By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 5 February 2019 at 10:05 am
Shawn Liddle is retiring after 23 years with the district
Shawn Liddle
ALBION – The school district will have a new business administrator with the retirement of Shawn Liddle, who has managed the district’s finances the past 23 years.
Derek Vallese, the current treasurer for Newfane Central School, was hired by the Board of Education on Monday. He will start with Albion next month. Liddle is retiring in March 31. He will still be able to work with other school officials to have most of the district’s proposed budget in place. That budget will likely be approved by the board in April and go for a public vote in May.
Vallese said Albion is well regarded for its financial management among school business officials in Western New York. The district, which currently has a $35 million budget, has one of the lowest per pupil costs in WNY and hasn’t raised taxes in 10 of the past 12 years.
“For a business official I couldn’t imagine a better scenario to come into,” Vallese said after Monday’s BOE meeting. “Shawn has done a great job.”
The district has gradually reduced staff as enrollment has fallen. That is one reason it has been able to preserve existing programs without a big tax increase.
Other districts have had some rough patches, especially with a state aid reduction about a decade ago. Some of those districts made significant staff cuts and reduced some programs.
Albion was able to weather that storm, drawing on reserves and making reductions in employees at a rate similar to the enrollment decline. That allowed Albion to stave off big layoffs in a single year.
Albion was able to preserve its extracurricular and sports programs during the state aid crisis a decade ago, even keeping all of its modified teams for seventh- and eighth-graders.
Margy Brown, the Board of Education president, said she appreciates Liddle’s work as a watchdog for the district’s money.
“He’s done a phenomenal job keeping the district financially sound,” Brown said.
Liddle also has been a key district official for several capital improvement projects in the past two decades.
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 5 February 2019 at 8:27 am
Nellie Brown speaks during last Thursday’s meeting at Albion.
ALBION – The school district will have two experts look closer at concerns raised by the Albion Teachers Association that there may be elevated rates of breast cancer among teachers and staff in the elementary school.
Nellie Brown, director of the Workplace Health and Safety Program for Cornell University’s School of Industrial and Labor Relations, spoke for more than an hour last Thursday, outlining numerous chemicals that can be potential causes of breast cancer or endocrine disrupters.
She also uses a protocol for assessing a building’s environment to look at potential factors, such as the ventilation systems, cleaning products, and chemicals used at science labs, art classes and woodshop. She also could do a chemical analysis of air contaminants, measuring particulates.
Brown also can teach the program to school buildings and grounds and maintenance staff, to make sure the district is using environmentally friendly cleaning products.
Brown said determining the causes of elevated breast cancer rates is challenging due to the complexity of the disease and many risk factors involved. It also takes a long time for breast tumors to develop, at least a decade after an exposure to a carcinogen.
The board on Monday agreed to hire Brown at a rate of $250 an hour. She estimated she could do an assessment of the building’s ventilation, cleaning products and some factors in a day. The training of staff would take additional time.
Brown, during her presentation on Thursday, highlighted numerous chemicals that can be potential causes of breast cancer or “endocrine disrupters.” She helped develop the database of chemicals known to cause cancer and worked for the Program on Breast cancer and Environmental Factors at Cornell from 1995 to 2009.
Margy Brown, the Board of Education president, said Nellie Brown “brings a wealth of knowledge” to the issue.
The district also wants to have James Bowers, an epidemiologist who studies diseases for the state Department of Health, do a study at the school. The Teachers Association said 22 people have been diagnosed with breast cancer.
Bowers has done many studies on elevated cancer rates in communities including four at other schools this year.
To determine if there is a cancer cluster, Bowers on Thursday said he looks to see if the cancer is the same type of the disease, the age of people when they were diagnosed (are there unusual age groups such as 20 to 30 years old instead of ages 50 to 70?), how long have they worked there, where they live (many don’t live in the community where they work). He also wants to know how many people also worked in the building over five years, 10 years and longer, to determine the rates of cancer in the building.
“Twenty (diagnoses of cancer) in 10 years is a lot different than 20 in 30 years,” he said on Thursday.
The Board of Education said it welcomes the work from the two experts.
Margy Brown said the board wants to partner with the Teachers Association, which has requested the issue be studied.
“I’m hoping that the dialogue continues with us working together to learn what Ms. Brown and Mr. Bowers have to share with the district,” Margy Brown said.
Photo by Tom Rivers: Five members of the Orleans County Clay Crushers take turns on April 22 at one of the two traps at the Barre Sportsmen’s Club on Gray Road. Bryce Wilson, center, readies the shot. The Clay Crushers started 13 years ago with six youths and it grew to 57 kids last year ages 12 to 18.
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 4 February 2019 at 9:43 pm
ALBION – The school district is very close to approving a trap shooting team, which would make Albion the third district in Orleans County with a team. Holley was the first with trap shooting in Orleans in 2017, and Kendall added a team last year.
The district will allow a team, using insurance through the Barre Sportsmen’s Club. The club has approved added the team to its insurance policy. The Barre Sportsmen Club is just waiting for that paperwork and will then hand it off to the district, to satisfy its insurance carrier.
Albion nearly had a team last year but the insurance proved a sticking point. That issue is resolved. The district just needs a copy of the insurance policy.
“Thank you for your patience,” Margy Brown, president of the Albion Board of Education, told Chris Rice, president of the Barre Sportsmen’s Club. He has been pushing the district to add a team, which would compete at the Barre Sportsmen’s Club on Gray Road.
“We look forward to a great season for you guys,” Brown said.
The new team will compete as Albion Purple Eagles and will be open to students in grades 9 through 12.
They would compete against others schools who do their trap shooting on their home trap fields. They compare their scores online. Shooters get 50 targets to hit, that are sent out of a machine at 43 miles per hour.
Last year, when there was talk of starting an Albion team, 38 kids signed up in three days. The team wasn’t able to compete for the school because the insurance issue couldn’t be resolved in time of the season starting on March 31.
There were, however, 57 kids in the Orleans County Clay Crushers and they did their target shooting outside of the school league.
Rice said the signups this year go until March 22. The Albion team hasn’t started registrations yet and won’t until the insurance policy is presented to the school. Rice said there is still plenty of time for the registrations.
The team could have up to 50 participants, or 10 per coach. Jeff Atwell will serve as the head coach with four assistants – Chirs Rice, Mike Donahue, Tim Brien and Ryan Uderitz.
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 4 February 2019 at 1:52 pm
Project will generate at least $80,000 annually for village
Photos by Tom Rivers
ALBION – Russell Brilhart, an employee with Sole Contracting in Delaware, carries a solar panel this morning that will be installed by the Albion sewer plant on Densmore Street.
It’s been busy by the Albion sewer plant the past month with construction crews installing a solar array that will have 3,888 panels.
This team of installers secures one of the panels, which weigh about 50 pounds. This trio includes from left Russell Brilhart, Wendy Hippensteel and Maggie Luckenbaugh. They expect to be on site the next three weeks putting the panels in place.
The solar panels will generate 1.3 megawatts of electricity. It will be sold to National Grid, and is expected raise at least $80,000 a year for the village.
Contractors are expected to have the system constructed in March with it going online in May.
Workers from Dow Electric put in the framework for the 27 inverters which will change the electricity from direct current to alternating current. That will allow the electricity to be sold to National Grid.
The Dow Electric employees put the conduit pipes in the ground. They are battling the mud today after a dramatic rise in the temperatures, from the single digits last week to a high of 60 today.
Workers construct the racks to hold the panels. Contractors are putting the system in place on the east and west sides of the sewer plant, at the corner of Butts Road and Densmore Street.
Tesla is managing the construction project and isn’t charging the village. The company is using state and federal incentives for the project’s cost.
This is the largest municipal solar project so far in Orleans County. Medina also installed solar at its sewer plant about three years ago.
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 1 February 2019 at 11:11 am
Photos by Tom Rivers
ALBION – Kylie Hughson has opened Adara Fashion at 101 North Main St. This is her second business in Albion. She opened Tease, a hair salon, in July 2016 and will continue to run that business as well as the new clothing store.
Hughson was joined for a ribbon cutting by family and local officials. Pictured from left in front include Hughson’s fiancé Donald Rosario Jr., Hughson’s son Brady Graham, Kylie Hughson, Albion Mayor Eileen Banker, Albion Merchants Association President Lisa Stratton, Hughson’s mother Deborah Hughson and Diane Blanchard, coordinator of the Microenterprise Assistance Program through the Orleans Economic Development Agency. In back are Adam Johnson, owner of 39 Problems, and Hughson’s father, Charles Hughson, back right.
Hughson said she wanted to open a trendy fashion store in Albion. She is working with a distributor from California for the merchandise, which includes dresses, pants, tops, rompers and jumpsuits. Hughson would like to expand to offering shoe and accessories this summer.
She said the corner store “is a cute space.” She worked with her parents, friends and fiancé to put in new carpeting, repaint the walls, strip the cubbies, stain the wood and decorate the location.
“It’s a nice addition to the downtown,” said Lisa Stratton, president of the Albion Merchants Association. “I’m very happy for her.”
Stratton said Hughson has been a positive presence in the downtown, and participates in the community events, especially Beggars’ Night, when she dresses up in a costume and hands out candy to children.
Adam Johnson, owner of 39 Problems, has offered a coupon for a free drink to the first 50 customers at Adara on Saturday.
Kylie Hughson accepts certificates of recognition from Albion Mayor Eileen Banker and also State Assemblyman Steve Hawley in honor of the store’s grand opening. Banker works as chief of staff for Hawley.
Photos by Tom Rivers: Nellie Brown, director of the Workplace Health and Safety Program for Cornell University’s School of Industrial and Labor Relations, spoke for more than an hour, outlining numerous chemicals that can be potential causes of breast cancer or endocrine disrupters.
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 1 February 2019 at 8:52 am
‘You could spend tens of thousands of dollars testing for hundreds of things. But you may never get that aha moment where we know why this happening.’
ALBION – The leader of numerous studies on elevated breast cancer rates addressed Albion teachers and the community on Thursday, and said it’s possible that the elementary school teachers and staff have a high rate of breast cancer.
Angie Wolfe, who has battled breast cancer the past year, said many staff members at the school have been diagnosed with breast cancer recently, including 9 in the past 5 years, and 15 in the past 10 years.
Nellie Brown, director of the Workplace Health and Safety Program for Cornell University’s School of Industrial and Labor Relations, spoke for more than an hour, outlining numerous chemicals that can be potential causes of breast cancer or “endocrine disrupters.” She helped develop the database of chemicals known to cause cancer and worked for the Program on Breast cancer and Environmental Factors at Cornell from 1995 to 2009.
Brown said Americans have been bombarded with chemicals since they were in the womb, and tracing a specific impact on a person may be impossible to determine, given the exposures may have been decades ago at an unknown amount.
“We are surrounded by synthetics and dust,” she said.
There could be a study of the elementary school environment to rule out potential causes, such as the ventilation systems, cleaning products, and chemicals used at science labs, art classes and woodshop. There could be a chemical analysis of air contaminants, measuring particulates.
(Nearby industry, groundwater and soil contamination have been factors in elevated rates in other locations, she said.)
There is emerging science that shows endocrine disrupters play a role in developing cancer, Brown told about 50 people on Thursday evening during a 2-hour meeting in the middle school auditorium.
James Bowers, an epidemiologist who studies diseases for the state Department of Health, speaks at Thursday’s meeting in the middle school auditorium.
There are more than 100 chemicals that have adverse impacts on humans and the world is seeing the impact, not only with elevated cancer rates, but with earlier puberty, lower sperm counts and higher rates of obesity, Brown said.
“We are being inundated with endocrine disrupters,” she said.
This is one of the slides shared by Nellie Brown during her presentation on Thursday.
Brown was the featured speaker during Thursday’s meeting, and was brought in by the district after the Albion Teachers Association raised concerns during the Jan. 7 Board of Education meeting, saying 22 teachers and staff at the school have been diagnosed with breast cancer in recent years, including nine in the past five years.
Brown said determining the causes of elevated breast cancer rates is challenging due to the complexity of the disease and many risk factors involved. It also takes a long time for breast tumors to develop, at least a decade after an exposure to a carcinogen.
If someone at the school has been diagnosed with breast cancer within a decade of working there, that person can rule out the school environment as a cause, said James Bowers, an epidemiologist who studies diseases for the state Department of Health.
He has done many studies on elevated cancer rates in communities including four at other schools this year.
To determine if there is a cancer cluster, Bowers looks to see if the cancer is the same type of the disease, the age of people when they were diagnosed (are there unusual age groups such as 20 to 30 years old instead of ages 50 to 70?), how long have worked there, where they live (many don’t live in the community where they work). He also wants to know how many people also worked in the building over five years, 10 years and longer, to determine the rates of cancer in the building.
“Twenty (diagnoses of cancer) in 10 years is a lot different than 20 in 30 years,” he said.
He would compare the incidence rate at the school with the rate in the community.
Chris Keller, president of the Albion Teachers Association, asks the Board of Education to pursue testing air quality in the elementary school.
Brown, the Cornell specialist, said breast cancer rates have been rising slightly in the United States. She shared data that shows the Orleans County rate is lower than in the average in Western New York, the state and nationally.
The Orleans County breast cancer rate of 114.4 per 100,000 women compared to the US average of 119.8, the NYS average of 131.3, and Niagara County, 133.9; Erie County, 147.9; and Genesee County, 141.2.
Sometimes in a smaller community when a teacher gets breast cancer, it is a “thunderclap” and spurs other teachers and staff to get checked, sometimes leading to early detections and a spike in diagnoses, Bowers said.
The fact is teachers do have elevated rates of breast cancer, Brown and Bowers said. That is a reality around the world. California, for example, has studied 133,000 teachers. That state has an elevated rate of breast cancer in teachers. After years of exhaustive study, there isn’t a definitive cause for the elevated cancer rates.
Margy Brown, president of the Board of Education, said the board has safety as a top priority.
“You could spend tens of thousands of dollars testing for hundreds of things,” Bowers said. “But you may never get that aha moment where we know why this happening.”
Brown highlighted some risks related to breast cancer: advancing age, late menopause, lack of exercise, overweight, alcohol, diet, smoking, genetics, close relative, light exposure at night, and chemicals at work, home, garden and recreation.
There is also some evidence of higher breast cancer risk if exposure to acid mists, benzene, carbon tetrachloride, ethylene oxide, formaldehyde, lead oxide, methylene chloride and styrene.
Brown again said it is challenging to determine the cause of breast cancer. It is difficult to measure low-level exposures to multiple chemicals from the distant past, Brown said.
The levels of exposure at critical periods of breast development (in utero through puberty) also is largely unknown. And exposures to many chemicals in the home and workplace are not well characterized.
“The number of items is so dang ubiquitous it can be hard to avoid them,” she said.
The chemicals can be disrupt the endocrine glands, which control the body processes of growth, development, reproduction, homeostasis and metabolism – from conception through adulthood into old age.
Endocrine disrupting chemicals can mimic hormones and interfere with delicate hormonal balances that control or affect the development of cancer, reproduction, neurobehavioral and the immune system, Brown said.
“Endocrine disruption has turned our views upside down,” she said. “Even a small dose can cause damage.”
After the presentations from Brown and Bowers, Chris Keller, president of the Teachers Association, asked that the school district study the air quality and ventilation in the buildings.
Nellie Brown said she could do a test in about a day with cooperation from the buildings and grounds, checking ventilation and air quality.
Margy Brown, president of the Albion Board of Education, said the board and school officials will discuss the next step. The board has a meeting on Monday.
“I assure you we are looking at this,” Brown told the group at the meeting. “We have brought the experts in and we will formulate a plan based on what they tell us.”
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 30 January 2019 at 10:24 am
Photos by Tom Rivers
ALBION – Abby Allen plays RJ in a musical written and produced by students in a high school introduction to theater class. The play is based on a children’s book – “The worst day of my life ever!” – that was read by elementary students. She is making pancakes in the kitchen but they don’t turn out well because she didn’t follow the recipe.
The high school students performed a 20-minute musical, acting out scenes and dialogue from the book, for elementary students in the high school LGI.
RJ is the main character in the book by Julia Cook, an author who visited the school earlier this year. RJ is having a rough day. He wakes up with gum stuck in his hair, misses recess because he’s late to school, earns a zero on his math homework and messes up his mother’s kitchen.
Gary Simboli, the theater teacher, gives an overview of the musical based on the book he is holding. Simboli is addressing students on Jan. 18, when the class performed in front of 260 students.
The book teaches fundamental social skills of listening and following instructions. When RJ learns to use these skills the right way, he has a much better day.
The theater class created the musical after a suggestion from Jennifer Ashbery, vice principal in the elementary school.
Simboli is the bus driver as the school day starts for students, from left: April Henchen, Evelina Alexandris, Dyllan Beach, Colby Ferchen and Shamar Jakes.
The class has 10 students. They created the set for the musical. Abby Allen and Aubrey Boyer wrote the script for show.
The performance by the students was the final exam for the class.
Annabella Salisbury plays the teacher in the musical. She is frustrated with RJ for not listening to instructions. Salisbury also wrote the score, overture and lyrics for the music in the show.
The students created this large banner that includes principles in the book. The left side has the following tips for listening: Look right at the person talking to you. Please do not speak until she is through. Show that you’ve heard what she’s trying to say, by nodding your head and saying, “okay.”
The right side has advice for following instructions, including: Look right at the person who is talking to you. Say “okay” to the person as soon as he is through. Do what you have been asked, and do it right now! When you are finished, check back with them.
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 28 January 2019 at 8:02 am
DePaul in July presented these renderings of how the building would look in Albion, including new sidewalks by the property on Liberty and Beaver streets.
ALBION – The Village Board and Town Board have approved a payment in lieu of taxes (PILOT) for DePaul for the organization’s proposed 40-unit housing project on Liberty Street.
DePaul would pay $13,000 in the PILOT, with the village getting the most, $11,653 and the town getting $1,347.
The PILOT revenue split was determined by taking a pro-rated share of each municipality’s tax rates. That was used for the split on the first $10,000. The village has a tax rate of $17.73 per $1,000, while the town rate is $2.75. The village will receive 86.5 percent or $8,653 of the $10,000, plus another $3,000 for the cost of providing fire protection and other emergency services to the site.
The PILOT to be paid by DePaul is similar to what Home Leasing is paying for its 41-unit project at the former Holley High School. Home Leasing is paying $13,500 beginning in 2021. The $13,500 will be shared among Holley Central, the Village of Holley, Orleans County and the Town of Murray.
Rural Opportunities, now PathStone, in 2009 opened the Albion Academy with 30 apartments for senior citizens, as well as space on the first floor for the Office for the Aging and the Arc of Orleans County. The Meals on Wheels and Nutri-faire program is run from the Academy. It has paid $5,800 annually in taxes the past 10 years, with the money split among the Town of Albion, Village of Albion, school district and county.
DePaul has said it is looking to start construction on the Liberty Street project in the fall 2019. Construction of the project includes demolition of three vacant houses.
DePaul wants to have 36 one-bedroom units and four two-bedroom units. The one bedroom units can have up to two people and the two-bedroom apartments have room for up to four people.
DePaul will have staff on site to oversee the apartment complex, and also to take residents to appointments with a DePaul van.
DePaul is designing the project to support people with disabilities, including senior citizens and veterans. The organization will do extensive background checks for credit, criminal and sex offender history and evictions.
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 24 January 2019 at 9:37 pm
Photos by Tom Rivers: The Ingersoll Street lift bridge, one of two vertical lift bridges in Albion, is pictured this afternoon.
ALBION – The planning committee for the Strawberry Festival has picked its theme for this year’s festival and it highlights the lift bridges in the community.
The Main Street and Ingersoll Street lift bridges were both built just over a century ago between 1911 and 1914.
The Strawberry Festival is in its 33rd year. This year’s event on June 7-8 has the theme: “Albion’s lift bridges celebrating 100 years and still lifting.”
Each year a theme is picked to highlight a local asset. Last year the theme was “Celebrate Cobblestone Country.” In 2017, there was a Santa Claus theme in honor of the late Charles Howard, who founded a Santa Claus School in Albion.
The theme will be highlighted in posters and in the parade floats.
Don Bishop, chairman of the planning committee, said the lift bridges are marvels, still carrying many tons up high when boats pass underneath.
“They’re a hundred years old and still working,” he said. “How many things do you know of that are a hundred years old and still working?”
Orleans County has seven of the 16 lift bridges on the Erie Canal, and Albion has two of them. Others are located in Medina, Knowlesville, Eagle Harbor, Hulberton and Holley.
The Albion Rotary Club is the Strawberry Festival sponsor. Many community members help organize the event. Bishop welcomes more volunteers to help put on the festival. For more information, contact him at (585) 637-2422.
The Ingersoll Street lift bridge had major repairs about a decade ago.
Photos by Tom Rivers: These Hands 4 Hope volunteers were out in 15-degree weather Saturday outside the Hoag Library. They include, from left: Kevin Lemcke, Lurando Mata, Jack Burris, Darrell Burgio, Dan Conrad and Thom Jennings.
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 21 January 2019 at 11:44 am
ALBION – On Saturday, with temperatures in the teens and wind blowing in their face, volunteers were ready to give out food, clothes, kind words and prayers.
The Hands 4 Hope ministry has been doing it for three years. Jack Burris and a team of volunteers have been consistent going to four different locations each month.
Inside the van, the Hands 4 Hope team takes prayer requests. This group includes, from left: Kevin Lemcke, Pat Murray, Ron LaGamba and Jack Burris.
They give out about 20 “shares” or bags of food each week, and have tables set up with free clothes. Burris has repurposed a red delivery truck into the base for the ministry. People can go inside the truck and are welcome to share a prayer request.
The truck has been dubbed “Clifford” and has become a frequent sight in the community, even appearing in Medina’s Parade of Lights.
Burris, owner of a carpet cleaning business, modelled Hands 4 Hope after the Care-A-Van Ministries in Batavia.
“We’ve become a family,” Burris said about the Hands 4 Hope volunteers and the people they serve. “It’s not an us-and-them thing, it’s a we thing. We’ve definitely built a community.”
On Saturday, in the bitter cold, about 10 volunteers were outside the Hoag Library at Hands 4 Hope. They distributed 22 bags of food, which also included toilet paper, dish soap and other supplies.
An anonymous benefactor funded the effort until very recently. Now community donations keep it going. Burris said people continue to step forward to support the ministry, whether with donations or by helping as volunteers.
“I definitely enjoy the heck out of it,” he said. “I feel blessed.”
Hands 4 Hope has tables out with clothes that are available for free.
Hands 4 Hope is in Medina the first Saturday each month at Orient and Starr streets. That site has been busier since the MAAC Clothing Depot opened across the street.
The second Saturday, Hands 4 Hope is at Holley in the Public Square, usually parking in front of the former bank.
The third and fourth Saturdays are in Albion, at the Hoag Library parking lot the third Saturday and over on Lydun Drive the fourth Saturday. When there’s a fifth Saturday, Hands 4 Hope usually takes the day off.
The ministry averaged 88 shares a month of food in 2018, which was up from about 80 in 2017.
Burris said Hands 4 Hope has been buying in bulk to stretch out its dollars. It has been operating on the Christ Church in Albion’s liability insurance. Christ Church runs the Community Kitchen on Fridays at Albion.
About six months after Hands 4 Hope started, The Orleans County Democratic Committee donated coats and clothes. Now, many people have donated winter jackets, pants, shirts and other clothing.
“The clothes are huge,” Burris said.
People have donated tables and clothing bins as well, and Aggie Recco leads the effort to organize the clothes.
Some of Burris’s customers in his cleaning business know about Hands 4 Hope and they have donated clothes and luggage. The suitcases are a hot commodity because Burris said there are many people who don’t have their own place to live. They have most of their belongings in suitcases, and they stay temporarily on other peoples’ couches.
Pat Murray writes down a prayer concern.
Burris said a core of volunteers have been with the ministry since soon after the first Saturday, Jan. 30, 2016. Darrell Burgio, Thom Jennings, Kevin Lemcke, Brian Stewart, Ron LaGamba and others all help the ministry happen, helping to pack food, set up tables and be an encouraging presence to people who stop by the red truck.
Jennings said he can relate to people who are struggling to pay their bills. He was a single father with young children about two decades ago. He said Hands 4 Hope doesn’t look down on anyone who stops by the truck. There isn’t any paperwork to fill with income criteria.
“In the beginning, people were super suspicious and then they realize there is no catch,” Jennings said. “A lot of people come up to the truck and they appreciate all the blessings in their life.”
People have asked for prayers, sometimes for a different job or a health concern. They often come back, weeks or month later, with good news to share.
“I respect and appreciate the power of prayer,” Jennings said. “It lets you know you are not alone.”
The prayers are all kept confidential. And the ministry remains an act of faith, without a firm plan for keeping it sustainable long-term.
“Everything is put in the hands of God,” Jennings said.
To make a donation, send to Hands 4 Hope, P.O. Box 495, Albion NY 14411.
The red van, “Clifford,” visits four locations each month. On Saturday, Hands 4 Hope was outside Hoag Library from 10:30 a.m. to noon.
Photo by Tom Rivers: Heavy smoke comes from home of Vincenzo and Felicia Spampanato on Wednesday at Albion. The couple is in guarded condition at the burn unit at Strong Memorial Hospital in Rochester.
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 21 January 2019 at 9:58 am
GoFundMe: Sarah Fowler started a GoFundMe to assist her grandparents, Vince and Felicia Spampanato, after a fire at their Albion home last week.
ALBION – A GoFundMe has been started to help an Albion couple who injured in a fire last Wednesday at their home on Elmwood Avenue.
Sarah Fowler said her grandparents, Vincenzo and Felicia Spampanato, are being treated at the burn unit at Strong Memorial Hospital in Rochester.
“It’s a true miracle they made it out of there alive,” Fowler writes on GoFundMe. “Some of you may know my grandpa as ‘Vince in the deli’ at Albion Walmart. My grandpa loved what he did.”
Fowler said her grandfather used to own his own deli. “It was always my favorite place to be when I was younger.”
Her grandma also has a love for cooking.
“They have always done so much for me, I put this together with hopes to try to help them,” Fowler writes. “It’s been a devastating few days and anything is more than helpful and appreciated as my grandparents have lost everything and have a long way to go before they can begin to heal and hopefully rebuild a place they can call ‘home’ again.”
The Spampanatos were able to get out of their house at about 6:21 p.m. on Wednesday after an explosion in the basement, which resulted in the house becoming heavily involved in fire.
Mr. Spampanato was performing maintenance on a gas heating appliance in the basement of the residence when an explosion occurred, Albion Police Chief Roland Nenni said.
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 17 January 2019 at 10:33 pm
Photos by Tom Rivers
ALBION – Byron Neal, 4, of Albion is excited to have a lighted sword at Billy Martin’s Cole All-Star Circus, which visited Albion High School this evening.
The circus returned to Albion with the cast performing many daring feats and some comedic routines at the high school gym. Some of the proceeds benefit the Close-Up program which takes students to Washington, D.C.
The circus was in Holley on Wednesday. Billy Martin’s has two shows (5 and 7:15 p.m.) in Medina on Friday at the middle school, and will be in Kendall at 7 p.m. on Jan. 25.
Ivan Arestov balances high on a tower of chairs 25 feet in the air. The Russian artist also juggled three-dimensional geometric shapes and provided some comic relief with a silly strongman character.
Sasha Arestov, Ivan’s brother, spins a hoop with his top hat. Sasha is a fifth generation hoop artist.
Elena amazed the crowd with many quick costume changes that seemed like magic. She had eight different costumes on, changing in only seconds.
Elena appears with another different outfit after Alex, in back, covered her briefly with a cape.
JP Toscano, a fourth generation circus performer from South America, provided some comedic relief, teaming with co-star “Jack.”
Wesley Williams. “The One-Wheeled Wonder,” rides a unicycle during in the show ring.
Ivan wore a strongman costume to the delight of the youngsters at the circus.
Photos by Tom Rivers: Firefighters work to put out a fire at 5 Elmwood Ave. in Albion on Wednesday night. This photo is from the back of the property.
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 17 January 2019 at 1:53 pm
ALBION – The Albion couple who were seriously injured in Wednesday’s fire at 5 Elmwood Ave. are in guarded condition in the burn unit at Strong Memorial Hospital in Rochester, Police Chief Roland Nenni said.
Vincenzo Spampanato, 81, and Felicia Spampanato, 72, had recently moved into the house on Elmwood.
The Albion Police Department and Albion Fire Department were dispatched to the site at 6:21 p.m. after a report of heavy smoke coming from the residence and possible explosions.
The Spampanatos were found in the front yard suffering from burn injuries.
Vincenzo Spampanato was transported to Strong Memorial Hospital by Mercy Flight. Felicia Spampanato was transported by Central Orleans Volunteer Ambulance (COVA) to Strong Memorial Hospital.
The initial investigation has revealed that Vincenzo Spampanato was performing maintenance on a gas heating appliance in the basement of the residence when an explosion occurred, ultimately resulting in the house catching fire and becoming heavily involved in fire.
The Investigation into the cause of the explosion and resulting fire is being conducted by the Albion Police Department, Orleans County Fire Investigation Unit, Orleans County Emergency Management Office, New York State Office of Fire Prevention and Control and New York State Electric & Gas (NYSEG).
The investigation is ongoing at this time, Nenni said.
Mr. Spampanato is well known by many in Albion for his job working in the deli at the Albion Walmart. The couple moved from Carlton to the dead-end street in the village about a month ago.
Firefighters were at the 20-degree scene for several hours on Wednesday.
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 16 January 2019 at 7:34 pm
Photos by Tom Rivers
(UPDATED at 8:55 p.m.)
ALBION – Two people have been seriously injured and taken to Strong Memorial Hospital in Rochester after a fire at their home, 5 Elmwood Ave.
The two people, an elderly couple, suffered burns and smoke inhalation, said Roland Nenni, the Albion police chief.
Neighbors said the couple just moved into the house about a month ago.
Elmwood is a dead-end street in the northern part of the village, off Linwood Avenue.
Firefighters were dispatched to the scene at 6:22 p.m. Albion and many other local fire departments battled the fire, which spewed smoke into the neighborhood.
Albion police were first on the scene at 6:24 and discovered the couple in the front yard with their clothes on fire, said Nathanial Staines, an Albion place officer and the public information officer.
A man was taken by Mercy Flight. A second Mercy Flight helicopter was called, but it wasn’t immediately available so the woman was transported to Strong by COVA Ambulance.
Firefighters try to ventilate the smoke-filled house.
Investigators with the Albion Police Department and the State Office of Fire Prevention and Control are working with county fire investigators to determine a cause.
Staines said more information will be released to the public on Thursday.
