ALBION – Jessica Downey, executive director of United Way or Orleans County, pours a sample of wine from the Flight of Five Winery in Lockport during the third annual “Sip & Stroll Through History” on Saturday in downtown Albion.

The United Way, located in the former Swan Library, was one of 13 stops on the wine-tasting tour. About 200 people attended the event, which was organized by the Albion Merchants Association.

The glass for the event highlighted the Albion United Methodist Church building, which is part of the Courthouse Square Historic District, a group of buildings that are listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

Mike Seaver and Jessica Whiting served ice pops from Lake Effect Ice Cream at The Shamrock (Shay’s). Seaver owns the business and Whiting is the manager.

Autumn Moon Winery in Bergen made its debut at the Albion wine-tasting and printed labels for the wine bottles especially for the occasion. Autumn Wine serve tastings at the Pullman Memorial Universalist Church. Pictured include winery owners Tracy and Jerry Birge.

Jen Johnson and Andrea Zaccaria served wine from the Lake Ontario Winery and Vineyard in Hilton. They were set up at U-Need-O Burrito, a new stop on the Sip & Stroll.

The rain held off for most of the wine-tasting, but with about a half hour to go a big downpour hit. This photo shows the rain and vegetables from Navarra’s.

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Photos by Tom Rivers – Greg Dugan gives Ron Armstrong a haircut this morning at Greg’s Barbershop on East Bank Street in Albion. Dugan returned to barber shop on June 13, and is open three days a week.

ALBION – Four years ago Greg Dugan suffered life-threatening injuries when he was riding his motorcycle and was hit by an 18-year-old driver in Farmington.

Bystanders feared Dugan was dead after the crash on Aug. 6, 2012. His motorcycle “totally disintegrated.” He credits a full-face helmet for saving his life.

Dugan was seriously injured, breaking both knees, both wrists, separating his pelvis, fracturing his left hip, and lacerating his left leg.

He was forced to step back from a business he loved. He opened Greg’s Barbershop in 1991. His customers are toddlers to very old men. Dugan has been popular not only for his skills at cutting hair, but for his interest in people’s lives.

Dugan endured intense physical therapy to get back to where he could walk and stay on his feet. It’s still not easy getting by on a shattered hip and femur.

“It’s been a very long road,” he said today at the barber shop. “It’s still painful, but I’m healing and everyday is a better day.”

Dugan has been itching to get back to work. On June 13 he was back at Greg’s. He hasn’t advertised, but the news has spread by word of mouth. He is doing a part-time schedule, open Monday, Wednesday and Friday from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m.

“I missed my friends here at the shop,” Dugan said. “I wanted to visit with all of my supportive friends.”

Ron Armstrong enjoys the camaraderie with Greg Dugan during a haircut this morning.

Ron Armstrong enjoys the camaraderie with Greg Dugan during a haircut this morning.

A month ago Ron Armstrong was driving along East Bank Street and he saw the barber’s sign pole lighted up and spinning outside Greg’s Barbershop.

Armstrong was pleased to see the shop was open. He was thrilled when he opened the door and saw Dugan.

“I am glad to see him back,” Armstrong said. “I like a barber where you can sit and talk and Greg likes to talk.”

Armstrong remains an active Albion firefighter, even in his 80s. He told Dugan he debates whether he should stop going to fire and emergency calls. Armstrong said he would miss it, and the department is often in need of responders.

Dugan believes in trying to be as active as possible.

“When you sit around and don’t stay active, that’s when you start to fail,” he said while talking with Armstrong.
Dugan said he needs to take frequent breaks and he rests on a stool at times when giving haircuts. He said he is thankful for the regained strength and mobility.

“I’m pacing myself with the workload,” he said. “I’m doing fine. I can’t complain. I’ve come a long ways.”

Dugan served as caregiver for his mother, Elaine Dugan, while she recently battled cancer for 18 months. He opened Greg’s on June 13 on her birthday, as a tribute to his late mother.

Dugan has also stayed active with the Knights of Columbus, participating in parades with the group. He isn’t able to march in parades, but rides in floats with the K of C, with his mother’s dog, Buddy, next to him.

Dugan has created an old-time feel in the barbershop. He said he hopes his customers come in and relax, taking a break from their busy lives.

Thom Jennings, race organizer for the upcoming Metro 10 race in Albion, is pictured with one of the newly designed medals for finishers of the race on Aug. 20.

ALBION – The second Metro 10 race is sold out. All 300 spots have been taken for the Aug. 20 race that features runners from Buffalo and Rochester competing for the Metro 10 cup and bragging rights as the top running community.

This year’s race starts at 8:20 a.m. at Bullard Park, up from the 10 a.m. start in the debut race last year. Runners in the first race asked for an earlier start when the temperatures aren’t quite as hot.

The race is also scheduled the same day as the Rock the Park music festival at Bullard. The two events should feed off of each other. There will be a post-race party for runners at Bullard featuring food and music from Buffalo based Tiger Chung Lee. After the post-race party, Rock the Park will start with a good-size crowd from Metro 10 to kick off the music festival with several local bands.

“As the runners are leaving, Rock the Park will be coming in,” said Thom jennings, the Metro 10 race organizer. “We both have common golas of wanting to revitalize Albion.”

The Metro 10 course also has been modified to better accommodate runners seeking a 5-mile option. The total 10-mile course is confined between Gaines Basin and Butts Road, and heads as far north at Watt Farms, where runners on the 10-mile course will go through the Watt Orchards.

Here is the new course map for the race on Aug. 20 in Albion.

There are about 225 runners signed up for the 10-mile portion of the race, and 75 for the 5 miler. Everyone who finishes the race earns points for their metro area, either Buffalo or Rochester. There are also additional points for the top runners overall and the leading age group finishers, as well as a tenacity bonus for the last finisher in both the 5- and 10-mile race. (Click here to see the scoring system.)

Add up all of the points, and you have the winner of the second Metro 10. The winning team gets a taste of victory – a custom engraved glass goblet filled with Victory Brew, a craft beer from the Victory Brewing Company.

Rochester won the debut race last year on the strength of overall participation. The race is more even this year in entries, with 60 percent from Rochester and 40 percent from Buffalo. Last year Buffalo runners claimed many of the top spots in age groups, but Rochester claimed the cup because it had so many more runners.

Metro 10 organizers have pushed hard to recruit more runners from Buffalo, and those efforts have paid off, Jennings said.

Each Metro also had a team captain to help promote the race. Marissa Pace serves as Buffalo captain with help from Lisa Rybke-Thrash and Sandra Baxter, and Vickey Beaver heads the Rochester team. Jack Burris has been promoting the race locally. Wayne Litchfield has been coordinating the team of volunteers.

The Metro 10 Cup has made appearances in the region to help build support and awareness for the upcoming race in Albion. Here the cup is pictured outside First Niagara Center in Buffalo with bronze statues of the famed French Connection, the Buffalo Sabres stars in the 1970s – Gilbert Perreault, Rene Robert and Rick Martin on Friday night.

Jennings said he is pleased the event sold out. He said is it poised for steady growth in the future. He wanted to cap the event at 300 so he would not run out of medals, shirts, food and other supplies for the day. (The medals have to be ordered six weeks in advance.) He would like to see the race gradually grow so local services aren’t overtaxed with the event.

He praised Albion Police Chief Roland Nenni for working out a plan for traffic control and safety for the race.

Jennings said in the future the Metro 10 could add a biking component for a duathlon.

“Right now we want to make sure everyone has a good experience on Aug. 20,” Jennings said. “We have created a foundation for the future.”

Rochester claimed the Metro 10 Cup in 2015 and many of the runners posed for photos with the trophy afterwards, including this group, from left: Jared Ziegler, Ron Ziegler and Ed Martin.

ALBION – This team of Orleans County Health Department employees wore tutus and competed in the Battle of the Belts competition. They include, from left: Mary Ellen Messmer, Sandy Webster, Shelly Troup and Cathy Miller.

The competition was part of the second annual National Night Out at Bullard Park in Albion. The Health Department team won the turtle award. They were slowest of the teams. The competition has teams of four run to a vehicle, buckle their seat belts and then throw their hands in the air. A referee (a state trooper) then yells rotate and the four team members have to buckle belts at four different seats in the vehicle.

Albion and Carlton firefighters formed a team and they competed in the Battle of Belts in turn-out gear. This photo shows Jeremy Graham from the Albion Fire Department, front, with Chris Standish from Carlton behind him.

Chris Standish races to get in the passenger seat and put on the seat belt. Matt Hughson of Carlton and Jim Peruzzini of Albion also were on the team.

Cole Moyle, 9, of Medina competes in the bike rodeo that was organized by Brian Marsceill, a Medina police officer. Cole completed the course in 23.5 seconds, the fastest time of the day, even beating one of the police officers. Law enforcement officers from throughout the county organized several activities and demonstrations at National Night Out.

Last year was the first time the event was in the county. About 200 people attended last year. Today there were about 700 people.

Nick Mardino of Light of Victory Church in Albion cooks hot dogs that were provided by Fidelis Care.

There were about 30 local agencies and services clubs at National Night Out, including the Albion Lions Club. Members Bill Robinson, left, and Kevin Howard are pictured by the new playground equipment that was recently added to the park with help from the Lions Club.

Children filled out paper T-shirts and were asked to write the names of people they feel safest to talk with. It’s part of a “Speak Your Mind” campaign by the Orleans County Health Department.

Firefighters drew a crowd when they did an extrication drill, removing the top of a car.

Section of Densmore Road will close starting Monday

ALBION – Genesee Valley Transportation Company, owner of the Falls Road Railroad that runs through Orleans County, is replacing three railroad crossings in Orleans County next month.

The first project will be on Densmore Road in the Town of Albion. The section of Densmore near the tracks will be closed beginning at 7:30 a.m. on Monday and is expected to reopen on Friday afternoon next week, said Christian M. Henrici, director of Operations and Projects for GVT, which is based in Batavia.

No detours will be posted, but signs will be placed at the nearest crossroad to advise of closure. The State Department of Transportation is supplying the material and GVT is providing the equipment and labor to install the new crossings.

Other new crossings and a schedule for work includes: Hulberton Road in Town of Murray, closed RR crossing from Aug. 8 through Aug. 12; Lynch Road in Town of Murray, closed RR crossing from Aug. 15 through Aug. 23.

ALBION – The Hudson Magic Midway is making its local debut at the Orleans County 4-H Fair. The attraction is housed in a 40-foot-long semi-truck trailer. Inside is a collection of 40 miniature replicas of midway rides from the 1950s to the most recent innovations in amusement park rides.

Jay Pahura at right and his friends, brothers Charlie and Frank Zicari, have been working on the Midway for several years. It made its first fair appearance last August at the Erie County Fair.

The trailer has flags on top and panels that tell the history of the project. Hudson Magic Midway costs $2 per person to see inside or $1 each person in groups of at least 5. Hudson’s Magic Midway is open the same time as the real amusement rides at the Fairgrounds, from 3 to 10 p.m. Wednesday through Saturday.

The inside is blacklight, giving a glow-in-the-dark feel. The rides are hand-built. They are illuminated and show a history of amusement park attractions, including Midway rides to popular concessions and games such as Skee Ball.

The rides are all fully operational on a small scale – but not too small. The Sky Wheel, for example, is nearly 5 feet tall at 56 inches.

The miniature carnival started in 1953, when the late Albion resident Harold Hudson started building miniature midway rides in the basement of his home on Caroline Street. The display eventually filled two garages from front to back and Hudson welcomed the community to see them.

Hudson used ordinary materials found around his house, plus his creative ingenuity to make the rides. He hand-built many of the rides just as they were being introduced by ride manufacturers to carnivals across the United States.

Charlie Zicari was a boy when he saw “Hudson’s Exposition Shows.” Zicari was hooked. He became friends with Hudson and started building rides and helping him with the set up. When Hudson died in 1989, he left his miniature carnival to Zicari.

The display inside the trailer includes a skyscape, giving the mini carnival a planetarium feel.

Zicari has built many of his own rides, including more recent additions to carnivals.

The Zicari brothers and Pahura set up the mini midway at the former Erie Canal Schoolhouse Bed & Breakfast in Albion a few years ago. That was the first time the public had seen the rides in many years.

The bed and breakfast has since closed. The Zicaris and Pahura worked on a home for the attraction: the long trailer that needs to be moved by a semi truck.

The Zicaris and Pahura have strengthened some of Hudson’s creations to make them sturdy for trips to fairs and other festivals. The rides have been painted with five to six coats of a reflective paint to make them better illuminate in the black light.

ALBION – State Sen. Rob Ortt and State Assemblyman Steve Hawley meet with corrections officers this afternoon who lined Route 31 by the former Apollo Restaurant, just west of the Village of Albion.

About 200 corrections officers were part of the informational picket today from 2 to 4 p.m. The COs want to highlight a rise in violence inside prisons, staffing shortages, an increase in contraband and inmate weapons, and press the state for more technology, such as thermal imaging, to make prisons safer.

“We are here to show solidarity with you,” Ortt corrections officers. “I appreciate what you do.”

Mike Powers, president of the union (NYSCOPBA) that represents corrections officers, said the state has closed prisons, which has strained the capacity at other sites. Many inmates that should be in maximum-security facilities are in medium-security prisons, Powers said, and that has led to increased violence and contraband with more drugs and weapons being smuggled into prisons.

Powers and the union want more staffing and training for officers, a removal of double bunks which would increase safety for inmates and staff, and investment in more equipment and technology to help COs make prisons safer. Powers also said the state needs to fill positions faster when they are vacated with retirements.

A corrections officer holds a sign during the picket today. Another sign said, “Fighting For Our Lives.”

The union for corrections officers said statewide since 2010 the number of assaults on staff by inmates has risen 55 percent, and inmate-on-inmate violence is up 60 percent.

This is the latest informational picket that NYSCOPBA has held in the past two months. Previous pickets were at Elmira, Attica, Livingston, Collins, Shawangunk, Greene and Coxsackie Correctional Facilities.

There are about 675 corrections officers that work at prisons in Albion, with 425 at the Albion Correctional Facility (for women) and 250 at the Orleans Correctional Facility, a medium-security prison for men.

State Assemblyman Steve Hawley speaks with corrections officers. Hawley said many state legislators from New York City do not support the COs or understand the working conditions. Hawley said some state legislators believe New York City residents are wrongly convicted and sent to prisons upstate to support the economy in the state’s rural communities.

Hawley said he tries to bring a voice of reality in conversations with state legislators from downstate. He said he urges his colleagues in the Legislature to make the sites safer with more staff and less overcrowding of inmates.