Photos by Tom Rivers

ALBION – The Albion Strawberry Festival Parade included about 70 different units during the energetic processional that lasted 1 hour, 45 minutes, starting at Albion Central School and concluding at the Main Street lift bridge.

The parade and festival featured a Santa Claus theme in honor of Charles W. Howard, who founded a school for Santas in Albion. He ran that school from 1937 until his death in 1966.

The top photo shows Santa on a sleigh on a 1937 Ford truck. The Albion Betterment Committee won one of the “Best Use of Theme” awards for its float.

The Santa in this photo is a graduate of the Charles W. Howard Santa Claus School. The Betterment Committee is working on a memorial for Howard in downtown Albion.

Parade judges have announced the winners of several categories:

• Best use of theme (2 winners) – In addition to the Betterment Committee, judges wanted to recognize Holy Family Parish for its float near the beginning of the parade. Parishioners dressed as elves and in Christmas outfits to set the tone for a fun parade.

• Most original – Faith Alliance Church with its float promoting its upcoming “Maker Fun Factory Vacation Bible School” from Tuesday through Sunday on July 11 to July 16.

• Best band – The Batavia High School Marching Band wowed the judges with the size of the band and the patriotic music that was part of its show. The band is led by director Jane Haggett. Batavia generally doesn’t perform in the Albion parade. Judges were also impressed by the high school bands from Albion and Pembroke.

• Best cheer/dance – Gotta Dance by Miss Amy had a big group of dancers who maintained high-energy dancing despite the heat during the parade. This is Gotta Dance’s 20^th anniversary, and 20^th year of participating in the parade.

• Best public safety agency (fire department, police, ambulance) – The Albion Fire Department had strong representation from its members marching in the parade (including Jan Cheverie in front carrying flag), and also had a lineup of very clean fire trucks – and two dalmatian dogs.

• Best classic car – 1954 Chevrolet Bel Air owned by Pat Shelp. Her husband Brad is shown driving the car during the parade. Jerome Pawlak, honorary festival chairman, rides in the passenger’s seat.

• Best wooden boat – This 1960 Penn Yan Coquette is a 14-foot boat. It has been in the Papadinoff family for 55 years. Angel Papadinoff of Medina purchased it in 1962. The boat is now owned by Joanne Shippey. The boat was recently restored and cruises local lakes, the Erie Canal and the Finger Lakes.

• Best use of humor – Ridge Road Express, which provides transportation services for Albion Central School, put a big Rudolph nose and antlers on the front of a school bus. Ridge Road Express welcomed people to apply for positions as bus drivers.

• Special recognition/community service (3 recognized)

The judges wanted to recognize the Holley-Kendall Marching Band for the band’s rebirth. Holley and Kendall both have strong marching band traditions. They have restarted the marching band program this year under the direction of Zachary Busch, Hanna Bock and Drum Major Kayla Thrower. The band presented music from the 1960 classic Western, The Magnificent Seven.

Donate Life is new to the parade. The organization promotes organ donations, and is led locally by Lori Laine, whose husband Tom received a liver transplant in July 2014.

4-H for its efforts to promote its 100^th anniversary this year.

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Photos by Tom Rivers

ALBION – It may be a hot, sunny day in June, but Albion was happy to embrace a Santa Claus and Christmas theme today during the Strawberry Festival. The top photo shows the display by Holy Family Parish, a whimsical Rudolph with kids dressed as elves. It set the tone for a fun parade this morning.

The 31^st annual festival chose to have a Santa Claus and Charles W. Howard theme in honor of the Albion man who started a school for Santa Claus. Howard ran the school from 1937 until his death in 1966. The school continues today in his name at Midland, Michigan.

The Albion Betterment Committee is working to raise funds for a memorial for Charles Howard in downtown Albion. The Betterment Committee is hoping to have a bronze statue erected for “The Dean of Santas.”

The Betterment Committee gives Santa a ride in sleigh on a 1937 Ford truck owned and driven by Dan Parker. The Santa on the sleigh is a graduate of the Charles W. Howard Santa Claus School.

Charles Howard’s granddaughter, Jane Holland, served as parade marshal of the parade. Holland is an interior designer. She credits her grandfather for instilling creativity, a work ethic and love of community in his family.

These classic cars head up Main Street, which was decorated with Albion’s Christmas banners for the two-day festival.

Puppy Palace owner Anita Platt drives this vehicle with a dog wearing antlers in the parade.

The Master’s Hands Puppeteers, a Christian ministry in Lyndonville, wore antlers and red Rudolph noses.

Matt and Jessica Panek spread some cheer for Panek’s Pickin’ Patch in Albion.

Emma McQuillan works on her Santa-themed chalk art.

Evan Steier appeared as “The Strawberry” in this morning’s 5K/8K race that included about 200 runners. Each year, someone dresses as a strawberry with prizes going to the runners who can beat the costumed competitor.

The inflatable Santa for Ace Hardware heads up Main Street during the parade.

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ALBION – A Bronze tablet listing the names of 24 soldiers from Orleans County who died in World War I was rededicated Friday at the County Courthouse.

Tim Archer, the service learning teacher at Albion, addresses a crowd during the dedication program at the courthouse. The marker was originally installed at the courthouse but was removed, and later was in possession of the American Legion. That veterans group formed when soldiers returned from World War I nearly 100 years ago.

The American Legion in Albion group sold its post building on Main Street to Community Action, and relocated to the former Scottish Pines golf course on Gaines Basin Road.

The Legion wanted to find a proper home for the memorial tablet, and reached out to Archer. His seventh grade students were doing research on local soldiers involved in World War I. The memorial tablet had been in storage.

The 3-by-5-foot plaque lists the names of soldiers from central Orleans – Barre, Albion, Gaines and Carlton – who died in the war. They include: John D. Arnett, Albert Beary, Jesse S. Brooks, John A. Butler, Leo. F. Christopher, Oliver E. Clement, Ronald F. Corey, Robert B. Densmore, Harry H. Dibley, Frederick Green, John Kurzawski, Martin Larwood, Louis Monacelli, Dewey Mott, Benjamin A. Needles, Leonard Osborne, Adolfo Passarelli, Stanley Rutkowski, James A. Sheret, Egbert Sheret, John H. Stevens, Alexander Wilson and Stanley P. Zyglarski.

“These men witnessed what no citizen, man, woman, or child, could ever imagine,” said County Historian Matthew Ballard. “A war that raged in the French countryside thousands of miles from home, exposing men to terrible disease, horrific weapons, chlorine and mustard gas, barbed wire and trenches, the list goes on.”

Seventh-grader Aurora Serafin was among the speakers during the rededication program.  The Albion students had considered having the tablet placed at Mount Albion Cemetery, but decided the best spot for it would be its original location at the courthouse.

Ballard praised the students for leading the effort to have the memorial back on public display.

“Today we commend the work of Mr. Archer and the seventh-grade service learning class, for yet again taking a significant and irreplaceable piece of history once forgotten, and returning it to the community,” Ballard said. “This project went through several iterations, with ideas of erecting a new monument on which to place this commemorative tablet. In the end, it found its way back home, to the place it was intended to rest up all along. Albion once again has a memorial to honor the lives lost during the Great War.”

American Legion Sheret Post #35 Commander Wally Skrypnik rings the bell each time student Alyson Knaak says one of the names of the fallen soldiers from central Orleans during World War I.

Students Myleigh Miller and Sydney Mulka sing “America the Beautiful.”

These American Legion members travelled from Geneva to serve as the Color Guard at the ceremony. They are wearing World War I reproduction uniforms. Most American Legion posts were started by veterans returning from World War I. The Legion is celebrating its 100th anniversary in 2019.

Gaines Town Historian Al Capurso sings, “Till We Meet Again,” during the ceremony.

The memorial was rededicated during opening day of the annual Albion Strawberry Festival.

One of the American Legion members from Geneva salutes while “Taps” is played at the end of the ceremony.

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Photos by Tom Rivers

ALBION – Ernesto Sinchico of Syracuse, center in back, sets up his display of Incan art and clothing from South America. Sinchico is one of 84 craft vendors in the Strawberry Festival, which opened today and continues through Saturday evening with music and many activities.

A 13-foot-long Chinook salmon is parked by Main Street at West Bank Street, where there is a trout pond.

Andrea Falsone, 19, of Lockport works on her chalk art creation. There will be a chalk art contest on Saturday that is open to the community. Falsone is working today and Saturday on her artwork.

This year’s Strawberry Festival has a Charles W. Howard theme in honor of the Albion man who ran a Santa Claus School from 1937 to 1966.

The food court is packed with vendors and people around lunchtime today.

Allen Lackey cooks French fries for the Masonic Lodge in Albion at about noon today. Many of the local service clubs are selling food at the festival.

Janell Thompson, co-owner of Marva’s Clothes and Beauty Supplies, cooks Jamaican jerk chicken and pork.

Cierra Lang of Medina gets her booth ready to sell her fitness apparel. She owns Fear the Horizen. She created all of the designs on the shirts.

Allison Stanley, left, and Michele Persia are making their debut as crafters at the festival. Persia makes primitive signs and Stanley sells homemade scarves and wreaths.

Jimmy Z’s brought a food truck to the festival.

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Provided photo

ALBION – The leaders of the Albion Strawberry Festival have named Jerome Pawlak and his family the honorary chair of the upcoming Strawberry Festival on Friday and Saturday.

Pawlak, second from left, is pictured with Karen Sawicz, festival co-chairwoman; Brad Shelp, parade advisor; and Michael Bonafede, coordinating co-chairman. Sawicz and Shelp are also members of the Albion Rotary Club, which sponsors the festival.

Pawlak will be in the parade at 10 a.m. on Saturday. He and his family were honored for their years of running a local grocery store, and for supporting numerous community causes.

Pawlak also has been an active volunteer. He the former chairman of the Orleans Economic Development Agency, president of the Albion Main Street Alliance, and has been active in the United Way, Boy Scouts and as a Little League coach.

“We wanted to recognize Jerome and the Pawlak family for their contributions to the festival and for their community service, for their ‘service above self,’ and for their generosity,” Bonafede said.

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Photos by Tom Rivers

ALBION – Jared Hollinger and Xitally Rosario, members of the Class of 2017, light candles during Sunday’s Baccalaureate ceremony at the First Presbyterian Church.

In lighting a candle, the graduates were urged to be lights in the world. The act also was another way of helping to “anchor” the graduates to their small town as they embark on the next journey of their lives, said Aleka Schmidt, president of the Albion Ministerium and pastor of the First Baptist Church.

The Albion Ministerium organizes the program and invites students and their families. Many communities have stopped doing the church service for graduates, but Albion continues to do the event.

“We are a faith-filled community and that is still core to our small-town values,” Schmidt said.

Calandra Prentice reads a Scripture, Philippians 4:4-8, during the service. “Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable-if anything is excellent or praiseworthy-think about such things.”

Father Richard Csizmar, pastor of Holy Family Parish, addresses the graduates and urged God’s blessing upon them.

Evan Steier sings “You Raise Me Up” by Josh Groban. The services also included two hymns, “Here I Am, Lord” and “The Spirit Sends Us Forth to Serve.”

About half the class attended the voluntary program. Schmidt said the churches wanted the graduates to receive a blessing from the the faith community.

The Rev. Twyla Boyer, pastor of the First Presbyterian Church, shared the message. She said graduates have plans for life, but God may lead them in other directions. When Boyer graduated she was planning to go on to become a surgeon or neurosurgeon. But she said God had other plans for her life.

“Changing you mind, figuring it out along the way is OK,” she said. “God wants the best for each and every one of you.”

The soon-to-be graduates are pictured outside the Presbyterian Church. Sue Starkweather Miller tries to get their attention for a group photo.

The students appreciated the chance to get together as their high school careers wind down.

Chanyce Powell, a track star for Albion, hustles to join her classmates for the group photo.

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BUFFALO – A team of Albion fourth- and fifth-graders completed a 10-week training program today by completing a 5-kilometer race at the University of Buffalo.

The team from the Ronald L. Sodoma Elementary School participated in the program for the second year. Teachers Jen Lamont, back right, and April Griggs served as coaches for the 15 girls who met twice a week for training runs.

The Girls on the Run program aims to boost girls’ confidence and help them develop strong friendships.

For more on the program, click here.

The Albion girls are pictured in the rain just before the race started at 9:30 this morning.

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Photos by Tom Rivers

ALBION – Freeman Lattin, left, and Ethan Merrill work on painting the signs in Mount Albion cemetery this afternoon. The project includes 80 signs and is Lattin’s Eagle Scout community service project.

Freeman is about halfway done with removing the signs, repainting them, and then reattaching them to poles throughout the historic cemetery on Route 31. He expects it will take a few more workdays on Tuesday evenings and Sunday afternoons to get all of the painting done.

The signs used to be red, and are being repainted brown.

This photo from the March wind storm shows the red-colored cemetery signs.

Freeman ran cross country for Albion and the team had many training runs at the cemetery. Freeman noticed just how busy the cemetery was for people jogging, walking dogs or visiting the graves of loved ones.

“Mount Albion gets a lot of foot traffic,” he said. “The cemetery is really alive.”

Repainting the signs is a practical project that will be useful to the many cemetery visitors, Freeman said.

Ethan Merrill, a member of Troop 164, helped Lattin with the painting this afternoon. The Scouts have been removing the signs one section at a time in the cemetery. Some of the nuts and bolts are rusted and are being replaced.

Freeman, a member of Troop 164 in Albion, has been in Scouts for about a decade.

“I’ve made some of my best friends in Scouting,” he said.

He also appreciated the opportunities to go camping, including a 50-mile hike in Michigan and a hike in New Mexico at the Philmont Scout Ranch.

He will attend SUNY Albany in the fall to major in economics.

The cemetery chapel is being used for the work station where the signs get a double coat of paint. This photo shows, from left: Ethan Merrill, Freeman Lattin, Connor Zicari and Rick Merrill, assistant scout leader.

Connor Zicari, left, is the son of Jason Zicari, the cemetery superintendent. Connor is also one of Freeman’s best friends. “It’s nice to help out,” Connor said.

These signs are drying after getting a coat of paint.

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Photo by Tom Rivers

ALBION – The royalty for the next week’s Strawberry Festival has been named. The group includes, from left: Logan Poupore, prince; Carly Fox, queen; Donato Rosario, king; and Danielle Wyant, princess.

They will all be in the parade on Saturday, June 10, at 10 a.m. and serve as festival ambassadors, including at the Turtle Race at 2 p.m. on June 10 on the Erie Canal.

Each student had to write an essay, naming a highlight of Albion – a person, organization or event. Logan Poupere, a third grader, wrote about the Olde Dogge Inn and its pet adoption program, including stray dogs from Puerto Rico. Danielle Wyant, a fifth grader, wrote about Charles W. Howard, the Albion man who started a Santa School and served as a very prominent Santa, including at the Macy’s parade in New York City from 1948 to 1965. This year’s Strawberry Festival has a Santa and Charles W. Howard theme.

Carly Fox, a senior, wrote about Amy Sidari, owner of Gotta Dance by Miss Amy, and her efforts to give children and the community a venue to perform through her dance studio, a cabaret and an annual Christmas program in memory of Nicholas Kovaleski.

Donato Rosario, a senior, wrote about the Albion school district, and the dedicated teachers and staff who have encouraged him to become a first-generation college student. Donato said the school’s internship program also helped him with his career goals. He did an internship with the Medina Fire Department and now wants to work as a paramedic and firefighter.

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ALBION – The Albion FFA held its annual year-end banquet on May 30. Students celebrated their accomplishments and thanked FFA alumni, volunteers and supporters. They also acknowledged outgoing FFA members and welcomed the new slate of 2017-2018 officers.

The 2017-2018 Albion FFA Officers include, from left:  Caleb Pettit (Parlimentarian), Benjamin Restivo (Historian), Justin Robinson (Student Advisor), Allision Graham (Sentinel), Alexis Bentley (Reporter), Harrison Brown (Treasurer), Riley Lear (Secretary), Bryce Pritchard (Vice President) and Garrett Derisley (President).

Outgoing President Emilie Barleben hands the gavel to incoming FFA President Garrett Derisley.

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Photos by Tom Rivers

ALBION – The Albion Department of Public Works put up banners this morning for next week’s Strawberry Festival. The top photo shows DPW workers Ron Ricker, right, and Jay Pahura putting up a banner on Main Street by the Episcopal Church. (The Pullman Memorial Universalist Church is in background.)

The DPW also put up several Christmas and Santa themed banners because the Strawberry Festival on June 9-10 has a theme in honor of Charles W. Howard, the Albion man who started a Santa Claus School and Christmas Park. Howard is considered the dean of Santas. A Santa school in Michigan continues in his name.

For more on the festival, click here.

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ALBION – Penny Nice, Regent of the Orleans Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR), joins Albion Middle School seventh grade Service Learning students Riley Hollenbeck and Zoe Cusson outside the Orleans County Courthouse.

The DAR donated funds to purchase a Cherokee Chief Dogwood tree in memoriam of the 24 soldiers from the Towns of Albion, Barre, Gaines, and Carlton who died during World War I.

The students will be re-dedicating a 3-by-5-foot bronze plaque at the Courthouse’s north entrance on Friday, June 9, at 3 p.m. The public is welcome to attend the ceremony.

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Photos by Tom Rivers

ALBION – Jenny Johnston marched with the Albion Fire Department during this morning’s Memorial Day Parade.

Her son Jason Johnston was 24 when he was killed on Dec. 26, 2009 in Arghandab, Afghanistan. He died from wounds sustained when insurgents attacked his unit with an improvised explosive device. Spc. Johnston was assigned to 2nd Battalion, 508th Parachute Infantry Regiment, 4th Brigade Combat Team, 82nd Airborne Division, Fort Bragg, N.C.

Jason was active in the Explorer program through the Albion Fire Department. He is the only Orleans County resident to die in combat in Afghanistan.

Angel Aldaco carries this sign while marching with members of the Knights of Columbus.

Richard Heard, a World War II veteran, was recognized during the parade.

Matt Passarell carries the American flag as part of the honor guard near the beginning of the parade.

Zack Baron carries the flag for Troop 164.

Many Girl Scouts, Brownies and Daisies were part of the parade.

State Assemblyman Steve Hawley, center, marched in the parade with other veterans, including Phil Warne, left, and Earl Schmidt.

Arella Ives and the Albion marching band performed their James Bond – 007 show for the crowd.

Shannon Broda, one of the drum majors, leads the band down Main Street.

The band finishes with a flourish during their performance in the parade.

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