Harry Papponetti has served as chief 16 years, plans to stay active with AFD

Photo by Tom Rivers: Albion Fire Chief Harry Papponetti talks on the radio at a smoky scene on Route 31A on Dec. 11, 2016.

ALBION – Harry Papponetti, a long-time leader for the Albion Fire Department, will be stepping down as fire chief in May.

Papponetti, 69, has been fire chief the past 6 years and has served in the role for 16 years overall during his 51 years with the Albion Fire Department.

He informed the Albion Village Board on Wednesday evening that he decided against another year as the fire chief. Rob Conner will take over as chief in May.

Papponetti said the AFD is fortunate to have a group of younger, dedicated firefighters in the leadership ranks, including his son John Papponetti, the county’s DPW superintendent. Jim Perruzzini is in line to be deputy chief, the second in command.

“You have a nice group of guys coming up,” Harry Papponetti told the Village Board. “I’m still going to work hard with the guys.”

Papponetti said he plans to oversee equipment for the department and respond to calls.

He was praised by the Village Board for his many years of service in the department.

“Thank you so much for all you’ve done,” Mayor Eileen Banker told him. “You’ve always gone above and beyond.”

Press Release, Albion Police Chief Roland Nenni

Photo by Tom Rivers: Madison Schultz, 2, of Medina sits on the lap of Sami Lynn Denniston, 7, of Middleport during National Night Out on Aug. 7, 2018. Children were welcome to sit in the pilot’s seat and get a close up of the Mercy Flight helicopter which is used to transport people with life-threatening injuries and illnesses.

ALBION – It is with deep regret that we must announce that the 2021 National Night Out Event scheduled for August 3 is being cancelled due to Covid-19 concerns.

Last year’s event was postponed from its original date of August 4, 2020 and rescheduled to October 6, 2020. The event then had to be cancelled.

The National Night Out Committee hoped that the risks associated with Covid-19 would be mitigated by August. However, the reality is that it is unknown as to when large gatherings will be safe. While we as a community have done an amazing job to control the infection rate, we cannot guarantee that our event could be held in a manner to keep people safe.

This is very unfortunate as the event helps connect people in need with resources that can be life changing. This at a time when those resources are needed more than ever. The National Night Out committee is committed to bring back the event in the future and make it better than ever.

Any donations that were made to the event will be applied to next event unless they are requested to be refunded. The next event will be held on August 2, 2022 at Bullard Park.

Below is a list of past participants that may can be contacted if anyone needs that assistance that they offer to our community:

• Orleans United Drug Free Communities Coalition Tobacco Free GLOW
• Parent Network of WNY
• Oak Orchard Health
• OCALS Learning Services
• Catholic Charities Friendly Phones & Home Visitation Program Orleans County YMCA
• Care Net Center of Greater Orleans
• Light of Victory Church
• Albion Free Methodist Church Youth & Kids Ministry
• MHA of Genesee & Orleans County
• Orleans County STOP DWI
• ABCD at Holley
• Orleans County Child & Family Services
• Orleans Community Health
• Orleans County Department of Mental Health
• Medina Area Association of Churches (MAAC)
• The Arc of Genesee/Orleans Rainbow Preschool
• Community Action of Orleans & Genesee Child Care Resource and Referral (CCR&R) Orleans • • County Health Department
• Orleans County Suicide Prevention Coalition
• Fidelis Care
• Genesee/Orleans Ministry of Concern- Just Friends Youth Mentoring Program
• Genesee/Orleans Council on Alcoholism and Substance Abuse- Prevention
• OC Valor MRC
• Hoag Library
• Orleans County Chamber of Commerce
• PACT
• Early Head Start Child Care Partnership
• ACT – Helping Youth ACT Responsibly
• Albion Lions Club

Betterment Committee wants to recognize Charles W. Howard’s legacy as Santa School founder

Photos by Tom Rivers

ALBION – Members of the Albion Betterment Committee today signed a contract with Brian Porter of Pendleton to create a bronze statue of Santa Claus that will resemble Charles W. Howard, the founder of a Santa Claus School.

Pictured from left include ABC director Joe Gehl, Brian Porter, and ABC directors Gary Derwick and Gary Kent.

The statue is planned for the park on Main Street, a half block south of the Erie Canal where there is a mural showing Santa in flight with a sleigh and reindeer, high above the Courthouse Square and downtown Albion.

Porter expects to have a final depiction in a month of Charles Howard as Santa for the statue. The Albion Lions Club has agreed to let Porter borrow an original Charles Howard Santa suit to help finalize the model of the statue. Howard designed Santa suits that remain a distinctive style today. Howard also operated Christmas Park in Albion and served as the Santa in the Macy’s Thanksgiving Parade for 18 years.

The Betterment Committee has been working five years to raise funds for the projects. It can still use some more money for the base for the statue and other park improvements. Donations can be sent to Albion Betterment Committee/Charles Howard Project, 14487 Baker Rd., Kent NY, 14477. That is the address for Joe Gehl, one of the directors of the Albion Betterment Committee.

It will take Porter about two years to create the new bronze statue honoring Howard, who started the school in Albion in 1937 and ran it until his death in 1966. (Click here for more on the school.)

Porter is no stranger to projects in Orleans County. He created the 7-foot-high bronze statue of a soldier outside the former Medina Armory, which is now the Orleans County YMCA.

Porter is shown during a Sept. 7, 2019 dedication ceremony for that statue, which weighs 1,400 pounds. That project honored the 550 soldiers who trained at the Armory from 1898 to 1947 and they fought in four major conflicts: the Spanish American War, Mexican Border Incursion, World War I and World War II.

Santa portrayers from around the country visited Albion for a convention in April 2015. They gathered for a group photo by the County Courthouse.

Howard remains a revered figure among Santas. The Santa School continues in his name in Midland, Mich. Albion has twice hosted gatherings for the Santa community, the last in 2015 when there were about 200 Santa impersonators in Albion.

That group was disappointed when it was in Albion and there wasn’t more in Howard’s hometown recognizing his role in helping to shape the modern Santa Claus.

There have since been two large-scale murals installed in Albion, celebrating the community’s role with the first Santa Claus school. The Betterment Committee has put up “Believe” signs and convinced the local and state governments to name the portion of Route 31 in Albion in memory of Charles W. Howard. The new signs went up along Route 31 in December, just before Christmas.

The Betterment Committee wants to honor the Howard legacy in Albion, and provide incentive for the Santas to come back for their conventions, and also add an attraction in downtown Albion.

Photo by Donato Rosario

ALBION — The Albion Rotary Club spearheaded a trash pickup this morning along the railroad tracks from Platt Street past Liberty Street, and then part of one of the fields across from Walmart.

Albion Interact Club and service learning students, and some members of the cross country, boys and girls basketball teams joined in the effort.

The group filled 23 garbage bags with trash in about 2 hours. Pictured, in front, from left: Rotary Club members Deb Boyer and Tom Rivers, and Dalton Dexter. In back: McKenna Boyer, Aubrey Boyer, Allison Mathes, Mckenzie Snook, S’koi Sanders-Smith, Lucy Rivers, Nate Gibson, Albion teacher Tim Archer, Reuben Rivers, Nicolina Creasey, Tyler Gibson, Rotary Club member Don Bishop, Kenzi Hapeman and Bailey Blanchard.

Kenzie Snook, Lucy Rivers and S’koi Sanders-Smith clear trash from along the railroad tracks.

This area along the railroad tracks was much cleaner after this group went through.

Don Bishop fills a bag with litter.

The group tackled trash in the front part of a field along Gaines Basin Road by Walmart.

Photo by Tom Rivers: The walkway to the Albion Middle School is pictured in May 2016 while the trees are in bloom in front a Vietnam Memorial.

ALBION — The school district will be welcoming back students for four days of in-person classes next month.

The district will move away from a hybrid model where students have been in-person for two days a week, and doing remote learning for three other days. The district will continue to do remote learning on Wednesdays. The two-day hybrid model will no longer be offered. Students need to either do the four days of in-person learning or be fully remote.

Mickey Edwards, the district superintendent, posted a letter on the district website today, announcing the change with more in-person days for students.

“With the number of Covid-19 cases decreasing across the region and with many of our faculty/staff receiving the vaccine, our plan is to begin expanding our hybrid learning model,” Edwards said in his letter.

The district wants to give all students the chance for in-person learning. However, the first priority is maintaining a safe learning environment, Edwards said. Initially, the district will focus on accommodating students who are currently hybrid learners, and moving them to four days of in-person learning. Students who are currently fully remote will have the option of switching to hybrid at the end of the 10-week marking period.

The district will transition students back to four days of in-person learning in phases. The tentative schedule includes:

• Phase 1: April 12-13 for grades K-2, 6, and 9-10
• Phase 2: April 14 will continue to be a remote day only
• Phase 3: April 15 for grades K-4, 6, 7, and 9-12
• Phase 4: April 16 will be grades K-5, 6-8, and 9-12 (all hybrid students return)

Students will be required to wear masks nearly the entire day, with designated times for mask breaks, Edwards said.

“We recognize that social distancing may not always be possible and, in those cases, we will be implementing the use of clear plastic barriers to separate students,” Edwards wrote in his letter.

The district will also be taking students’ temperatures upon entry in the school buildings, and all other Covid safety practices and procedures will continue, Edwards said.

Sue Dickinson returns home 10 weeks after being sickened by virus

Photos by Tom Rivers: Family and friends greet Sue Dickinson with signs, balloons and flowers in a surprise for her when she came home today.

Sue Dickinson

ALBION – Many family and friends welcomed Sue Dickinson home today after she fought Covid-19 the past 10 weeks.

Dickinson, 65, tested positive for Covid on Jan. 7. After her oxygen levels fell and she struggled to breathe, she was admitted to Rochester General Hospital on Jan. 12. She continued to decline and was put on a ventilator on Jan. 17.

Doctors didn’t expect her to survive. But she pulled through it, and was in a rehab facility for only 2 ½ weeks before coming home today. Her doctors expected it would take months in rehab to get back to walking, talking, eating and swallowing.

But Dickinson proved them all wrong and they couldn’t have been happier for her. When she left a Rochester rehab facility for Covid patients today, the nurses and aides presented her with balloons. She was at the Unity Specialty Hospital, St. Mary’s campus.

“They told me I was their success Story,” Dickinson said today when she came home to Reynolds Street in Albion.

She received many hugs from friends and family. Then she was happy to sit outside her home in the fresh air and sunshine.

“I am feeling great,” she said. “I am determined to get back to good health.”

Sue Dickinson, left, is greeted by her mother, Marjorie Condoluci after getting home today after about two months in the hospital and then 2 1/2 weeks in rehab facility.

Neighbors lined Reynolds Street with balloons and decorated the street in front of Dickinson’s home in chalk art, welcoming her back.

“We really care about her,” said her neighbor, Pam Reamer. “They’re really good people and we have known them for years.”

Sue was driven home by her husband, Bob, and they were greeted by the surprise reception with so many family and friends.

“She’s a miracle,” said her daughter, Natalie Kingdollar. “Everyone is just in awe of her progress.”

Sue Dickinson is hugged by granddaughter Izabella Kingdollar, 8, and then Sydney Dickinson, 4.

The family is thankful for local physician Tom Madejski, who wrote a prescription for Ivermectin after seeing success with some of his other patients. Once Dickinson had that medicine, she started to recover.

“The medicine helped to bring her back,” Kingdollar said. “And she just has tremendous willpower.”

Dickinson said thoughts of her family, including four grandchildren, kept her pushing hard to get back home.

“I am blessed for sure,” she said.

The family has a GoFundMe account set up to help with medical expenses. Click here for more information.

Sue Dickinson received a big welcome home today on Reynolds Street in Albion.

Neighbors lined the street with balloons for Dickinson.

Dickinson’s family is overjoyed to have her back home.

Library announces extended hours, including on Saturday

Press Release, Hoag Library

ALBION – The Hoag Library of the Swan Library Association has two open positions on the Board of Trustees.

Interested candidates should submit a petition, available at the library circulation desk, signed by at least 20 adults residing in the library service area by 7 p.m. on April 5. Elections will be held May 3 from noon to 7 p.m. with results announced at the Annual Meeting immediately following. All library service area residents are eligible to vote and attend the Annual Meeting.

Also, effective Saturday, March 27, Hoag Library will no longer limit visits to 15 minutes and updated building hours will be as follows:

• Monday, Tuesday, Thursday:10 a.m. to 6 p.m.
• Wednesday: 10 a.m. to 8 p.m.
• Friday: 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.
• Saturday: 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.

The building is open for browsing, copy/fax/print/scan, and computer lab use (please note that the computer lab closes 15 minutes before the building).

Exciting plans are underway for this year’s 2021 Summer Reading Program ‘Tails and Tales.’ Stay tuned to our website and social media outlets for updates.

Department sending police reform plan to state by April 1

Photo by Tom Rivers: Albion Police Department Sgt. Brandon Annable, left, and Lt. David Mogle are pictured outside the Albion police station on Platt Street.

ALBION – The Albion Police Department is working on a police reform plan and wants to hear from the community how the department can better serve local residents and business owners.

The department has a five-question survey online for people to offer feedback and rate the department’s services. Click here to see the survey.

The Police Department has compiled a police reform and reinvention plan (click here) that needs to be sent to the state by April 1. The plan is expected to be voted on by the Village Board next week.

David Mogle, lieutenant with the Albion PD, said the plan will be a working document that can be modified in the future.

“We expect to build on this,” he said.

Mogle and Sgt. Brandon Annable have been meeting with a committee to discuss Albion PD policies and ways to help the department better connect with the community. One of the survey questions asks if residents would like to see officers at more events in the community.

The committee working with the Police Department already has ideas to help officers connect with the community. The committee has suggested the PD not have tinted windows on the Chevrolet Tahoes driven by officers. Mogle said as those vehicles are rotated out the replacements won’t have tinted windows in the future.

The committee also suggested the Albion PD have more officers spend time in school buildings. The department currently has a dedicated school resource officer, Chris Glogowski. He has worked at the school district since February 2019, with the district contributing $81,250 annually to the village to have the officer dedicated to the schools.

More officers could spend time in the schools with the district’s approval and if it works with the Police Department’s staffing, Mogle said. Those officers could spend part of a shift with the school resource officer, Mogle said.

The Albion PD responds to about 4,000 to 5,000 calls annually. The department at full staffing has 13 full-time officers. It currently is down one officer, and will be at 11 when Police Chief Roland Nenni retires on March 31. The PD runs two 12-hour shifts, the first platoon from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m., and second platoon, from 6 p.m. to 6 a.m.

Nenni has led a department that far exceeds the annual state requirements for training. Albion officers do annual training with firearms, use of force, updates in laws such as bail reform and “Raise the Age,” Emergency Vehicle Operation Course, Stinger Spike Strips (vehicle pursuit termination efforts), administering Narcan, using tourniquets and other First Aid, and defensive tactics, Taser and use of less lethal bean bag shotgun, reality-based training focused on de-escalation, Bloodborne pathogens, and active shooter training.

The department has long banned the use of chokeholds. It has a policy against racial-based profiling. The Albion PD also is looking to add a Racial Justice training, the department states in its reform and reinvention plan.

Even after the plan is submitting to the state, Mogle said the Albion PD intends to meet frequently with the committee to hear if there are community concerns and how they can be best addressed.

Photos by Tom Rivers

ALBION – The VFW Post in Albion reached its 75^th anniversary on Nov. 19, 2020. The Post hasn’t been able to have a celebration for the milestone due to Covid-19 restrictions and concerns. However, the Post’s leaders on Wednesday acknowledged the 75 years during its monthly meeting.

Pictured outside the Post on Platt Street include from left: Orville Preston, chaplain; Mike Donahue, trustee; Mark Roberts, past commander; Matt Passarell, current commander; Joe Gehl, trustee; Kevin Christy, quartermaster; and Gary Befus, trustee.

The VFW Post works with the American Legion on setting flags on about 2,000 veterans’ graves annually. The VFW also provides scholarships and helps organize the annual Memorial Day observance.

Matt Passarell, the current commander, praised the efforts of the VFW members since the post’s founding. He thanked the current members for continuing to serve at the post and serve the community.

“The 75^th anniversary is an impressive milestone,” Passarell said during Wednesday’s monthly board meeting. “A lot of this can be attributed to people from long ago who wanted a VFW post in Albion.”

The Veterans of Foreign Wars national office recognized the local VFW with a Diamond Jubilee Award on Nov. 19, which was the 75th anniversary of the post’s founding.

“In special commemoration and grateful recognition of its seventy-five years of exceptional service to the nation and its veterans throughout its seven and one-half decades of dedicated support for the programs and purposes of the Veterans of Foreign Wars,” the citation read.

Harold “Hal” Roesch, II, commander-in-chief of the national VFW, sent a letter of congratulations to the VFW.

“The members of VFW Post 4635 are a pillar of support for Albion, New York,” Roesch wrote in his letter. “Year after year, you have provided superb public service to others. You provide an invaluable network of service to those who have borne the battle, as well as to their families, and you advance the health and well-being of those who bear the burden of defending our nation and our way of life.”

VFW leaders pause for a prayer during Wednesday’s monthly board meeting.