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.

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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.

Photos by Cheryl Wertman

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.

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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.

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Photo courtesy of Susan Starkweather Miller

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.

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ALBION – The four classes at Charles D’Amico High School in Albion continued a homecoming tradition this morning with the hall decorating contest. Some of the classes have been working on the decorations and skits since the summer.

The top photo shows the sophomore class with a Lion King theme. Laiken Ricker, right, is one of the tour guides.

Seniors had a Toy Story theme. Every member of the class, including Heather Wood, had Potato Head decorations with their names.

Senior Nate Smith portrayed Woody and Victor Benjovsky is Buzz in the Toy Story skit.

Gary Simboli, a high school vocal teacher, plays Wheezy from Toy Story and sings, “You Got A Friend In Me.” The decorations and skit highlight each of the sporting teams, as well as other clubs, including the Masterminds.

Jessy Cruz and the juniors are all smiles after leading the judges through their hall, which had a theme from Beauty and the Beast.

Juniors lead judges through the hall. Pictured from left include Arella Ives, Hannah VanEpps, Enoch Martin and McKenna Boyer.

Freshmen decorated their hall with a Hollywood theme. Annabella Salisbury portrays Audrey Hepburn in leading judges through the hallway.

Seniors left their mark on this boat, which is displayed in front of the high school today.

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ALBION – The giant crayons in front of the Ronald L. Sodoma Elementary School are being replaced with pencils. (The top photo shows one of the crayons during an April 7 snowfall.)

The school district is upgrading the crayons as part of a capitol project. Albion wanted to keep the crayons but the molds for them are no longer available, said Michael Bonnewell, the district superintendent.

The molds for 16 of the pencils are in place and two are painted. The others are expected to be painted on Saturday. Some of the crayons will be painted red that across from the nurse’s office and two others will be painted purple to line up with the front doors of the school. The new pencils will not have character traits like the crayons.

Bonnewell said the pencils still work well with the atmosphere at the elementary school.

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Photos by Tom Rivers: Betty Christopher has a pizza ready to be served today for lunch in the high school. She has worked in Albion school cafeterias for 49 years. Today was her last day.

ALBION – It’s busy in the kitchen at Charles D’Amico High School. Betty Christopher is opening oven doors, putting in pizzas and trays of chicken patties.

She pulls out pizzas and patties, and checks the temperature to make sure the meat is fully cooked.

She slices pizzas and carries them to the lunch line.

It feels like a whirlwind, getting the food ready for about 225 students.

Christopher has worked in the school cafeteria for more than 49 years. This year was the start of her 50^th year. She was going to retire after last school year, but stayed a little longer to help train a replacement to start the school year.

But today was her last official day. (She hasn’t ruled out coming in as a substitute.)

“She has been the go-to person whenever someone has a question,” said her co-worker Terri Furmanski.

Christopher, 83, didn’t slow down on her last day. She likes the fast pace, but she admits the cement floors have taken a toll on her feet and legs.

“It’s just time,” she said about retirement.

Betty Christopher checks the temperature of the chicken patties after they came out of the oven. The cafeteria workers are employees of Sodexo.

It was 1968, when Betty Christopher was looking for a job where she could work after her kids went to school and be home after the school day.

She found that job in the school cafeteria. She worked out of what is now the middle school. Back then it was the middle and high school for students in grades 7 to 12. (A new high school was built in the early 1970s, and next-door school became a middle school-only.)

Christopher also worked out of the former grammar school on East Academy Street.

“It worked out very well for my family,” she said. “I knew what the kids were doing at school. I knew their teachers, and their friends.”

Christopher’s daughters include Sherri Piazza, a Spanish teacher in New Jersey; Mary Dunham, a registered nurse at Medina Memorial Hospital; and Allyn Christopher, an occupational therapist assistant at Medina Memorial.

When her kids got older, Christopher picked up more hours in the cafeteria. She is retiring as a supervisor/cook.

“I like being with the kids and the girls I work with,” she said. “I will miss the girls and the kids.”

Some of the cafeteria workers are pictured with Christopher on her last official day. They include, from left: Sharon Schlegel, Cynthia Davis, Brenda Wheeler, Betty Christopher and Terri Furmanski.

When Christopher started in 1968, there wasn’t a McDonalds or Burger King in Albion. Some students go for fast food for their school lunch, and many carry cups from Tim Hortons and Dunkin’ Donuts.

She preferred her early days on the job when there was more “home cooking.” She still hears from students from decades ago who loved her Sloppy Joe’s and hamburger gravy. The meals today have to meet nutritious standards with far less salt and sodium.

Brenda Wheeler, one of her co-workers, said Christopher will be sorely missed.

“She has been fantastic to work with,” Wheeler said. “She is a super person.”

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Police and DPW will do in short-term, with village considering part-timer with training and equipment

ALBION – The Village of Albion will have someone serving as a crossing guard on Thursday morning and afternoon with a goal of having a person trained for the part-time role, Mayor Dean London said during tonight’s Village Board meeting.

There has been an outcry in the community since Sunday night when the school notified parents there wouldn’t be a crossing guard out on Monday morning. The village had been staffing the position for many years but eliminated the position during budget talks last spring.

Cutting the job saved the village about $4,500. Mayor London apologized during today’s Village Board meeting for not notifying school officials about the crossing guard until last Tuesday at about 9 p.m. The first day of school was last Thursday. Albion police officers served as crossing guards for two school days last week.

“I did state it was my fault,” London said. “You should have been notified sooner.”

Margy Brown, the Board of Education president, said the school would help pay for the position or provide a trained person. She asked the village to have a crossing guard in an interim basis until a solution could be reached for a trained person to take over. General municipal law says a crossing guard is a village’s responsibility, not a school district’s. Brown said the school district wants to help ensure there will be a trained person helping students get through a busy intersection.

“We are committed to doing it, to having a crossing guard at the school,” Brown told Village Board members. “I want to make it crystal clear that the Albion school district is committed to student safety.”

She also said the notice so close to the start of the school year was difficult for the school district. In the future, Brown said the school should be involved in conversations that affect students.

London agreed with her assessment. After the budget was adopted in late April, “it was out of sight, out of mind,” London said. He forgot to follow up with the school district.

The board agreed to have police officers or the Department of Public Works serve as crossing guards during the morning rush. Police Chief Roland Nenni is a state certified instructor for traffic safety. He said police officers and the DPW already have training in directing traffic.

Nenni said pedestrian safety is priority for the police department. In observing the traffic flow and students crossing Route 31 the past three days, Nenni said traffic flow is a problem near the intersection of Route 31 and McKinistry Street.

Traffic can get backed up near the intersection, and some children will prefer to cross the street near CRFS or Tastee Freeze ice cream stand. There aren’t cross walks there.

Village Trustee Eileen Banker said parents need to tell their children to cross the street at the cross walk. She said it is frustrating for many drivers on McKinistry Street when students don’t use sidewalks and instead walk right in the road.

This morning Albion police stopped four drivers for not yielding to pedestrians in the cross walk. Nenni said it can be confusing to drivers and pedestrians for who has the right of way. If the pedestrian is on the sidewalk, the driver has the right of way. But once the pedestrian leaves the curb, the driver needs to yield, Nenni said.

“What we really need is a good program there and to train it up,” he said. “We have huge pedestrian traffic at that time.”

He wants to better train a crossing guard to help with the traffic flow and also ensure pedestrians can cross safely.

“You need the right person who is committed to being there and is focused,” he said.

Nenni is worried if a police officer was committed to being there that would make it difficult for officers to respond to high priority calls. He said police received 244 calls last year during that morning school rush.

London said village officials will meet with the school soon to discuss a long-term solution for the position.

The mayor said he wants to have someone fully trained with the proper equipment, including stop signs.

“In the short term it will be the police department and possibly other village employees until we can find someone with the proper techniques we’re looking for and the proper equipment,” London said.

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ALBION – School district leaders want to help the village of Albion bring back a paid crossing guard, even if that includes helping to pay the $4,500 annual cost.

Margy Brown, president of the Board of Education, said she is concerned about the safety of students crossing the busy intersection at Route 31 and McKinstry Street.

“We need to work together to come to a resolution,” Brown said during this evening’s Board of Education meeting.

The nine-member board was unanimous in approving a resolution asking the Village Board and Mayor Dean London to reconsider the decision to eliminate the crossing guard position.

The school was notified last week the crossing guard wouldn’t be back this school year in a cost-cutting measure.

The village has the sole authority to hire the crossing guard, according to general municipal law, Board of Education members said. However, the school could help cover the cost and is open to other solutions to have a crossing guard back in front of the middle school, Brown said.

She wants the issue resolved soon. In the Board of Education resolution, board members asked for the Village Board to respond by Thursday. The Village Board meets this Wednesday at 7 p.m. at the Village Hall on East Bank Street.

“I’m worried this could drag on for weeks and weeks,” she said. “This needs to be taken care of ASAP.”

Michael Bonnewell, the district superintendent, said the school district wants to help the village bring the crossing guard back.

“We believe it is an important piece,” Bonnewell said about the crossing guard position. “Hopefully we will have a more palatable solution. It is one of the most congested areas in the village every morning that I see.”

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