Photos by Tom Rivers

ALBION – There are three or four baby birds making a lot of racket from a nest on the east side of the Orleans County Courthouse, in a crevice below the dome. This is on the side facing the Orleans County Jail.

The nest has been quite a curiosity in recent months. There are plenty of strong opinions whether these birds are crows or ravens.

The parents have been swarming around the Courthouse Square, hanging out in trees and on top of churches.

One of the parents returns to the birds and they greet the parent with wide-open beaks and loud squawks.

At least one of the parents is second from left and returns to check on the babies. The bigger beak could be an indicator that the bird is a raven – or maybe it’s a crow, I can’t say for sure. Others have told me they are too big to be a crow and have to be a raven, but others have also been quite incessant these are crows.

The harried parent takes off to get more food for the youngsters.

The parent is on top of the Albion Free Methodist Church and is either taking a break from the loud baby birds or patrolling for some worms or other food for the demanding infants.

Click here for a short video of the noisy birds.

Provided photo: This group of Albion seniors is shown after a rehearsal Friday for a Senior Showcase today. They include front row, from left: Aubrey Boyer, Emily Mergler and Annalise Steier. Back row: Hannah Brewer, Jacob Thom and Annabella Salisbury.

ALBION – The Covid-19 pandemic has curtailed fundraising efforts for the Class of 2021. A group of students and their parents have organized a Senior Showcase event today, which will raise money for the class and give some of the seniors a chance to perform.

The Senior Showcase will be live or online today at 1 p.m., 3 p.m. and 6 p.m. at the Cabaret at Studio B on East Bank Street in Albion. There will also be a basket auction where people can bid virtually.

Click here for more information on the auction and the Senior Showcase

The performers during the event include Annalise Steier, Emily Mergler, Hannah Brewer, Aubrey Boyer, Delaney Bovenzi, Madelin Tabor, Abby Allen and Annabella Salisbury. Jacob Thom will be the emcee for the program.

“The parents are sponsoring this because the AHS class of 2021 fundraising was cut short from last year due to the pandemic,” said Deb Boyer, one of the parents helping to organize the event.

The fundraising will help close out the year with homecoming, which was this past week, and the Senior Tea, Class Night and prom.

ALBION – The Village Board approved the 2021-22 village budget on Wednesday evening that increases the tax rate from $17.80 to $17.85 per $1,000 of assessed property. That represents a 0.3 percent increase. (For a home assessed at $80,000, that would be another $4 in village taxes and a total tax bill of $1,428.)

The budget is nearly $7 million at $6,981,799. That is nearly the same as the 2020-21 budget, where overall spending was $6,972,285.

The newly adopted budget includes $3,973,560 in the general fund, $1,715,124 in the water fund, and $1,293,114 in the sewer fund.

The board set the tax levy at $2,761,524, which is up 0.5 percent from the $2,747,669 in 2020-21.

The village saw a slight increase of 0.2 percent in its tax base or $343,777, going from $154,363,452 to $154,707,229.

Canal Concert series also returning for 4 events

File photos by Tom Rivers: Kiara Smith offers some pointers to Evan Kirby, then 7, in a game of badminton on June 26, 2019 at the start of Albion’s summer parks program.

ALBION – The summer parks program will be back at Albion this year in a reduced schedule.

The program, which normally runs five or six weeks, will be for four weeks, on weekdays from July 5 to July 30.

The Village Board approved the program on Wednesday, following a push from the Village’s Recreation Committee. John Grillo will continue to serve as the program’s director. He said there will likely be seven parks supervisors working from Bullard. There could be more depending on how many children sign up for the program which is free to children in the Albion school district. It runs from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.

The parks program is back at Bullard after being cancelled in 2020 and being based at Veteran’s Park at the corner of Linwood Avenue and Brown Street in 2019. Bullard was off limits that year due to construction.

This year the new splash pad will be open for kids. That spray park area is expected to open in June for the first time.

Grillo said he will be meeting with the Orleans County Health Department to go over Covid-19 guidelines for running the program.

He thanked the Village Board for giving the green light to having the parks program for the four weeks.

Mayor Eileen Banker said she favors a scaled-down parks program because Covid is still spreading in the community.

“I just want to be sure the kids are safe,” she said. “I still get almost daily messages from the school that a kid is testing positive.”

Banker also said the village is looking to add security cameras at the park after recent vandalism, which included a broken bench and spray-painted obscenities on the former bathroom building, which is now used for storage.

“If we catch the people we will hold them responsible,” she said.

Doug Egling of Albion performs a solo on his saxophone with the Trellis Cooper Band, which was featured on June 27, 2019. Last year’s concert series was cancelled due to Covid.

The Village Board also announced the Canal Concert series will be back this summer. It will be for four Thursday evenings near the Platt Street gazebo area by the Albion fire hall. The tentative schedule includes the last two Thursdays in July and the first two Thursdays in August or July 22, July 29, Aug. 5 and Aug. 12.

Village Clerk Linda Babcock coordinates the concerts. She will work with the Genesee-Orleans Regional Arts Council for the events.

Ron Albertson, a member of the Rock of the Park Committee, urged the village to shift the concerts to Bullard in the future, where there is a new amphitheater.

Banker said a grant that funds the concerts requires the village to hold them by the canal.

The village will go by the governor’s guidelines for outdoor events when the concerts are held. She said there is plenty of room to space people out for the concerts by the canal.

Photos by Tom Rivers

ALBION – Michael and Faith Smith thank Albion police officers Dillon Black, right, and Robert Wagner for their critical life-saving assistance of the night of March 21. They are shown outside the Village Board meeting room at the village office this evening.

Michael Smith, 58, and his wife were home on East Bank Street after a 7-mile walk.

Michael Smith presents a “lifesaver” award to officer Robert Wagner during this evening’s Albion Village Board meeting. Wagner has worked as an Albion police officer the past eight years.

The couple often walks along the village sidewalks and the canal towpath. They also are key volunteers at the Community Kitchen on Fridays at Christ Church. Mrs. Smith is the longtime coordinator at that site, and her husband is a cheerful presence and a hard worker at the kitchen.

The Smiths were home that night and Michael said he felt a warm feeling overwhelm him at about 10:30 p.m. It came out of nowhere, without any warning signs.

He tried to tell his wife he didn’t feel well, but he fell forward.

His wife came to him, and he was the color blue. The family called 911 and Mrs. Smith tried to do CPR. Her husband’s arms were in a locked position over his chest. She had to punch his arms out of the way to start compressions.

Within 2 minutes of the 911 call, Albion police officers arrived with a defibrillator. The Albion patrol vehicles all carry AEDs.

Robert Wagner and Dillon Black were able to get Smith’s heart beating again after shocking him with the defibrillator. They also did CPR until a crew from COVA ambulance arrived and took Smith to Strong Memorial Hospital.

Smith was at Strong for three days and came home on March 24, a Wednesday. Two days later he was back at the Community Kitchen.

He didn’t have a heart attack and his arteries are clear. He suffered sudden cardiac death or sudden cardiac arrest, which happens most frequently in adults in their mid-30s to mid-40s, causing 325,000 deaths in the U.S. each year, according to the Cleveland Clinic. Strong put in a biventricular defibrillator so if it ever happens again, Smith’s heart will be shocked back to a normal rhythm.

“I want the world to know that police officers are more than just the person who comes to arrest you if you do something bad and pull you over for a traffic violation,” Mrs. Smith said. “They are heroes to my family. Because of their quick response and determination my husband is alive and here with me today.”

Albion Mayor Eileen Banker presents commendations from the Village Board to Robert Wagner and Dillon Black. Albion PD Lt. David Mogle is at far right.

Banker credited recently retired Police Chief Roland Nenni for pushing to have each patrol vehicle outfitted with an AED and for having all of the officers trained in using them. The Albion PD responds to ambulance calls, and is often first on the scene.

Dillon Blank, a member of the Albion PD for two years, receives the “lifesaver” award from Michael Smith, who was revived with a defibrillator on March 21.

Faith Smith hugs Dillon Black during an awards presentation this evening at the Albion Village Board meeting.

“I thank you both for going above and beyond,” Mrs. Smith told the officers. “I am so thankful my husband is here today because of you.”

Press Release, Albion Central School

ALBION – There is still time to sign your child up for PreKindergarten at Ronald L. Sodoma Elementary School.

To be eligible for the 2021-22 Albion Universal Pre-K (UPK) program, a child must be 4 years old on or before Dec. 1, 2021 and reside in the Albion Central School District.

There are two sessions each day. The morning session will run from 9 to 11:30 a.m. while the afternoon session will run from 1 to 3:30 p.m.

If you are interested in registering a child for the UPK program, you will need to fill out and return the UPK application, the UPK Transportation Information form, and meal information form.

All forms must be completed and returned to Amy Castricone at the District Office by May 1 at 4 p.m. If you have any questions, please contact Castricone at acastricone@albionk12.org.

Cassandra Dash is in remission and working to get her strength back

Cassandra Dash

ALBION – An Albion woman will be leading a walk on Saturday morning to help the fight against multiple sclerosis.

Cassandra Dash, 39, and her family and friends will be among the participants who will gather at 10 a.m. at the Butts Road bridge and then walk about 2 miles along the canal east towards the village. Participants, however, can walk any length of distance they want.

Dash, an elementary school attendance secretary, encourages people to wear orange to support all of the “MS warriors.” People can sign up and donate by clicking here, which is a link to virtual MS walks in the Rochester region.

Dash is leading a team called, “NO CANE NO GAIN.” She was diagnosed with MS last month after a four-day stay at Strong Memorial Hospital in Rochester. At that point she couldn’t feel her legs below her knees and was walking with leg braces and a cane.

“I felt like I was walking around in a fog and could fall asleep if I sat still too long,” Dash said. “But, I had recently lost over 100 pounds and was living a completely different lifestyle than I ever had. I kept telling myself all these little symptoms were just because I was exercising or may have pulled a muscle. So, the diagnosis was a complete shock.”

She is working with a neurologist with a treatment plan that includes 5 days of steroid infusions at the hospital and then 5 days of chemo injections.  Dash said she felt very sick, and her hair started falling out in clumps.

“My doctor warned me that it was going to get way worse before it got better,” she said. “But, it did get better!”

She is now on a monthly home maintenance injection. She will soon start OT/PT to start getting her strength back.

“I can walk without my leg braces and my cane,” Dash said. “I am officially in remission. This community and my co-workers have shown my family so much love throughout all of this that I wanted to give back.”

Dash is determined to cover the distance on Saturday during the MS walk.

“I can’t walk very fast or for long distances, but I will finish!” she said. “A lot of people donated to me and my family and I wanted to pay it forward, to try and bring some hope to someone that is going through this. MS changes you, it changes your family. But you can’t give up! Just put one foot in front of the other – everyday!”

ALBION – There are two candidates for two trustee positions in a May 3 election for the Hoag Library of the Swan Library Association.

Kevin Doherty, the former library board president, and Dawn Squicciarini, an Albion special education teacher, will be on the ballot. Voting will be at the library from noon to 7 p.m. with results to be announced at the annual meeting immediately following.

All library service area residents are eligible to vote and attend the annual meeting. The service area includes the central Orleans towns of Carlton, Gaines, Albion and Barre.

Kevin Doherty

Doherty in his candidate bio on the Hoag website stated:

“I am excited to run again for a seat on the Hoag Library Board, after sitting out a term limit pause. We’ve done some great work since 2010, locating, designing, building and staffing the best library of its size in Upstate New York. The Hoag Library should be proud of the support it has received from our community, and the service it has provided to a broad section of that community.

“My first service to the Swan Library was as the representative of the Mayor of the Village of Albion. I was subsequently elected for a number of terms. Prior to and coincident with the first few years of that service, I was an elected member of the Board of Education for the Albion Schools.

“To be honest, I miss being there. I have confidence that I can provide some useful and positive perspective to the Trustees; and a documented track record of leadership.”

Dawn Squicciarini

Squicciarini said she and her family have been library users since moving to Albion in the early ’90s.

“Summer reading programs were a part of my children’s summer as much as soccer practice,” she said in her candidate statement. “Our love and respect for libraries was deepened by my sister-in-law who was the young adult librarian at the Fairport Public Library and founder of the Rochester Teen Book Festival which also became an important part of our lives. My youngest, Claire, is a teen representative on the TBF board currently.”

Squicciarini said her teaching career has shown her how important the libraries are, especially in the rural communities. She has been very active in the Albion Soccer Club, serving as treasurer, vice president and president over 12 years. She is also on the board of directors for the Oak Orchard Lighthouse at Point Breeze.

“The library should be a welcoming place for the community,” Squicciarini said. “A place where children are free to come learn as well as a respectful place of work.”

Library planning Summer Reading Program

Hoag Library remains open to patrons for browsing, copy/fax/print/scan/notary, and computer lab use. WiFi is available 24/7 in the parking lot and green space, and no password is required to access the public guest network. The outdoor garden – furnished with lawn chairs, benches, and picnic tables – also is open to the public.

Hoag Library said plans are underway for this year’s 2021 Summer Reading Program “Tails and Tales” with more details coming on the library website and social media accounts.