Village also expects to try again for Restore NY funding

File photo by Tom Rivers: Downtown Albion is pictured last winter. The Main Street lift bridge has been closed for nearly two years, reducing traffic for some of the Main Street businesses.

ALBION – The Village of Albion submitted applications last year for the $4.5 million Forward NY program and for up to $10 million in a Restore NY grant.

Albion was denied in both applications in what grant writer Jay Grasso said are very competitive programs among municipalities looking to help their downtown business districts, and tackle other housing and tourism initiatives.

Grasso, owner of G & G Municipal Consulting and Grant Writing, was encouraged by the strength of Albion’s applications and he wants to try again for the state funding. He said municipalities that receive those larger grants often miss the cut the first time.

The Village Board has scheduled a tentative 6 p.m. public meeting on Sept. 12 at the Village Hall to hear from building owners and residents about the programs.

“There was good feedback to the applications,” Grasso said during Wednesday’s Village Board meeting. “I think the village is primed for it.”

Grasso said the state wants to see bigger “transformational” projects that can be a catalyst for other investment in the community. The projects don’t have to be in the downtown.

The applications last year included a trail that extended from the downtown to Mount Albion Cemetery where the village sought funding to replace the roof on the chapel.

Albion’s Restore NY grant application last year totaled $11 million in projects. That list has Grasso convinced Albion should pursue the $10 million Downtown Revitalization Initiative grant, rather than the $4.5 million Forward NY grant.

Once he hears from business owners, non-profit organizations and village officials about potential projects, Grasso said he expects to submit a letter of intent in October to apply for either the Forward NY or larger DRI. He also said he will go after the Restore NY grant.

The Restore NY program could bring up to $10 million to revitalize distressed commercial and residential sites, providing 90 percent of the costs. The program funds reconstruction, structural repairs, repair and replacement of mechanical systems, energy efficiency upgrades, and demolition.

Forward NY or the DRI provides matching funds for building owners to create residential space or upgrade facades and make other improvements. The village could receive 100 percent funding towards public-benefit projects, such as upgraded parking lots.

Potential projects for building owners could include:

• new construction (residential, mixed use, hotel, etc.)
• renovation of existing buildings
• facade improvements
• renovation of new retail, office, co-working, commercial, industrial, recreational or cultural use

Press Release, Albion Central School

ALBION – With the 2024-25 school year quickly approaching, the Albion Central School District continues to be deeply concerned regarding the Village of Albion’s decision to eliminate its crossing guard.

The village budget was passed on Thursday, April 25, and the district was notified of the change in early June, not by Village of Albion trustees, but by the Albion Police Department. According to Mickey Edwards, Superintendent of ACS, it was Lt. Brandon Annable, the position’s previous supervisor, who called to notify the district of the change.

As they were notified in June, and Albion school district had already passed its budget that May, the District and its Board of Education were shocked.

“No one wants to see any of our students injured while crossing the road,” said ACS Board of Education President Wayne Wadhams.

“The safety of our students has to come first,” ACS Board of Education Vice President Linda Weller said. “All students get bussed, except those closest to the school and those are village students who need a crossing guard.”

As soon as they were made aware the village had not included a crossing guard in its annual budget, Edwards said the district looked into hiring for the position directly.

“We have always prioritized the safety and security of our students,” Edwards stated. “Putting students at risk is never an option.”

“I understand that money is tight but I don’t think that our children’s safety is a place to cut funding,” BOE member Kurt Schmitt said. “These are village children that are walking home and we need to keep them safe. If the school was legally allowed to hire the crossing guard, we would.”

It was during this time Bond, Schoeneck & King, the District’s law firm, advised that, due to section 208-A of the NYS General Municipal Law (click here), the school district is not legally allowed to directly employ the primary crossing guard.

Bond, Schoeneck & King also advised the district that the only time in which it is allowed to enter an agreement with a village or police department, with the purpose of directly hiring a crossing guard, is to increase the number of school crossing guards already employed by the respective village or police department.

Consequently, for this to be possible, the village or police department would already need to have a crossing guard on their payroll.

For at least the last decade, the Village of Albion has employed the crossing guard that has been supervised by Albion PD. In the absence of an employed guard, Albion Police Chief David Mogle has said that his officers will help to provide coverage.

“We are going to do the best we can,” Chief Mogle said. “We will do what we have to do to protect the kids.”

The Albion PD has two officers on duty at a time, meeting the department’s minimum staffing requirement, to help ensure the officers’ safety when attending calls. According to Chief Mogle, while the department tends to be busier in the afternoon there is still the potential for the officer filling in as the crossing guard to be called away, no matter the time of day.

“We hope that the school and the village are able to hash it out and find a dedicated guard to fill the position,” Chief Mogle said.

This is not the first time the Albion BOE has discussed this issue, according to Weller.

“The first time was in 2017 when the village first tried to get rid of the crossing guard and the district tried to work with the village to find a solution,” Weller explained. “As a Board, we thought this matter had been solved as it has been a village budgeted item since before I was on the board. This isn’t a new law, why they (the village trustees) chose to cut it out of the budget this year, only the village can answer that.”

“This is the second time, since I’ve been on the school board, that this issue has come up,” Wadhams added. “We need to find a long-lasting solution to prevent this from becoming an annual problem.”

ACS’s School Resource Officer Deputy Matthew Prawel agreed and emphasized that drop-off and pick-up times are an especially important part of his day.

“It should come as no surprise that our students’ most vulnerable moments are when they are outside our buildings during arrival and dismissal times,” Prawel said. “My presence is most needed when students are getting on and off buses to ensure the safety of our students as they enter and leave our buildings.”

His job isn’t over once students have boarded or unloaded from the buses, he is also in charge of ensuring transportation on and off campus runs smoothly.

“My focus is on making sure our students, staff and visitors are all safe while they are at Albion Central Schools,” Prawel said. “I strap on the yellow traffic vest twice a day for both our Middle School and High School dismissal times. For me to cover the crosswalk, in addition to the district’s driveways, would not be possible and leave people at risk.”

Morning arrival isn’t any easier, according to the District’s SRO.

“Drop-off time is especially difficult as the avenue is used heavily for people commuting to work at that time,” Prawel said.

“Whether the school was on the avenue or not, that would be a high-risk area for someone crossing Route 31 in the mornings.”

The school district and Prawel emphasize the importance of the work and dedication of the Albion Police Department and its ongoing assistance in keeping our school and village community safe.

“We are incredibly grateful to Chief Mogle and the rest of the Albion Police Department, for continuing to be great partners in prioritizing the safety of our students, staff, and greater Albion community,” Edwards said.

“I couldn’t do it without their support,” Prawel agreed. “The Albion Police Department is integral in ensuring our school and village community remain safe.”

Photos by Tom Rivers

ALBION – About 100 people gather outside the chapel at Mount Albion Cemetery at the start of a cemetery tour on Sunday evening. The Ingersoll Memorial Foundation is in front.

The event closed out the four cemetery tours organized by the Orleans County Historical Association. Other tours included West Ridgeway Cemetery, the Orleans County “Poorhouse Cemetery” in Albion, St. Mary’s Cemetery in Medina.

The Mount Albion tour drew the biggest crowd. People were able to go inside the chapel which is dedicated in memory of former Albion Mayor Donna Rodden.

Albion Village Historian Sue Starkweather Miller led the tour with retired county historian Bill Lattin. Starkweather Miler said the chapel from 1875 needs significant repairs to the roof and other improvements.

A committee has been formed to spearhead fundraising for the project, which could top $100,000. Besides Starkweather Miller, other committee members include Tony Wynn, Toni Plummer, Tim Archer and David Snell.

Sue Starkweather Miller discusses how on Aster Day people decorate the gravestones of loved ones with asters, flowers which are a sign of remembrance. Aster Day used to be a big celebration at Mount Albion around Sept. 15.

Mount Albion was developed in the rural cemetery movement, creating a park-like setting. It was named to the National Register of Historic Places in 1976, the first site in Orleans County on the National Register.

There are about 22,000 people buried in the cemetery but not all have gravestones. The clerk’s book at the cemetery keeps a record of everyone at Mount Albion, Lattin said.

Sue Starkweather Miller shares about Donna Strickland Rodden, the first woman to serve as mayor of Albion. She was in that role from 1973 to 1983. She was a big proponent of historic preservation and pushed to have Mount Albion and the downtown business district named to the national registers of historic places.

She was a “brilliant woman” who earned two doctorates and also a master’s degree in journalism. Rodden worked in New York City before returning to her hometown where she was a school librarian and class advisor, as well as the village mayor. She also ran a gift shop and wrote a song about Mount Albion that was played at the cemetery tour called, “Top of the Tower.”

Bill Lattin holds a carved frame made by Jerome Gumaer, who lived from 1843 to 1912. Gumaer carved the frame while a prisoner of war at the Libby Prison at the Confederate capital of Richmond, Va.

Sue Starkweather Miller discusses the life of Henry “Hank” Porter who worked as a chief illustrator for Disney. Porter joined Disney in 1936, and worked on Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, including the scene when the Dwarfs leave the mine singing “Heigh-Ho, Heigh-Ho, it’s home from work we go.”

He was part of the team that created Fantasia and Donald Duck. Porter also is credited with the iconic looping “D” is Disney’s signature.

During the World War II era, he was one of Disney’s most prolific artists, creating more than a thousand insignia and emblems for the military, other US Government agencies and charity organizations involved in the war effort, according to an article in Cartoon Research.

Porter died of cancer at age 50 in 1950. Lattin showed a self portrait by Porter in 1921 when he was in art school at the Chicago Academy of Fine Arts. Porter painted himself lighting a cigarette.

Bill Lattin shows a button that has been in his family for generations. Robert Capstick, a Civil War soldier, gave it to Lattin’s great-grandmother Sarah Harding who used to live on West Countyhouse Road. Capstick was destitute but he had the brass button and gave it to Harding in appreciation for nursing him back to health.

The button is from the inauguration of George Washington in 1789 and declares “Long Live The President.” Capstick is buried at Mount Albion.

Sue Starkweather Miller highlights George Bullard, a state assemblyman and attorney. He was very active in local civic affairs. In his will he left 24 acres to the Village of Albion that became Bullard Park. The park opened in 1928.

Bill Lattin speaks at monument for the Whitmore family, which he said is one of his favorites at Mount Albion. The monument is shaped like a houses. It has oaks and acorns, which are symbols for strength and endurance.

Lattin said the monument reflects the patriarchy of the day. It lists the name of the man, Samuel S. Whitmore (1802 to 1883), in big bold letters. His spouse, Laura Nowlin, is referred to as “his wife” in smaller letters. Very seldom, if ever, is there a monument that lists a woman’s spouse as “her husband,” Lattin noted.

Mount Albion was considered a pre-eminent place to be buried, a “status cemetery,” Lattin said. Many people who weren’t from Albion opted to have their grave site at Mount Albion, he said.

Sue Starkweather Miller discusses the life of George D. Harris, a prominent local builder and contractor. His office was on the canal. He died in 1918 at the age of 50.

The painting is by Peter West, who gave it to Harris in exchange for work. The rod and reel in the painting were owned by Harris. (West’s grave was also a stop on the cemetery tour. He was a professional animal painter.)

Three of Harris’s granddaughters attended the tour on Sunday, and his grandson listened by speaker phone.

As a contractor Harris built many new homes in Albion and redesigned others, including the former Swan Library, the Trolley Depot next to Swan Library, Jacob Landauer’s home on West State Street, the Baptist Parsonage, remodeled the Citizen’s National Bank, remodeled the Village Hall, built the Arnold Gregory Memorial Hospital and built a high school at the two bridges in Carlton which has since been demolished.

ALBION – Village Trustee Greg Bennett wants to see the school zone, where the speed limit is reduced to 15 or 20 miles per hour, be extended from East Avenue down McKinstry south to at least the railroad tracks.

Bennett lives close by on Chamberlain Street. He sees how McKinstry is a popular spot for kids walking to school in the morning and back to home in the afternoon.

The school zone is currently on East Avenue with a 20 mph maximum. Bennett wants that slower speed limit on McKinstry, too.

He said many drivers bypass East Avenue in the morning and afternoon to avoid the slower speed limit on East Avenue. That puts more vehicles on McKinstry, when kids are on foot.

Police Chief David Mogle said a school zone may have to be on the road right in front of the school. He said more research is needed.

It’s possible the village could just post a slower speed limit on McKinstry if it can’t be designated a school zone.

Fire Chief Jeremy Graham said more pedestrians have been hit on McKinstry than East Avenue in recent years.

The board plans to discuss the issue in more detail at the next board meeting on Sept.11.

ALBION – There is no one in the position of crossing guard with the new school year a week away.

The Village Board cut the position as part of the 2024-25 budget that was approved on April 25. However, Trustee Greg Bennett said that school district wasn’t notified about that until after the fact. Bennett was elected on March 19 and started April 1. However, he said he wasn’t aware the crossing guard was to be eliminated in the budget.

“It was a surprise to me and it was a surprise to them (the school district),” Bennett said during this evening’s Village Board meeting.

The village has borne the expense of the position, about $5,000 a year. The school district believes it is not allowed to legally pay for the position and it has to fall on the village.

Deputy Mayor Joyce Riley said the village can’t afford the expense and the school district should pay for the crossing guard who is at the intersection of Route 31 and McKinstry Street from 7 to 8 a.m., and 2 to 3 p.m. on school days.

Bennett said he is concerned the school year could begin without a person helping to stop traffic when kids need to cross the street.

“It’s a pivotal position in our school and community,” Bennett said. “We’re trying to find a resolution.”

The Albion Police Department has agreed to fill in the role to start the year, although the APD could be called away from the scene on other calls.

Bennett said a back-up plan needs to be in place, perhaps with the school resource officer stepping in if Albion police officers need to respond to another emergency or law enforcement call. The SRO is a deputy with the Orleans County Sheriff’s Office.

Bennett said the village should have let the school know the crossing guard was in danger of being cut during the budget process, not after it was finalized.

Riley said the school district hasn’t been great at communication either with the village. She said the district didn’t let village officials know it was soliciting proposals from other law enforcement agencies when it switched from the APD to the Sheriff’s Office to start the school year in 2022.

Bennett and village attorney John Gavenda said there may be language in the law to allow the school district to pay for the position. Gavenda said it is “confusing” and may only allow for an “add-on” or a secondary crossing guard. More research is needed, he and Bennett said.

Bennett also suggested that the village and district look at splitting the costs of the position.

ALBION – The final event in an 11-concert summer series won’t happen on Wednesday because the band Soul Street has Covid. The concert won’t be rescheduled.

The series began on June 5 with the band, Carlton Station. All of the concerts have been at Bullard, with food vendors and alcoholic beverages available.

John Grillo, the village’s recreation director, said the series has been a big success, and he is open to suggestions to make the series better next year. Comments can directed to the Facebook page for the Village of Albion Summer Concert Series.

Last year, some of the concerts were held on a closed-off section of Main Street due to the lift bridge being under construction. Concerts also were held by the canal park near the fire hall last year, as well as some of the events at Bullard Park.

Grillo and the village recreation committee this year decided to have all of the concerts at the Bullard, with the musicians playing from the amphitheater stage.

Funding administered by GO Art! helped pay for the concerts this summer, as well as sponsorship from Bidleman Ford.

Photos by Tom Rivers

ALBION – Canvas prints from photographer Sharon Gavenda of Point Breeze are on display at the Marti’s On Main art gallery in Albion at 20 South Main St.

A new show featuring Gavenda, Judy Wenrich and Tom Rivers opened on Aug. 16. The artwork can be seen by calling Kim Martillotta-Muscarella, gallery owner, at (585) 590-9211.

This is the first show for Sharon Gavenda, a nurse. She has been honing her skills as a photographer the past 15 years. It started with a trip to Maine when she was awestruck by the landscapes.

“It was so beautiful that I found myself taking photos,” she said.

She has many images in the gallery from when she is on early morning jogs and captures the sunrise in the Point Breeze area.

Judy Wenrich of Kendall is pictured with some of her oil pastels of animals. Wenrich, a retired social worker, has been a featured artist at Marti’s for many years, and that often focused on paintings of horses. She has expanded her repertoire for the exhibit at Marti’s.

Wenrich has 13 pieces on display at Marti’s, including some whimsical captions. She likes to give the animals expressions.

“Everyone has their own style,” she said.

Photo by Kim Martillotta-Muscarella: Orleans Hub editor Tom Rivers also has about 25 photos in the exhibit. Here I am standing by one in downtown Albion after a fresh snowfall. Two in the back include a fire at a historic home in Holley, and a kayaker on Lake Ontario during a sunset.

These photos include a Black Lives Matter march in Medina, the “Believe” sign during swirling snow in Albion, a Santa during an Albion parade, Albion firefighters during a lighted parade last December, and two from the grease pole competition at the Orleans County 4-H Fair.

There are other local scenes in the exhibit and pictures of people who I miss seeing around town including Brennan Moody, Jonathan Doherty, Angela English and Al Capurso.

The next opening reception at Marti’s will be Sept. 20 from 6 to 9 p.m., featuring oil paintings by Tom Zangerle, and oil and watercolors by Sarah Hyatt.

Photos by Tom Rivers

KNOWLESVILLE – Zyann Pore sings “Praise” with other members of the Shiloh Youth Choir during today’s Gospel Fest at the Orleans County 4-H Fairgrounds.

About 500 people attended the event, which included the sale of 200 chicken barbecues dinners. Trellis Pore, pastor of the Shiloh Church in Albion, cooked the chicken dinners which were paired with corn casserole made by his mother, Brenda Gabrielson.

Proceeds from today’s event will go to a building expansion fund for the Shiloh Church.

The Shiloh Youth Choir sings “Lion” during the Gospel Fest.

The “Good News” band performed first, followed by the Shiloh “Littles” who are young children at the church. After the youth choir, the adult choir from Shiloh sang religious and uplifting music.

Trellis Pore, pastor of the church, preaches from the stage. He urged people to “let go and let God.” Pore said people need to get out of a religious routine and instead strive for a relationship with God.

E-YAH-Pah-Hah has 3 other concerts in September, October

Provided photo: E-YAH-Pah-Hah Wind Quintet (Town Crier) includes, from left: Susan Walders, flute; Darren Pully, oboe; Maggie Warren, horn; Kae Wilbert, bassoon; and Scott Horsington, clarinet.

ALBION – A quintet that started last year performing classical Native American music has four upcoming concerts, including 7:30 p.m. on Aug. 29 at the Albion Town Hall.

E-YAH-Pah-Hah, the “Town Crier,” will do a mini premiere of three of five movements of a new piece, “Postcards of Native America,” by Native American composer Dr. Charles Shadle, Choctaw, who teaches theory and composition at MIT.

Kae Wilbert, a retired Churchville-Chili music teacher, lives in Albion and is a leader in the group as well as a bassoon player. She is a descendant of the Oklahoma Cherokee.

The group started last year, performing for the first time at Camp Asbury in Perry, a United Methodist camp. The musicians wanted to share Native music with youth. That desire has spread to sharing the music with the community.

“People rarely hear Native American classical music,” she said.

The group rehearses at the Disciples United Methodist Church in Clarendon, where Wilbert is a member.

“I’ve always loved woodwind quartets. I wanted to keep playing,” she said.

Besides the concert on Aug. 29 in Albion, E-YAH-Pah-Hah’s performance schedule includes:

• Sept. 16 at 7:30 p.m. at College of Brockport Music Department
• Oct. 5 at 3 p.m. at Cobblestone Church in Gaines
• Oct. 27 at 3 p.m. with Daystar Dance Company, Seneca Art and Culture Center Auditorium at Ganondagan State Historic Site in Victor.

“The music is very rewarding,” Wilbert said. “The musicians are quite good and all very focused.”

Four of the musicians have college degrees in music, while the fifth member has a medical degree.

The Aug. 29 concert is also part of a classical music series at Albion that is funded with a grant from GO Art!

Other concerts in that series include the Geneseo Wind Quintet with faculty from SUNY Geneseo Music Department. They will be performing at the Albion Town Hall on Clarendon Road on Sept. 18 at 6:30 p.m.

The Music Educators Wind Ensemble will perform Dec. 12 at 7:30 p.m. at the Albion Middle School Auditorium.

Press Release, Orleans County Historical Association

ALBION – The final summer cemetery tour will be held this Sunday at Mt. Albion Cemetery.  The tour will begin at 6 p.m. in front of the chapel. The tour is approximately 0.7 miles in length on mostly flat surfaces. We will tour behind the chapel and the western section of Mt. Albion.

Retired Orleans County Historian Bill Lattin and Village of Albion Historian Sue Starkweather Miller will lead the tour sharing stories of community-minded people who made a positive difference in Albion.

“One of the stops on the tour will highlight professional animal painter Peter B. West and how a painting of his led me on a journey to learning about George D. Harris, a prolific builder and contractor,” Starkweather Miller said. “Many of us may have heard of his family members, Medal of Honor recipient Charles D. Harris and Lydia Harris, who died in the Main Street bridge collapse on September 28, 1859. But I never knew about George and his accomplishments in Albion. I think people will be interested in his story.”

Donna Strickland Rodden will also be highlighted on the tour. The chapel, built in 1875, was dedicated to her in 1997. Rodden was the first female mayor of Albion, serving from 1973-1983. Her influence and care for preserving local history has made a lasting impact on our community and Mt. Albion.

The summer series of tours is sponsored by the Orleans County Historical Association.  Please go to their website at www.orleanshistory.org for more information on upcoming events including monthly programs at the Gaines Basin Schoolhouse and a chicken barbecue fundraiser on Aug. 31.

Provided photo

ALBION – The appointed treasurer and five commissioners for the Albion Joint Fire District met on Tuesday for the Albion Joint Fire District.

Pictured from left include Victoria Tabor, the treasurer; and commissioners David Buczek, Al Cheverie, Craig Lane, Joe Martillotta and Chris Kinter.

The commissioners picked Cheverie, a former president of the Albion Fire Department, to serve as the group’s chairman. A secretary will be appointed by the commissioners at the next meeting.

The joint fire district was approved in a public referendum on Aug. 6 by voters in the towns of Albion and Gaines.

Buczek was appointed by the Albion Village Board, while Martillotta and Kinter were picked by the Albion Town Board, and Cheverie and Lane by the Gaines Town Board.

The group in the coming months will be working on the 2025 budget for the joint fire district. They also will be developing policies and procedures, and setting up banking and insurance for the district. The commissioners will meet the second and fourth Thursdays.

The five will serve until the end of this year. There will be an election in December for five commissioners in terms of 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5 years, depending on the vote totals for each. The highest vote-getter gets the 5-year term and then the term length goes in descending order of votes. After the December election, the commissioner election should be just one position up for election each year.

Photos by Tom Rivers

ALBION – Highway 31 had Bullard Park rocking on Wednesday evening during the Village of Albion’s summer concert series.

The band performed on the amphitheater, and played ’90s music, contemporary country and some rock.

The band members include Rich Nolan of Gasport as lead singer, and the guitar trio of Aaron Clark of Holley, Clinton LaPorte of Le Roy, and Clinton’s dad Tim LaPorte Sr. of Batavia. Timmy LaPorte of Elba, Tim’s son and Clinton’s brother, is the drummer for the band.

The guitar trio includes, from left: Aaron Clark, Clinton LaPorte and Tim LaPorte Sr.

Timmy LaPorte pounds the skins as drummer.

Highway 31 always draws a good-size crowd when they perform in Albion.

The summer concert series closes out next Wednesday with Soul Street from the Buffalo area.

The series is funded with state arts money administered by the Genesee-Orleans Regional Arts Council.