a show of goodwill to the community.
ALBION – Less than three months ago a new Gordmans store opened in Albion. The store was one of 13 former Peebles stores to be changed over.
But less than a month after opening, the Covid-19 pandemic forced the store to cut back hours. By the end of March, the store closed, temporarily.
But now the parent company has declared bankruptcy, and the store will permanently close unless a new buyer is found.
Gordmans and Peebles, both discount department stores, are owned by Stage Stores, with Stage buying Gordmans in April 2017. Peebles opened in the Albion plaza in 2007.
“The increasingly challenging market environment was exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic, which required us to temporarily close all of our stores and furlough the vast majority of our associates,” Chief Executive Officer Michael Glazer said in a statement. “Given the conditions, we have been unable to obtain necessary financing and have no choice but to take these actions.”
Houston, Texas-based Stage Stores listed both assets and liabilities between $500 million and $1 billion, according to a filing with the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of Texas.
The company shut all its 738 stores and three distribution centers in March.
The company is seeking bids for the business or any of its assets, Stage Stores said in a statement.
If there isn’t a viable buyer, Stage will have to liquidate and close the stores.
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 12 May 2020 at 12:03 pm
Districts consider options for graduation ceremonies
Photo by Tom Rivers: Medina graduates move their tassels during graduation on June 22, 2018 in the high school auditorium. This year’s commencement is very much up in the air with the district considering an outdoor ceremony at Vets’ Park if a large indoor gathering isn’t allowed.
Albion and Medina were both planning the annual senior prom for June 12. But during a Covid-19 pandemic, with social gatherings currently limited to 10 people, that doesn’t look likely, even as the state begins phase 1 of reopening.
Medina has announced its prom has been moved to July 22 from 6:30 to 11 p.m. at Becker Farms in Gasport.
“Everything will remain the same except the date,” the district posted on its Facebook page. “We hope that by the end of July state guidance will enable us to host a proper gathering. We will continue to keep you posted if any other changes are necessary.”
The prom also will be on a Wednesday instead of a Friday.
“We know this year has brought many unforeseen changes and we are trying hard to create those final high school memories,” the school district posted on its Facebook page. “Your class officers, class advisors, teachers, and administrators are working hard to ensure that end of year events are as memorable as possible.”
Albion was again planning to have its senior prom at Hickory Ridge in Holley the second Friday in June.
The district is now looking to have the event on Aug. 6, which would be a Thursday.
Michael Bonnewell, the district superintendent, said he recently met with the senior class officers who said a top priority for the class is to have the prom, even if it is in the summer.
Moving to Aug. 6 still gives seniors, who at that point will have graduated, a chance to go to the prom before many start college.
“Most of the attendees will actually be alumni at that point,” Bonnewell said during Monday’s Board of Education meeting, which was conducted by Zoom videoconferencing.
The district also favored the Thursday option for the prom, to leave open a weekend date for graduation parties.
The prom dates in summer for Medina and Albion are contingent on approvals from the state and Health Department as the state begins to reopen some businesses.
Graduation ceremonies
Albion is looking to have a virtual graduation on June 26, while hoping there can be a large public gathering to honor the seniors later in the summer, Bonnewell said.
The district considered using the football stadium for an outdoor graduation, where students and the crowd could be spaced out. But Bonnewell said the restrooms at the stadium don’t meet the Health Department standards for such an event. The district will meet again soon with Health Department officials to look at options.
“We’re keeping an eye on the possibilities,” Bonnewell said.
But right now a large mass gathering looks unlikely anytime soon.
The district also is working to induct three seniors into the National Honor Society. They must be inducted before they graduate. Once they get their diploma they can’t be inducted into the NHS. The district is working on a ceremony for those three students on May 28.
School officials also are working on the details of Class Night, when scholarships are announced for the seniors.
Medina school officials said no final plans about graduation will be made until at least June 12.
“It is our hope to hold a ceremony containing many of our traditional components, however we do need to make decisions based on state guidelines,” the district posted on Facebook.
The district is looking at five different options for graduation:
Traditional ceremony held in the high school auditorium on June 26 at 7 p.m.
If guidelines do not allow an indoor ceremony but would be OK for an outdoor ceremony, Medina will move graduation to Veterans Park on June 26 at 7 p.m. There will be a rain date of June 27.
If gatherings are not allowed in June, Medina will opt for a traditional ceremony on July 24 at 7 p.m. in the high school auditorium.
If gatherings are not allowable indoors but can be held in an outdoor location, Medina will then hold the ceremony at Veterans Park on July 24 at 7 p.m. with a rain date of July 25.
If Medina is unable to hold any gatherings in July, then the district will arrange a special event for diploma pick up with a parade in cars through the streets of Medina for graduates on July 24.
“We thank you for all your suggestions and input,” the district posted. “The Senior Class Officers and Senior Class Advisers are working hard to create an unforgettable occasion!”
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 12 May 2020 at 8:13 am
Photos by Tom Rivers
ALBION – Two little free libraries were added last week at Tinsel, an ice cream shop in Albion, just north of the Erie Canal.
Natasha Wasuck and her husband John Hernandez own Tinsel and they put in the new libraries, as well as a bench. They are also turning the building into the Lockstone, a wedding and events center.
There are now more than 100,000 little free libraries. The community is welcome to leave and take a book at the little free libraries.
The two new little libraries come at a time when the local public library buildings are closed to the public.
For more on the Little Free Library organization, click here.
Photo by Tom Rivers: The Erie Canal is shown in Albion by Krantz Furniture and the Main Street Lift Bridge in this file photo. The canal was scheduled to open on May 15 but the start of the navigational season has been delayed.
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 10 May 2020 at 10:59 am
Several state legislators are urging the State Canal Corp. to get the Erie Canal ready for the start of anew navigational season.
The Canal Corp. announced on April 23 the canal wouldn’t be opening on May 15 as planned. The Canal Corp. hasn’t provided an update since on when the canal could open this year.
The canal has operated every year since it was originally constructed in 1825, spanning 363 miles across upstate from Buffalo to Albany.
State Sen. Rob Ortt, R-North Tonawanda, and Assemblyman Steve Hawley, R-Batavia, are among 18 state legislators representing canal communities who sent a joint letter to the New York Power Authority, demanding the canal be opened.
“We are confident that with the proper protections in place, this highly skilled and experienced workforce can quickly and effectively open the Canal System for full navigational use,” the letter said.
State Assemblyman Michael Norris, R-Lockport, also sent his own letter to Gil C. Quiniones, president and CEO of the New York Power Authority, which oversees the Erie Canal.
“I have grave concerns about recent reports regarding the 2020 Navigation System throughout the New York State Canal,” Norris wrote. “Where a delay is understandable, there is an uneasy sense that the opening may not happen at all. This concern reverberates throughout every community in Western New York along the canal system especially given the partial restoration of the Flight of Five in Lockport, the recent celebration of the Erie Canal Bicentennial and the economic driver the canal system is in Niagara and Orleans counties.”
Norris urged the Power Authority to have the canal workers due the needed construction and other maintenance work needed to have the system proceed with its navigational season. Much of the needed preparation work has been idled since mid-March.
“Recently the Governor unveiled and supported the great work New Yorkers accomplished regarding the effort to Reimagine the Canal,” Norton said in his letter. “As you may be aware, I have expressed my full support and offered a number of initiatives that would benefit canal communities and encourage economic development in our region. Our community needs the canal to be open now more than ever for both social and economic sustainability.”
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 7 May 2020 at 1:32 pm
ALBION – The Albion Village Board has two new members with Christopher Barry and former Trustee Kevin Sheehan.
They joined the board on Friday following the resignations of Peter Sidari and Mattea Navarra. Those two stayed on the board an extra month after their terms were to expire on March 31. They stayed during a busy month of April while the Village Board finalized the village budget.
Christopher Barry
Sidari and Navarra both didn’t seek re-election. The village election was scheduled for March 18 but then was pushed to April 28 and then again to an undetermined date in June. The governor on May 1 announced the village elections would be moved to Sept. 15. His directives gave current board members the option of staying in their positions until the next election.
Sidari and Navarra opted to resign rather than stay in the positions another 4 ½ months.
Sheehan and Barry both are Republican candidates in the election. Mayor Eileen Banker asked them if they would be willing to start before the Sept. 15 election and both agreed. They were appointed to the board by Banker and trustees Gary Katsanis and Stan Farone.
Kevin Sheehan
Maurice Taylor, a candidate backed by the Democratic Party, also will be on the ballot in September. He was backed by Democrats during a caucus in January.
He said today he will decide closer to the Sept. 15 election whether he will be mounting an active campaign for the position.
Kevin Sheehan, 57, was on the Village Board for eight years and was interested in running for mayor in March 2014. But the Hatch Act derailed those plans and prompted him to step away from the Village Board. (The Hatch Act prevents a federal employee from running in a partisan election.)
Sheehan worked as a union plumber for 27 years before getting a job with the federal VA in Batavia. He was the maintenance mechanic work lead and retired on Sept. 21 after about six years.
The South Clinton Street resident said he enjoys getting involved with the inner-workings of the village government.
Sheehan has a new job as a safety compliance consultant for Safety York Solutions. The job gives him lots of flexibility, he said.
Christopher Barry, 47, works as sergeant at the Orleans Correctional Facility. He started his career as a corrections officer 16 years ago. Barry, a South Main Street resident, said he looks forward to knowing more about how the village government works. He and his wife Lisa have two children, ages 5 and 9.
Taylor, 53, of McKinstry Street retired in 2016 after 27 years as a corrections officer. Taylor and his wife Ethel raised four children in Albion. They have five grandchildren.
By Ginny Kropf, correspondent Posted 7 May 2020 at 8:58 am
Rodden pushed for historic preservation, removed parking meters in downtown and welcomed international students
This formal portrait by Bruce Landis of Albion’s late mayor Donna Rodden hangs in the village offices. Rodden served as Albion mayor from 1973 to 1984.
ALBION – Several months ago, the Orleans Hub began a series called “Notable Neighbors,” in which people in the community, living or deceased, were profiled. With not much in the news lately but updates on the coronavirus pandemic, I thought perhaps an uplifting story on one of Orleans County’s most accomplished women would be a welcome change.
I feel it is also appropriate to share this story about Donna Rodden, who was mayor of Albion at a time when there were only 13 women holding such a position in the United States, as now, Albion has its second woman serving as mayor, Eileen Banker, and I can’t help but think how proud that would make Donna.
I reached out to Eileen to see if she remembered Donna and realized what big shoes she had to fill.
“I did think of Mayor Rodden, as she had been the only woman mayor of the village,” Eileen said. “I didn’t run on the fact I was a woman. I ran because I felt I could see the positives the village had to offer and I wanted to capitalize on that concept. I believe I was elected, just like Mayor Rodden, not because we are women, but because the voters felt we could do the job.”
I have to credit the pandemic and our mandated stay-at-home orders for my finding this story I had written about Donna, probably 40 or more years ago. Boredom finally caused me to start cleaning out some corners and sorting through boxes and boxes of papers, when in a sewing kit which belonged to my cousin’s late wife, I found six pages I had typed on my Smith-Corona (no relation to the virus) electric typewriter. (Does anybody remember those? I reached out to Donna’s daughters to verify my facts and learned some more interesting things.)
First I learned Donna’s first love was a college sweetheart, who was killed in a horrific accident. They were returning home one night during a torrential rainstorm, each driving their own cars. Donna was following him when he drove onto railroad tracks and his car quit. He was hit by a train, and when she ran to the car, she saw his body smashed into pieces.
I also learned from Donna’s oldest daughter, Roberta Tundermann of Connecticut, that because of the accident Donna refused to drive a car and never did until after her mother died, and she could no longer rely on her mother to chauffeur her around.
Donna’s second love, which Roberta called “the love of her life,” was killed in Germany and she never dated again until years later.
I first met Donna when I was asked to write a story about Albion’s Courthouse Square being named to the National Register of Historic Places. (Courthouse Square is a large block of 38 buildings in the center of town). She was library media specialist at Albion High School at the time, in addition to being mayor of Albion. I do believe the request came from Walter Schutt, who was then police chief in Albion and a supporter of Donna’s, or from her best friend Marie Makowski.
Schutt once commented, “Few people realize what they have here in Albion. Donna has as interesting a past as any public figure, and has done more for the village of Albion than most people can remember.”
Donna served as mayor from 1973 to 1984.
I will never forget the first time I met Donna when I went to the school to interview her. She had long black hair, which hung from a center part. Her clothes were anything but stylish, as she was dressed in a floor-length black skirt, and in spite of it being in the winter, she had on flat slippers with no socks or stockings.
But that was Donna, and being in her presence, you realized you were facing a genius – and a genius doesn’t worry about her appearance. I would learn over the period of several years of knowing her that she was not only a television personality, but a teacher, producer and writer, as well as a mayor. At Syracuse University, she studied speech and communication, got her doctorate in library science and a degree in radio and journalism. She was in the process of studying for the ministry when she died of cancer in June 1985 at the age of 59. Her daughter Chris Capurso of Albion said Donna was so busy doing for others she didn’t take care of herself.
Donna was born in Albion, a daughter of Burroughs and Mildred MacDufy Strickland. She was first in her class all through school and graduated a year early. Burroughs was a judge who had attended Syracuse University, as did Mildred, and wanted Donna to follow in his footsteps, but although she took some law courses, she had other aspirations.
Roberta also attended Syracuse, as well as her son Matt, who is an aeronautical engineer.
Making a mark in the big city
Donna’s career began when she moved to New York City and landed a job packaging radio and television programs. Packaging is the term applied to shooting scenes and collecting shots from movies, and putting them together to form one special show, Roberta explained. The show would then be sold to an advertiser who, in turn, would sell it to a station or network.
Donna had the distinction of being the first woman to produce a television show in New York City, but because she met opposition in getting a job as a woman, much of her work was accomplished under the pen name of Robert Quigley, her first husband and father of Roberta.
Donna had landed a job with Caton Incorporation, and Mr. Caton was a boxing fan. Boxers are said to be superstitious and afraid of elevators. As Donna’s office was on an upper floor of the Empire State Building, the boxers would climb the stairs, rather than take the elevator. One of her most famous shows was Greatest Fights of the Century, which also became the first sports television show to be exported outside the United States. Her other credits include The Big Fight, and World’s Greatest Fighters, as well as animal shows which she put together using much material collected by Walt Disney. All this was before the time of coast-to-coast hookups, when most shows and commercials were live.
“Actors and actresses had to be more accurate then,” Donna told me. “And when radio stars made the transition to television, many had a hard time getting used to having to wear makeup and dress to be seen.”
She recalled one famous radio newscaster who refused to wear makeup or dress for the camera, and he soon faded out of television when he couldn’t accept the challenge.
Early in her years in New York City, Donna worked for a school in New Jersey which helped children with handicaps. There she met Charles Lindbergh, whose son attended there for speech therapy.
Her brother Terry Strickland at the time was stationed at Fort Dix, and was scheduled to go to Korea with the Green Mountain Boys. By the grace of God, Roberta said, Terry developed pneumonia and couldn’t go, so he was later sent to Germany instead. All the men in the Green Mountain Boys were later wiped out.
Donna was interested in all forms of art. She painted, and was an accomplished piano player. At about the same time as her producing career began, she also became interested in directing plays and acting. She appeared on Broadway in All This and Heaven Too, Harvey, Thornton Wilder’s Skin of our Teeth and with Priscilla Gillette in Brigadoon. She directed at the Davenport Theater, and when color television hit the market, two of the first seven shows came from Donna’s office.
I was also made privy to information by Donna (reluctantly) about the time she corroborated with mob bosses to prove the innocence of a man on Death Row and get him released from prison. Roberta said she remembers a time when mafia men came to their door. She said after her mother talked to them, they went away peacefully.
I have to interject at this point how honored I was to have called Donna Rodden a friend. She would occasionally drive out to my house in Millville and bring me a small gift, such as Christmas placemats she had crocheted. And I would be on cloud nine to think that a woman of such acclaim would give me the time of day.
Robert Quigley was the owner of the Lyndonville Enterprise and the Middleport Herald-Tribune, which Donna edited for two years before going back to New York City to resume her work in television. After she and Quigley divorced, Donna married James Rodden, who was a cab driver in New York City and used to pick her up every day. She and James’ daughter is Chris Capurso of Albion.
Donna wrote many songs, a hobby which she pursued, even after returning to Albion. Two of her songs, You are my Angel and St. Mary’s of the Snow, were recorded by Eddie Haywood. A story she wrote on the Erie Canal titled Erie Mouse earned her acclaim and Roberta is hoping to turn it into a book.
This picture of Donna Rodden and her youngest daughter Chris Capurso and family was shared by Capurso’s sister Roberta Tundermann of Connecticut. Rodden is at left rear with Chris’ husband Al Capurso. In front, Al’s parents flank Chris, who is holding infant son Daniel, Donna’s first grandson.
GED teacher, gift shop owner and then a mayor who got things done
After coming back to Albion to live, Donna worked as a teacher at the correctional facility for women and tutored adults for their GED or high school diploma. She also operated a gift shop, The Hole in the Wall, which she sold when she accepted the position at Albion High School. Her introduction to public office came as the result of the death of long-time Albion mayor Bill Monacelli.
“I believe you have to make every office count,” Donna had said at the time. “You have to give the people a choice in order for the democratic system to work. When I understood that no one was going to run for mayor except the man who had been filling the post after Monacelli’s death, I decided to run.”
Donna said, despite the fact women had been given the right to vote 50 years earlier, no woman had ever run for high office in Orleans County. And in spite of the fact she had run for trustee a year earlier and lost by the narrow margin of 23 votes, she ran for mayor to finish Monacelli’s term and won. She was sworn into office on the same Bible her father used.
She said her second term in office came about quite by accident.
“I ran for my first full term to complete the things I started in my first year,” Donna said.
Her opponent this time was a very popular man in Albion and although Donna had won her first election by a large margin, she didn’t expect to win the second time. As a matter of fact, she had ignored the polls showing her popularity and chose to speak at a meeting at the Apple Grove Inn the night of the election. She was at the podium when her daughter Chris burst in and told her the news.
In 1978, her own party refused to endorse her, and both parties nominated the same man.
“As before, the people had no choice, so I ran on the Independent ticket, and won again,” Donna said.
No one could doubt that Donna’s interests were always for the best for Albion. While she admitted that a woman’s emphasis is often on different things than a man’s, she felt that many women would make good mayors or public officials.
In an interesting comparison, Donna paralleled the job of mayor to that of a good housewife.
“A good housewife keeps her house clean and does many things to ease all the members of her family and prepare them for their future,” she said. “So does a mayor try to run all her departments smoothly and cleanly and does many little things to please all her constituents and do what’s best for the future of the townspeople. Likewise, a housewife must balance the budget. You can’t run a home on money that isn’t there, and I feel strongly that deficit spending in government has got to go.”
This is an interesting statement in light of the recent government passing of a trillion-dollar stimulus bill. I can’t but wonder what Donna would have thought about that!
During Donna’s terms in office, she accomplished many of the things she set out to do. Of course, getting Courthouse Square placed on the National Register was a big credit to her. When Mount Albion Cemetery was placed on the National Register, it was only the second cemetery in the nation to be so honored, according to Bill Lattin, who was county historian at the time.
In addition, Donna had a cover placed on the village’s water tower, which had been open since 1932, a situation she felt was a health hazard due. She was responsible for bringing about the construction of a new industrial sewage plant. She got rid of parking meters, which she felt were a penalty to downtown merchants, when shoppers at the plaza could park free of charge. She changed the Albion Police Department to a Public Safety Office and was hopeful in the future that more departments would place more emphasis on public safety and less on police work.
Her motto and aim in life was to “Preserve and protect the past, take care of the people today and prepare for the future.”
‘Donna was all about Albion’
Donna took more than an average interest in the history of Albion and Orleans County. The “Save the Tower” project in Mount Albion Cemetery was completed under her watch, and during her leadership, a sesqui-centennial clock was erected downtown on Main Street for the community’s 150thanniversary. She was founder of the Orleans County Council on the Arts and was responsible for the first donations to the county’s only art gallery.
She also was responsible for a new parking lot being constructed, new sidewalks being put in and trees planted downtown. She brought two new industries to town and worked to establish a youth center in the village. She spearheaded restoration of the lily pond at Mount Albion Cemetery, and after her death, the chapel in Mount Albion was dedicated to her. Bill Lattin attended the dedication, where in the chapel is a quote by theologian Reinhold Niebuhr which Donna lived by.
“Nothing worth doing is completed in our lifetime. Therefore, we are saved by hope.”
Donna instituted a new tax schedule in Albion for new businesses, whereby they didn’t pay any taxes for the first five years, then only paid 10 percent until the end of 10 years.
In discussing some of the problems facing the village, Donna said that Albion was under a handicap for funds to do many of the things she would like to do – primarily replacing the ancient storm sewers in the village after three floods hit the town during her administrations.
“Where 80 percent of the property in most villages is taxable, Albion only has 46 percent of its property on the tax rolls,” Donna said. “The reason for this is because of the large number of historical buildings, churches and school-owned property – all of which are tax-exempt.”
Donna was known beyond Albion for her accomplishments. She made many friends among dignitaries in foreign lands through a program she learned about called “Experiment in International Living,” where foreign students, young adults or public figures visited America and lived in private homes while working, going to school or learning the English language.
This brings to mind a young man I met at her house during her terms as mayor. Donna had mentioned she knew the Shah of Iran and introduced me to a young man from Iran who was living with her at the time. I was given a copy of an Iranian newspaper and speculated at the time that the young man was the son of the Shah, although no one would confirm it. A comment was made he was living with Donna because there was turmoil in his country and he had to go to a safe place.
Roberta shared a story about the time a young man from Egypt was living in the village when an American student was being detained in Egypt. The State Department in Washington contacted Donna and asked if she could intervene to try and get the American home. She did and his family later came from Michigan to thank her.
Under the Experiment in International Living, Donna was responsible for 168 people visiting Albion, representing many religious faiths, 40 countries and every continent.
Many honors came Donna’s way, including an award from Queen Elizabeth and one which previously had only been given to Mother Theresa and Jacquelyn Kennedy. She was named national chairman of “Magazines for Friendship,” a program where Americans, after reading their favorite magazines, re-addressed them and sent them to an English speaking person in a foreign country. At the time I interviewed Donna, more than three million magazines weekly were being sent abroad.
Donna was a firm believer that Americans, as individuals, not the government, were responsible for formulating programs which would determine how other countries felt about us.
Photo by Tom Rivers: In the mid-1970s, Rodden was involved in the “Save The Tower” campaign to make repairs to the Civil War memorial at Mount Albion Cemetery. This photo shows one of the buttons that was used as a fund-raiser.
In addition to being honored by meeting such presidents as Nixon, Eisenhower, Johnson, Ford and Kennedy, Donna also had dinner at the White House several times and rubbed elbows with many notable people. She once co-chaired a women’s symposium with Midge Constanza of Brockport before Midge went to work in Washington. Some of the people Donna met who impressed her the most were Senator Taft, Senator Bingham from New York, Martha Griffiths from Michigan, secretary of state Henry Kissinger and a person she called “a very good friend,” Nelson Rockefeller.
Donna was honored locally, nationally and internationally. She was recipient of a medal from Cambridge University in England; she was named to the International Who’s Who in Community Service for distinguished service to community; she was cited by presidents Nixon, Reagan and Kennedy for “Service as befitting a good American”; and in 1975, she received the National Organization of Women’s Award for “the woman who most changed the world.” She was also the recipient of the American Legion’s Good Citizen Award, the Coast Guard Medal, a commendation from the Girl Scouts of America, a listing in Who’s Who in Finance and Industry, and in 1978, she received the Distinguished Achievement Plaque from the World’s Who’s Who of Women.
Governor Carey, in his first year in office, appointed Donna to his Friendship Committee, whose purpose was to “make New York a more attractive place for visitors.”
Donna was a very modest person, and I only learned of her achievements from other people. Then when I confronted her with the information, she would confirm it.
At one time, while in New York City, she dined with the Duke and Duchess of Windsor, who were visiting there shortly after he abdicated from the throne. They met through a poet Donna knew who was also a friend of Edward.
In addition to Donna’s duties as mayor and school librarian, she was adviser to the Senior Class, director of the Swan Library, director of the Cobblestone Society, director of the Orleans County Historical Monument Association and an executive of the Northwest Frontier Village Officers. She was past president and member of the Business and Professional Women, a matron of the Eastern Star and Rebecca lodges and past president of the Orleans County Art Association.
At the time I knew her, Donna still did some occasional directing, not only at Albion High School, but at places such as Newport, R.I., Pokeno Playhouse in Pennsylvania, Rye Beach in New York and, of course, for Orleans County’s own Theater of Performing Arts.
In spite of all her honors, Donna’s biggest concern was not for her own individual achievements, but for world understanding, which she believed was the basis for world peace.
“Not agreements, or sanctions or appeasement, but by understanding why people do the things they do – then we are on the road to world peace,” she said.
Lattin gave the eulogy at Donna’s funeral, referring to a play she did at Albion Middle School, titled “To Albion with Love.”
“That was the whole essence of what Donna was,” he said. “Donna was all about Albion.”
The world could definitely use more people like Donna Rodden.
“We’ve been waiting a long time,” Stephanie Thurston said at the family’s home on West Bank Street. “We feel
