Photos by Tom Rivers: Ron Albertson sings “One Way Out” by the Allman Brothers during an open mic night on June 19, 2021. It was the debut event at the new amphitheater. That outdoor stage will host several bands on Aug. 6 for the Summer Festival featuring Rock the Park.
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 6 June 2022 at 11:59 am
ALBION – Ron Albertson has been dreaming and working towards Aug. 6 for many years. That is the day Albion’s outdoor stage hosts its first big event.
The new amphitheater at Bullard Park will be the stage for several bands that day for the seventh Summer Festival featuring Rock the Park.
The event was cancelled the past two years due to Covid-19 restrictions and concerns. Rock the Park used to rent a tent and stage for the all-day concert.
“After all the hard work a lot of us put in this will be the first major event at the park utilizing the outdoor amphitheater,” Albertson said.
The day includes acoustic acts to start the music festival, followed by several bands. There also will be arts and crafts vendors, activities for children, and a beer tent.
The acoustic stage will feature Mark Fantasia and then the Remediators.
The lineup of bands includes Zero, The Who Dats, Shotgun Pauly, Dave Viterna Group, Vette, Eclipse and the closing act, Nerds Gone Wild. The Nerds are new to Rock the Park. They play many popular party songs from the 1980s.
The Albion Lions Club is one of the main sponsors of the event and its members are key organizers for the music festival.
Anyone interested in being a vendor should contact Debbie by text at 585-590-7500.
For more information, check the Music Festival’s Facebook page by clicking here.
The band 7th Heaven capped a day of music at Bullard Park on Aug. 3, 2019 during the Albion Summer Festival featuring Rock the Park. The sixth annual event attracted about 1,000 people to the park. Michael Giarrizzo, left, plays guitar and sings for the band, while Terry K. is the lead singer and Dave Quick is the bass player from Kendall.
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 6 June 2022 at 9:15 am
Photos by Tom Rivers: Pastor Trellis Pore of the Shiloh Church prays over Albion graduate Sawyer Braley during the annual Baccalaureate service on Sunday evening at the First Presbyterian Church in Albion. The service is optional for seniors and half of the class attended the event organized by the Albion Ministerium.
The Rev. Susan Thaine speaks during the Baccalaurate service on Sunday evening.
ALBION – The soon-to-be graduates in Albion’s Class of 2022 were prayed over on Sunday evening by local church pastors, given a blessing and asked to be “counter cultural” by bringing love and kindness in a world that is quick to anger, quick to judgement and slow to forgive.
The Rev. Susan Thaine, pastor of the First Presbyterian Church in Albion, gave the keynote message and told the seniors they live in very “important and interesting times” where they are critically needed.
“Do not lose heart – the times are hard and dangerous, but trust me God has placed within you the power for you to choose to live God’s way and change the world for good,” said Thaine, an Albion graduate.
She urged they to act for justice and “live in life-honoring mutuality.” She encouraged them to follow the example of Jesus with mercy and compassion at a time “when division, hatred and intolerance is everywhere.”
“No matter what the next chapter of your life looks like, what matters most is the kind of person you choose to be in the world,” she said. “In the grand scheme of things, who you are is far more important than what you do to make a living, what status symbols or accolades you achieve or what your financial portfolio looks like.”
Russell Kingdollar lights a candle with some assistance from Rose English of The Lord’s House in Waterport. Each graduate lit a candle to signify God’s love and light.
Aurora Serafin reads the Scripture from Colossians 3:12-14.
About 50 students or half the Class of 2022 attended the service, which is optional and organized by pastors in the Albion Ministerium. The 2020 Baccalaurate was cancelled due to Covid. Last year the service was limited to the students and up to two guests per senior.
This year everyone was welcome and Thaine said she was pleased to see a bigger crowd in the sanctuary.
Participating pastors in the service included David Beach of the Gaines Carlton Community Church, Tim Lindsay of Harvest Christian Fellowship, Jim Heiler of the West Barre United Methodist Church, Susan Boring of the Eagle Harbor United Methodist Church, Trellis Pore of the Shiloh Church, Eddie English of The Lord’s House, Susan Thaine of the First Presbyterian Church of Albion, Randy LeBaron of Go Scatter Ministries and Jason Tarnowski of the Albion Free Methodist Church.
The pastors presented each graduate with a cross necklace and prayed with them individually.
Pastor Eddie English of The Lord’s House gives the invocation. He asked God for “powerful protection” over the graduates and asked God “to guard them from all evil.”
Faith Bennett sings “Memory” during the service inside the First Presbyterian Church. Other students sang solos including “You Say” by Zoe Cusson and “Standchen” by Leah Kania.
The High School Clarinet Choir also performed “St. Anthony Chorale” and the High School Choir sang “O Love.”
The seniors are lined up outside on the sidewalk before the service in this photo taken looking though one of the stained-glass windows.
David Beach, pastor of the Gaines Carlton Community Church on Route 104, prays with his grandson, James Beach.
Photos by Tom Rivers: The service line at the new Orleans Koinonia Kitchen at Harvest Christian Fellowship serves tacos on Thursday evening in the first meal at the kitchen. Pictured from left include Kevin Howard of the Albion Lions Club, Peggy Francisco of Holy Family Parish, Dee Huntington of Harvest Christian Fellowship and Kelly Uderitz of the Medina Lions Club. Faith Smith, director of the kitchen, is in back.
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 3 June 2022 at 10:40 am
ALBION – On Thursday a group of volunteers served nearly 200 taco meals at the new Orleans Koinonia Kitchen at Harvest Christian Fellowship.
That included 45 who ate at the dining hall and another 143 meals that were served to go.
Faith Smith and her husband Mike are shown with a tray of brownies in the new kitchen. They have volunteered preparing and serving meals at the community kitchen for 11 years. Mrs. Smith is director of the effort.
Mark Hartleben was pleased to see the kitchen open. He attended the meals for the Community Kitchen at Christ Church for about 20 years. He also helped as a volunteer at times.
“You see the community come together and I think that is important,” he said on Thursday.
He likes the friendly and accepting atmosphere at the kitchen. At the new site at Harvest, he noted the round tables which he said made it easier for conversation.
He sat with Jackie Henry, who said she has been coming to the kitchen for 12 to 15 years.
“The people are friendly and very nice,” she said.
Hartleben said he has been trying to spread the word to the community kitchen regulars about the new site, and also is encouraging others to give it a try.
“It’s a nice circle of people,” he said. “It’s social thing bringing people together.”
The community kitchen for many years operated out of Christ Episcopal Church. It has been closed there since December. Faith and Mike Smith ran the kitchen as volunteers for more than 11 years.
After a “miscommunication,” they now are running the new operation from Harvest Christian Fellowship on Route 31. That church recently completed an expansion with a new sanctuary. It turned its old sanctuary into a fellowship hall with a new kitchen.
It calls the space the Orleans Koinonia Kitchen. “Koinonia” is Greek for fellowship.
Faith Smith is grateful for the space and opportunity to keep serving meals to local residents. The kitchen will be on Thursday evenings from 4 to 5:30 p.m. instead of Fridays. She and her husband also will make deliveries closer to the downtown area for people who have transportation issues to the church on Route 31.
Mark Hartleben, left, was glad to be back at the community kitchen on Thursday. He said he looks forward to seeing so many people.
Smith is hopeful a transportation provider will step up to bring people to the church and then take them home or to a spot close to where they live.
She said Thursday was a good start for the Orleans Koinonia Kitchen – “the OK Kitchen.”
She is looking for organizations, agencies, churches and volunteers to help prepare the meals and serve the food. She is asking those groups to also purchase the food until the new kitchen can get a system in place for acquiring food. They also need more refrigerator and freezer space.
In the meantime, the OK Kitchen will provide the space and paper supplies – plates, utensils and napkins.
“This was a good start until we get the hang of things,” she said about the first day. “I know it will take some time until the word gets out.”
She said she is thankful for a donation of 260 pounds of ground beef for the first meal. That donation prompted her to offer tacos, which has long been a favorite at the community kitchen.
People interested in volunteering can sign up for a spot on the OK Kitchen website. There is contact information on that site to reach Smith for more information.
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 31 May 2022 at 5:28 pm
Photos by Tom Rivers
ALBION – A giant banner went up today on the Day and Pratt building in downtown Albion. The Strawberry Festival Committee is trying something new this year to promote the festival and recognize key sponsors of the event on June 10-11.
In the top left in the window, D.J. Button holds a wire to secure the banner. In the lift are Michael Bonafede, building co-owner, and Tim McMurray, a village trustee and festival committee member.
The two-day festival is back for the 34th time after being cancelled in 2020 and 2021 due to Covid restrictions.
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 31 May 2022 at 10:02 am
Photo by Tom Rivers: Albion Middle School students hold flower-themed designs that will be used when students paint a mural on the former bathroom building at Bullard Park. Pictured form left include Makenzie Cook, sixth grade; Neveya Barnes, eighth grade; and Shayla Higgins, seventh grade.
ALBION – Middle School students will transform the appearance of the former bathroom building at Bullard Park, painting flowers and bright colors to a drab structure.
The students are planning to paint a mural on the building from June 15 to June 17. The district will supply the paint and paint brushes.
The Village of Albion is working to put a tongue-and-groove wood exterior on the concrete-block building. That wood will match the look of the new utility building and bathrooms in the center of the park. That was added as part of $800,000 in upgrades at Bullard, which included new playground equipment, a splash park and amphitheater.
Albion art teachers Kamie Feder and Tina Burgett will work with about a dozen students in creating the mural. The teachers and three of the students – Makenzie Cook, Neveya Barnes and Shayla Higgins – met with the Village Board last week to get permission for the project.
The board gave it the OK and said it would push to have the new wood in place in time for the project.
The painting will be 8 feet high and stretch 36 feet, Feder said. Besides flowers, strawberries and some playground equipment will be painted in the mural to give it a park feel.
In other action from last week’s meeting, the board:
• Accepted the retirement of Deputy Clerk-Treasurer Mary Delamarter, effective June 22.
• Made a motion to start advertising to fill a part-time police officer position. This officer won’t have a regular shift but will fill spot when other officers are out sick or unavailable.
• Appointed Janet Salvatore as an alternate on the Orleans County Planning Board, representing the village of Albion.
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 30 May 2022 at 8:27 am
Photos by Tom Rivers: Kevin Sheehan, standing, shares his concerns about St. Joseph’s Park staying open all night on Clinton Street. Sheehan, the village’s code enforcement officer, lives next to the park.
ALBION – The Village Board was told by some neighbors of two parks, St. Joseph’s and Lafayette, to keep those sites locked at night or else neighbors will be disturbed at night and the sites will attract illicit activity.
The board last month voted to take the locks off the gates of the two parks on the west side of the village. Both parks are on residential streets with houses close by.
Neighbors attended this past Wednesday’s board meeting and said they have heard people having sex at night at Lafayette and people hanging out very late.
The neighbors said they support keeping the parks open during the day, but should be locked up at night.
“I don’t understand the pros of keeping the parks open at night,” said Lynn Burgess, who has lived next to Lafayette for 34 years. “We shouldn’t have to be woken up at night.”
Village Trustees Tim McMurray and Joyce Riley voted to keep the locks off the parks and they continue to support that. They said more police patrols can help keep the parks safe at night. They urged residents to call the police if there are people in the parks at night.
The village is proposing a parks and recreation code that calls for the parks to be open from 8 a.m. to dusk. People in any of the parks after dusk could be ticketed for trespassing.
Some of the neighbors of Lafayette Park, which has entrances on State and Park streets, asked that the park be locked at night because some of the park users are loud at night disturbing residents.
The other parks don’t have gates that can be locked. Vets Park on Linwood Avenue and Carosol on Ingersoll have low fences without a gate. People could easily hop those fences anyway if gates were locked, trustees said. Bullard Park on Route 31 is wide open and would be impractical to put in fencing with an entrance gate, trustees said.
Chris Barry, one of the village trustees, said Lafayette and St. Joseph’s have the locking devices. He supports locking those parks at night. Lafayette is unusual in that it has entrances from two streets. It’s a “thoroughfare” allowing people to cross from one street to the other, Burgess said.
Mayor Angel Javier, who voted to not locks the parks at night, said there will be incident reports of the local parks that will be posted and made available to the public “so people know what is happening at the parks.”
Kevin Sheehan, the village’s code enforcement officer and a former village trustee, lives next to St. Joseph’s Park on Clinton Street. He said that park has playground equipment in front by the entrance. The park then extends far back away from the road, away from any street lights. That makes it easy for people to congregate at night somewhat undetected and disturb neighbors.
Sheehan said the parks are for kids and should be open during the day, but not at night.
“I love hearing the kids play there,” he said. “It’s like music, but the park should be locked at night.”
Burgess, the Lafayette neighbor, said a lock at night is an easy deterrent “to people who shouldn’t be there at night.”
Trustee Tim McMurray said the parks can be a safe place after hours for kids in unstable homes. Some kids go there after hours and don’t cause trouble.
Trustee Barry said he was one of those kids, however, who went there in the dark and destroyed things.
Susan Oschmann, a member of the Albion Recreation Committee, raised the issue last month of the locked St. Joseph’s Park. She lives close to the park and tried to take her grandchildren there in 2018 and was surprised to see the front gate locked.
The village used to have the police department unlock the gate in the morning and then at dusk, but it didn’t always happen if the police had other calls.
Sheehan was given a key to the gate and he often unlocked and locked St. Joe’s. But Oschmann said it seemed the park was often locked up, even during the summer, despite nice playground equipment and a picnic area.
The village will be putting in brighter lights at Lafayette and security cameras at Bullard to help deter any vandalism.
The village is proposing local parks law that sets the hours of operation from 8 a.m. to dusk. The proposal, which should be voted on next month, also doesn’t allow disruptive behavior – disorderly conduct, harassment or loitering. No person will be allowed to carry or discharge a firearm, slingshot or bow and arrow, and no stone throwing will be allowed.
The code also doesn’t allow any excavating or digging up of plants. No pets are allowed but the village may set aside space for dogs in a fenced in area in the future.
There also shouldn’t be any selling or soliciting in the parks, and no posting of advertisements.
Provided photo: Emily Harling holds her diploma after the GCC graduation on May 21.
ALBION – Emily Harling, an Albion high senior who graduates next month, donned her cap and gown earlier than her fellow Purple Eagle classmates as she earned her associate’s degree in liberal arts and science general studies from Genesee Community College on May 21.
Harling started taking college-level and AP classes during her freshman year and realized an associate’s degree could be attainable with some hard work. She then enrolled in more GCC classes during the summer and reached all the requirements to earn a college degree before receiving her high school diploma.
“It was definitely a lot of extra work,” Harling said. “I’m really happy I did it, and I think I’ll be even happier when I’m in school next year.”
She will already be a step ahead of her fellow high school graduates when she steps on the campus of Duquesne University this fall. Knowing that her GCC credits would transfer into her college of choice was an important consideration when looking at schools.
“Having two years done gave me a lot more flexibility with where I could go because I saved a ton of money,” she said. “And I have all my prerequisites done so I can pretty much get right into major-specific classes. I want to go to law school, so it’s nice that I will not be in school forever.”
Harling took the initiative on herself to get enrolled in college classes while in high school and made sure to ask and look into what opportunities were available. She had help along the way, but also showed an individual personal drive to accomplish the goal.
“In high school you don’t get a lot of cool points for going out and doing this,” added Harling. “But I mostly did it for myself. My parents didn’t pressure me or anything, they were supportive, but they didn’t force me into it.”
For upcoming high school students, Harling advised to talk to the counseling staff and make sure to do your own research to see what scholarship and grant opportunities are available.
On June 24, she will once again put on a cap and gown, this time with her fellow high school senior classmates. For upcoming high school students, she offered this bit of advice:
“Just do what you’re going to look back and be proud of yourself for.”
Photos and information courtesy of Lyndonville Lions Club: Lyndonville Lions Club members Lynne Johnson and John Belson hold a tattered flag. The photo at right shows a new American flag at the cemetery.
Posted 27 May 2022 at 11:25 am
ALBION – The Lyndonville Lions recently replaced the well-worn American Flag that had flown over the Alms House Cemetery on Countyhouse Road in Albion. The Alms House served the destitute, indigent and infirmed community of Orleans County from 1833 to 1960.
The cemetery was essentially abandoned but was reclaimed and restored about a decade ago in a project spearheaded by Albion students.
The cemetery is the final resting place for about 250 individuals. The plots are marked with simple headstones, a numbered placard, or nothing at all. At present the maintenance is done by the Orleans County Department of Public Works.
Several years ago, a Lyndonville Lions Club member, with the help of the Orleans County Legislature had a flag pole donated and erected at the site to remember the individuals buried there. In remembrance of the people resting there, and the upcoming Memorial Day, the Lions of Lyndonville removed the old flag and replaced it with a new Stars and Stripes.
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 25 May 2022 at 2:48 pm
Photos by Tom Rivers
ALBION – The tugboat Edna A., which is owned by the New York State Marine Highway Transportation Company of Troy, pushes away from the Erie Canal bank just east of the Gaines Basin Road bridge.
It is pushes a barge carrying a condenser for a nuclear submarine. The condenser was trucked in on an oversize load weighing just under 400,000 pounds. The condenser itself weighed about 200,000 pounds. The unit was manufactured by Graham Corp. in Batavia.
The condenser travelled by truck from Batavia this morning and reached the canal in about 2 ½ hours. It went up Route 98, to 31A in Barre, then down Gaines Basin Road before turning right on Albion-Eagle Harbor Road.
A massive crane lifts the condenser from the truck.
Ken Printup of Shelby brought binoculars to watch the heavy-duty operation. He is in the parking lot for the Sheret American Legion Post on Gaines Basin Road.
The heavy equipment was then set on the barge in the Erie Canal.
The process drew a crowd of onlookers along the north side of the canal. Many said they had never seen such big cranes and equipment before.
The Edna A. pushes the barge down the canal. It will go to Albany, then down the Hudson River to New York Harbor. From there it will be moved to an ocean-going-barge for the trip to the Naval Submarine Base New London in Groton, Connecticut.
The tug and barge approach the Main Street lift bridge in Albion at about 1:30 p.m.
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 25 May 2022 at 10:25 am
Photos by Tom Rivers
BARRE – A caravan of vehicles started down Route 98 in Barre this morning, delivering a huge oversize load to the Erie Canal in Albion.
The large piece of equipment was manufactured by Graham Corp. in Batavia and will be used for the Navy.
The equipment will be put on a barge in the canal. An enormous crane is at the site just east of the Gaines Basin Road bridge.
Orleans County dispatchers warn to expect some delays and power outages while the caravan moves to its destination. It was going on Route 98 to Route 31A, then along Gaines Basin Road in Albion and then the last stretch is Albion-Eagle Harbor Road along the canal.
This company kept raising wires and traffic lights so the big load could pass through.
This group of escorts was out in front of the oversize load.
