ALBION – The Albion Police Department will help promote Breast Cancer Awareness Month by proudly displaying Breast Cancer Awareness Ribbons on all uniformed personnel.
Each uniformed officer will wear a Breast Cancer Awareness Ribbon with silver angel wings on their uniform next to their badge. Ribbons will also be displayed on all patrol vehicles
Breast cancer has in some way affected everyone in our community. The Albion Police Department hopes that by aiding in awareness we can help in a small way to find a cure.
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 4 October 2017 at 3:58 pm
Photos by Tom Rivers
ALBION – Two historic churches in Albion’s Courthouse Square are getting a boost in their appearance. Panek Coatings scraped paint today on the Albion Free Methodist Church, a building that was constructed in 1860 and is the first church in the denomination.
Panek scrapes off loose paint to get the church ready for a fresh coat of white paint.
Jim Babcock also has been working on the fellowship hall at the First Presbyterian Church of Albion. The fellowship hall originally served as the church sanctuary from 1845 to 1874, until the Medina sandstone edifice was finished in 1874.
Jim Babcock scrapes off several coats of paint from one of the columns on the building, which was constructed in a Greek Revival style.
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 2 October 2017 at 12:55 pm
Mark Chamberlain
BARRE – The Town Board has awarded the construction bid for a new water district that will include 38.5 “chargeable units” on sections of four roads.
U.S. Sen. Charles Schumer announced on Friday that Barre has been approved for $1,096,000 in federal funding, including a loan of $606,000 and a grant of $490,000.
Barre officials knew the funding was in place before Friday’s announcement, Town Supervisor Mark Chamberlain said.
The Town Board on Sept. 13 accepted the low bid for the project. Randasco Pipeline of Macedon will build the project for $748,284.
The company expects to start construction in December and work through the winter, Chamberlain said. (Randasco built Water District No. 7 in Barre.)
The construction bid doesn’t include engineering, legal, bond counsel and other fees, including an audit and environmental report.
Water District No. 8 includes sections of Eagle Harbor Road just south of Route 31A to Miller Road, Miller Road to Maple Street, Maple Street from Johnny Cake Lane to the last house on the western end of Maple Street, Kams Road that will loop to Maple Street, and another section of Maple Street between Kams Road and Eagle Harbor Road.
The $748,284 construction bid is about $150,000 less than the engineer’s estimate. That may allow the town to do an extra few hundred feet to prevent a dead end in the water line on Maple Street.
The federal money announced by Schumer on Friday has to first use up the loan of $606,000 and then the grant. If the town doesn’t spend $1,096,000, a lesser amount means a smaller grant for Barre. The $490,000 grant is the maximum award for the project.
Barre has two other water districts in the works. Water District No. 9 is in the preapplication stage with the federal Department of Agriculture for a possible loan and grant package. District No. 9 includes sections of Kams Road, Maple Street, Pine Hill Road, Gray Road, Eagle Harbor Road and Hemlock Ridge Road.
Water District No. 10 is in the early stages. Residents on Transit Road, Angevine Road and McNamar Road have submitted a written request for Barre to work on a new water district on those three roads.
Barre will likely do an income survey of households in the possible district to see if the project would be eligible for federal funding, Chamberlain said.
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 2 October 2017 at 8:33 am
Photos by Tom Rivers
ALBION – Varsity football player Shyheim Jakes, number 21, walks towards the football field with Jack Ludwick, who plays on the modified team. Each varsity player walked to the field for Homecoming on Sept. 22 while holding hands with a modified player.
It’s part of a new Big Brother program, where varsity players are paired with kids who play on the modified program in grades 7 and 8.
Pom Seibert, a lineman on the modified team, walks to the field with Caleb Pettit, number 50, who plays on the line for the varsity team.
There are about 30 players on both varsity and modified. Adam Krenning, the head varsity coach, said the program is intended to make the modified players better student athletes. The varsity players help some of the modified team members with homework and stress the importance of keeping their grades up.
“This program gives the younger player a big brother to talk to,” Krenning said. “It is our hope that this program will build a relationship between our varsity and modified student athletes.”
Photo by Sue Starkweather Miller: Modified players join the varsity team for warmups on the field before the Homecoming game on Sept. 22.
Krenning said he hopes players from both levels will attend each other’s games. Some of the varsity players, who are now 5-0 on the season, have attended the modified games which was a thrill to the players in seventh and eighth grade, Krenning said.
The modified players have also joined the varsity players on the field for warmups before the home games. Krenning said that shows the modified players how to prepare for the game and gives them a sense of the thrill of playing under the lights before a big home crowd.
Tyler Gibson, number 7, is quarterback for the modified team. He joins Bryce Pritchard, number 8, who is the varsity quarterback. They walked through a line of youth football players, their parents and coaches before the game on Sept. 22.
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 30 September 2017 at 9:45 am
Photo by Tom Rivers
ALBION – State Sen. Robert Ortt issued a proclamation from the State Senate this week honoring Charles W. Howard “for a lifetime of exceptional dedication to bringing love, joy and the holiday spirit to the hearts of millions.”
The proclamation was presented Thursday during the Albion Rotary Club meeting. Phil Wenz portrays Santa Claus year-round at the Santa’s Village theme park in Dundee, Illinois. Wenz also is a Santa historian and coordinates annual Santa conferences, which have twice been in Albion. He worked with Ortt on having the proclamation in honor of Howard, who started a Santa Claus School 80 years ago in Albion.
Wenz, left, is pictured with Madelyn Genovese, communications director for State Sen. Robert Ortt, David Holland and Jane Holland, who is Howard’s granddaughter. Dave and Jane live in the Buffalo area.
Charles W. Howard, left, is pictured with a Santa in training in this historic photo.
Jane thanked the Albion community for keeping her grandfather’s memory alive.
“This village and town will always be a special part of our family,” she said.
Howard started the school with three students On Sept. 27, 1937, Wenz said. The school would grow in the following years, and newspapers and magazines did features on the school, which raised Howard’s profile. In 1948 he was Santa in the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade, and did that every year until 1965.
He expanded the school in Albion and developed Christmas Park at the corner of Phipps Road and Route 31.
“This small amusement park would become well known all over New York and the surrounding states, bringing children and families to experience a little bit of Christmas throughout the year,” according to the proclamation from Ortt.
Howard ran the school from 1937 until his death in 1966. The school continues today in his name at Midland, Michigan.
Provided photos: Albion police officers Guy Burke, left, and Nathaniel Staines stopped to see Liam Williams and his little brother Carter. Liam is Burke’s cousin.
Posted 28 September 2017 at 5:38 pm
Liam tries on a police officer’s vest and a patrolman’s hat while meeting police officer Nathaniel Staines.
Press Release, Albion Police Department
ALBION – Members of the Albion Police Department made a surprise visit to a very special person recently.
Liam Williams, 6, was diagnosed with Stage 3 T-Cell Lymphoblastic Lymphoma on July 13. Liam is the cousin of Albion Police Officer Guy Burke and has a love for law enforcement.
Members of the Albion Police Department visited Liam at his home in Akron and brought with them a police car and other police equipment for Liam to enjoy.
It was an honor for officers to give Liam joy and excitement during their visit and for his focus to be on something other than his illness, even for just a short time.
Liam has a long road ahead of him involving extended hospitalizations and treatments.
A GoFundMe fund-raising page has been set up to help Liam and his family with the costs during this extremely hard time. Click here for more information.
There will be a spaghetti dinner on Saturday from 4 to 8 p.m. to benefit Liam at the Akron Fire Hall, 1 Main St., Akron, NY.
It was supposed to a joyous, fun-filled occasion. The annual Orleans County Fair drew waves of people to Albion, and the celebration included a wire-walker, who would attempt to walk across the canal. A rope was strung just west of the Main Street bridge, reaching from the top of a hotel to a block of stores.
There was a wire-walking frenzy back in those days. Jean Francois Gravelet, “The Great Blondin,” walked across Niagara Falls on a tight rope on June 30, 1859. A bunch of copycats sprang up, including one in Albion three months later during the county fair.
The Main Street bridge was packed with 250 people and five horses to watch a wire walker, “a young adventurer from Brockport,” according to a newspaper account. The wirewalker didn’t get far. With a mass of people crowding to see the spectacle, he made it 10 feet. Then the wooden bridge gave out, plunging the crowd into the canal.
At least 15 people died, and many more were maimed and seriously injured.
Here are some of their names:
• Perry G. Cole, aged 19, Barre.
• Augusta Martin, aged 18, Carlton.
• Mrs. Ann Viele, aged 36, Gaines.
• Edwin Stillson, aged 16, Barre
• Joseph Code, aged 18, Albion
• Lydia Harris, aged 11, Albion
• Thomas Handy, aged 66, Yates
• Sarah Thomas, aged 10, Carlton
• Harry Henry, aged 22
• Ransom S. Murdock, aged 17, Carlton
• Adelbert Wilcox, aged 17, West Kendall
• Sophia Pratt, aged 18, Toledo, Ohio
• Thomas Aulchin, aged 50, Paris, C.W.
• Jane Lavery, aged 16, Albion
Orleans County Historian Bill Lattin and the Orleans County Historical Association put up a marker near the canal in 2002, noting the canal tragedy.
Lattin and the Historical Association deserve praise for getting the marker up to remember such a horrific loss in our local history. The community should do more than a historical marker to remember these children, young mothers and other county residents.
Orleans County is working on a waterfront plan for the canal in Albion, Gaines, Murray and Holley. (Medina is working on its own canal waterfront development plan.)
The Orleans plan should include a memorial in Albion. I think a memorial fountain by the canal between the two lift bridges in Albion would be a fitting recognition of this horrible event. The fountain would also beautify the canal and help draw people to the downtown area.
Orleans County Historian Matt Ballard wrote about the bridge collapse in his column on July 29, 2017. Click here to read it.
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 28 September 2017 at 10:15 am
ALBION – The Village Board approved paying $37,500 for about 25 acres on East State Street so the village has a place to dump brush, leaves and snow.
The village has been using land by the sewer plant on Densmore Street. However, that space is likely to be used to install an array of solar panels.
That project had the village looking for another dumping site. Village officials like the land that has been owned by Rich Colonna. The land has three driveways. It is just east of the Sandstone Park baseball field, between Brown Street and Butts Road.
The purchase offer was almost held up during Wednesday’s board meeting when village attorney John Gavenda suggested Albion have the site surveyed before submitting a purchase offer. Gavenda said the boundaries on tax maps can change after the land is professionally surveyed.
Village Trustee Stan Farone said there is so much land that changing the boundaries by a few feet really wouldn’t matter for the village’s purposes.
Gavenda said if problems arise with a survey usually the seller has the burden to resolve the issue. The village, once it acquires the land, will be responsible for any issues, Gavenda said.
The board approved buying the land with a survey to be done after the fact. If there are no major issues, the sale will become finalized. The village will pay for the survey.
The board on Wednesday also approved an agreement with the Village of Elba for Albion DPW workers to repair any leaks in waterlines in Elba. Albion will be paid $40 per hour, plus the cost of equipment, as part of the agreement.
Photo by Tom Rivers: A school bus is shown on McKinstry Street this morning at about 8:50 a.m. It’s a busy intersection at McKinstry and Route 31 in the morning school rush.
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 28 September 2017 at 9:43 am
ALBION – The Village of Albion is taking applications for the crossing guard position in front of the middle school.
The village will be paying $13 an hour for the part-time position, which is two hours a day. Crossing guards are needed for about 180 days a year. The village is estimating it will cost about $5,000 in pay.
The village will also provide a reflective vest and a flash light. Albion would like to hire more than one so it has flexibility in case a crossing guard calls in sick or is unavailable.
The village will post the job through Civil Service in Orleans County.
Albion Mayor Dean London notified the school district in early September that there wouldn’t be a crossing guard anymore. That sparked an uproar in the community. The school district offered to help cover the cost. That is being negotiated as to how much the school will contribute to the expense, London said during Wednesday’s board meeting.
Police Chief Roland Nenni on Wednesday presented the board with a packet about the position, how it will be filled through a Civil Service posting. He said there will be background checks on people considered for the job.
He recommended the village allow hiring up to five crossing guards. Some of them might never be utilized in the role, but having them trained and ready would give the village more flexibility. He said it’s possible some crossing guards would just work in the morning and someone else in the afternoon. Or some might just work in warmer weather months, while others serve during the winter.
The Police Department will provide 8 hours of initial training, and then about 2 hours of refresher training in following years. The crossing guards will be appointed each year, likely in August and then serve until June 30, the end of the school year.
The position was expected to be posted today with applications available later this afternoon at the Village Office at 35-37 East Bank St.
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 27 September 2017 at 10:18 pm
Photos by Tom Rivers
ALBION – The new giant pencil molds in front of the Ronald L. Sodoma Elementary School have added colors in the past week. The pencils have replaced the crayons that included character traits.
There will be two purple crayons across the front doors of the school. They are still to be painted. The blue pencils are lined up with the doors for the kindergarten wing. The red pencils are at the nurses wing, and the green pencils will help students quickly identify a mixed wing of classrooms.
The school district wanted to continue with crayons but the molds for those are no longer available. The pencils won’t have character traits painted on them like the crayons, shown below. There were eight crayons. The top photo shows 16 pencils. There will be at least two more pencils that will be painted brown.
ALBION – Ben Restivo, number 56, and his Albion teammates charge onto the field on Friday night for the annual homecoming football game. The Albion fans went home happy after the Purple Eages won, 58-6, versus Roy-Hart/Barker.
Albion cheerleaders and the mascot had a lot to celebrate during the game.
Albion band director Mike Thaine, lower left, and the pep band added to the festive feeling at the game.
For highlights from the game and other local high school sports, click here.
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 22 September 2017 at 4:56 pm
Photos by Tom Rivers
ALBION – Albion firefighters Jim Perruzzini, squatting, and Steven Papponetti check on a vehicle that flipped at about 3:45 this afternoon on King Street in the village.
Two people in the vehicle were being checked at the scene by COVA medics for minor injuries. The driver of another car in the incident declined medical treatment.
The vehicle rolled over and came to a rest in the lawn of the Albion DPW at the corner of King and Washington streets.
An Albion police officer said the accident was under investigation.
ALBION – It’s Homecoming Week at Albion and the followed students were picked for the Homecoming Court during today’s pep rally. From left: Brittany Spies-Hunt (Lady), Bailey Blanchard (Lord) from the freshmen class; Britney Lamb (Dutchess) and Briliance Johnson (Duke) for the sophomores; Brylie Hapeman (Princess) and Harrison Brown (Prince) for the juniors; and Demetrius Gardner (King) and Samantha Hollenbeck (Queen), representing the senior class.
Photos by Tom Rivers: Deborah London has owned Bloom’s Flower Shop in Albion for 17 ½ years. She is the shop’s fourth owner since it started in 1935.
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 22 September 2017 at 12:23 pm
ALBION – After working in the banking industry for a decade, Deborah London made a big career change 17 ½ years ago when she bought Bloom’s Flower Shop.
London was an assistant vice president in escrow operations for Anchor Bank in Albion. She stayed there when Anchor was acquired by Dime Bank and then North American Mortgage. Her job was eliminated in a downsizing by Washington Mutual.
The timing was good. Lorraine and Gary Oakley were looking to sell Bloom’s. London didn’t want a banking job in the city. She took on the challenge at Bloom’s and has enjoyed meeting so many community members since then.
“You get to work with people all the time,” she said. “When you’re in an office at a desk, you don’t get that.”
Deborah and Brian London are pictured by Bloom’s Flower Shop at 139 South Main St. Mr. London makes many of the deliveries.
London is being recognized by the Orleans County Chamber of Commerce this evening during the annual awards dinner as the “Business Person of the Year.” She deserves praise for keeping Bloom’s open during a time when larger businesses are getting more involved in selling flowers, the Chamber said.
Since she bought Bloom’s she has endured the road reconstruction on Routes 98 and 31, the addition of Tops and Wal-Mart in Albion, and the recession in 2008-09.
Last year was difficult when her home was damaged in a fire on Feb. 2, 2016, right before Valentine’s Day, one of the shop’s busiest times of the year. Debbie and her husband Brian insisted on staying in Albion and having their home repaired on West Park Street. It was six months before then could move back in.
London has embraced e-commerce, taking orders through her website (click here). That has been a boost.
But London said the biggest factor for the business’s success is the face-to-face with customers, ensuring they get a fresh product that is sensitive to the occasion.
“Everybody likes flowers,” she said.
She sells chocolates and greeting cards, but flowers are the focus at Bloom’s.
Wes Hansen, a designer at Bloom’s for 22 years, praises Debbie London for her organizational skills.
London can call on friends and family to pitch in during a busy season, whether the prom, Valentine’s Day, Mother’s Day, dance recitals or Christmas. Her husband Brian has been more than willing to make deliveries. He also runs his own electrician’s business and works as a fly fishing guide.
“It’s really a team effort between the two of us,” Debbie said.
Wes Hansen has worked at Bloom’s for 22 years. He said London does a great job managing the business.
“She is very well organized,” Hansen said. “She likes lists. I have to have an organized person.”
