By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 3 December 2016 at 4:08 pm
Photos by Tom Rivers
ALBION – Rose Allen sings, “Mary Did You Know,” during today’s noon show of the seventh annual Nicholas Kovaleski Hometown Christmas at the Holy Family Lyceum.
There are three shows today of Hometown Christmas, which features 19 acts, with singing, dancing and some comedy.
Hometown Christmas raises money for a memorial scholarship for Nicholas Kovaleski, who fought leukemia before passing away at age 15 on June 29, 2011. He was a popular student at Albion, excelling at football, swimming and tennis. He was also an active Boy Scout.
Jay and Kelly Kovaleski, parents of Nicholas, talk about the new workshops they have created called, Live With Purpose. (Mr. Kovaleski is holding a T-shirt with the program’s logo.)
The interactive workshop is geared towards helping teens and others find purpose and direction for their lives. The Kovaleskis will be run a free workshop on Jan. 13 from 7 to 8 p.m. at the Gotta Dance Studio at 28 West Bank St., Albion. Click here for more information.
Marcy Downey and Gary Simboli sing “Happy Days” during Hometown Christmas.
Rylie Lear, center, and other dancers perform a routine to “Frosty the Snowman.”
Angela Tarricone, an Albion High School senior, performs one of her two songs, including “Grownup Christmas List.”
Amy Sidari, Hometown Christmas coordinator, gives an inspirational welcoming message to start the show.
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 29 November 2016 at 2:02 pm
Hometown Christmas, Albion Family Christmas Concert highlight local talent
File photos by Tom Rivers: Marcy Downey sings “Baby, It’s Cold Outside” next to a cutout of Dean Martin during last year’s Hometown Christmas.
ALBION – Two events this weekend in Albion will celebrate the Christmas season and also raise funds for Albion scholarships.
On Saturday, there will be three performances of Hometown Christmas at Holy Family Parish’s Lyceum on Main Street.
There will be 19 acts featuring about 80 performers at shows starting at noon, 3 p.m. and 6:30 p.m. There will be singing and dancing in the 90-minute shows that raise money for scholarships in memory of Nicholas Kovaleski.
“We’re blessed with a lot of people contributing time and talents to it,” said Amy Sidari, oner of Gotta Dance by Miss Amy and coordinator of Hometown Holiday.
This is the seventh annual event in memory of Nicholas Kovaleski. He inspired the Albion community with his valiant fight against leukemia. He died at age 15 on June 29, 2011.
The shows on Saturday feature many popular returning performers, including Marcy Downey and Josie Waverly. (Some Albion children will be on stage doing sign language while Waverly sings, “O Holy Night.”) Rachel Curtin, the elementary school principal, also will be back singing.
A new performer for the Hometown Christmas will be Albion senior, Angela Tarricone, singing with chorus teacher Gary Simboli.
Sidari said the 6:30 p.m. show is already sold out but some tickets remain for the 3:30 and noon shows. Call her at 354-2320 for more information.
“People come out and support it year after year,” Sidari said about the turnout.
Joe Sacco is shown during a Christmas Mass in 2013 with Harriette Greaser. They will both be performing on Sunday.
On Sunday, there will be a 3 p.m. concert at the First Presbyterian Church, 29 East State St.
Many familiar faces and a warm welcome home are on the program for “An Albion Family Christmas Concert.” The holiday event, co-sponsored by the Albion High School Alumni Foundation and Albion Courthouse Square Concert Series, will feature a mix of professional and amateur musicians, all connected to Orleans County.
“We have so much talent right here in our hometown,” said concert organizer Maarit Vaga. “For previous Christmas concerts we have hosted musicians from neighboring communities, but this year we decided to pull together a program that we’ve been dreaming about and discussing for a long time: This truly will be an Albion Family Christmas celebration! And we really want families—even with small children—to feel comfortable bringing them. It will be lovely.”
Proceeds benefit scholarships awarded by the Foundation. In fact, many of the performers are alumni or students at Albion High, including: longtime Albionites and Holy Family Parish musicians Joe Sacco and Harriette Greaser; mother and daughter duo Karen Conn and Shannon Vanderlann; brother and sister act Greg Martillotta and Gwen Ferchen; husband and wife Gary and Claudia Deibolt; members of the Mike and Mary Jane Grammatico family; and legendary music and drama teacher Gary Simboli, along with some of his vocal and Mike Thaine’s instrumental student ensembles.
The program will be narrated by Janne Erakare and will include a visit from Cobble the Museum Mouse (representing the nearby Cobblestone Museum). The event will culminate in the annual audience singalong.
Tickets are available at Bloom’s in Albion, a lily and a sparrow in Medina, Roxy’s in Batavia, or online by clicking here.
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 25 November 2016 at 3:07 pm
Photos by Tom Rivers
ALBION – Some Albion kids, including 10-year-old Hailey Warren, painted ceramic ornaments at Hoag Library today. Brushstrokes Studio in Medina ran the workshop.
Kayli Miller, 10, of Albion works of her creation.
Kayli puts the finishing touches on this stocking.
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 23 November 2016 at 7:23 pm
Photo by Colin Downey: Bill Downey of Downey Signs in Albion installs a new 4-by-10-foot sign in downtown Albion this afternoon. The sign is on the Gurney’s Olde Coach Inn at 35 North Main St.
The Albion Betterment Committee pushed for the sign and paid for the project.
The Betterment Committee wanted to spruce up a spot where there was a faded sign and promote an optimistic message about Albion. The group also wanted the the sign to tie in with its efforts for a Charles Howard memorial in downtown Albion. Howard was the founder of a Santa Claus School and Christmas Park in Albion. The Betterment Committee is trying to raise funds for that project, which would include a bronze statue of Santa and perhaps Howard together.
Photo by Tom Rivers: Here is how the Gurney building looked in September. The sign advertised the Olde Coach Inn.
Photos by Marsha Rivers: Downey and his grandson Colin put up the new sign this afternoon. The message of the sign is open to interpretation by each person. It may mean to believe in themselves, Albion, Santa, God, or maybe even in the Buffalo Bills making the playoffs.
This is the third sign the Betterment Committee has erected in Albion in the past 12 months. Last December it had a sign put up on Route 98 noting Albion as the home of Charles Howard, the Santa School founder. The Betterment Committee also replaced the sign this year on the former Santa Claus School at the corner of Route 31 and Gaines Basin Road.
For more on the Albion Betterment Committee, click here.
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 23 November 2016 at 4:50 pm
ALBION – Bailey Maier and Lauren Becht, members of the Albion Honor Society, ring the bell for the Salvation Army kettle drive on Tuesday at Tops in Albion. Albion Honor Society students are taking several shifts for the kettle drive, which raises about $20,000 each year for Community Action to help needy families in Orleans County.
More volunteers are needed to ring the bell. To help, call Community Action at (585) 589-5605 and ask for Annette Finch.
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 22 November 2016 at 7:37 pm
Photos by Tom Rivers
ALBION – Fred Miller, the owner of a hardware store in downtown Albion and also an Orleans County legislator, gives blood today as a double red donor. He is pictured with Cindy Fraser, a donor specialist for the American Red Cross.
Miller said he first gave blood when he was 19. He become a regular donor in his mid-30s. It takes eight donations to reach a gallon, unless it’s a double red which counts for two pints.
Donors can give every 56 days or every 112 days if it’s a double red, where more red blood cells are taken.
Miller holds a pin noting he is a 20-gallon blood donor.
“I’ve been blessed to be fortunate enough to give,” Miller said during the blood drive today at the Elks Club in Albion. “I’m fortunate I’ve been healthy because you can’t give if you aren’t healthy.”
Miller, 63, has been a regular at the blood drive for about 25 years. He typically heads over after he closes the hardware store at 5 p.m.
“It’s something we can do because blood isn’t man-made and may never be,” he said.
The Red Cross says each pint donation can be used by as many as three people. Miller has given the equivalent of 160 pints, and potentially saved nearly 500 lives, he was told by Fraser, the donor specialist.
“You just gave me goosebumps,” Miller responded.
Terri Gannon, a supervisor with the Red Cross, said there are still many dedicated regular donors like Miller, but the Red Cross would welcome many more.
“You don’t see it every day,” she said about someone reaching the 20-gallon mark.
About 45 people were expected to give blood at today’s drive at Elks Club.
“For some people it is a way of giving and helping the community,” Gannon said. “It doesn’t cost you anything but your time.”
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 21 November 2016 at 10:48 am
Photo by Tom Rivers
ALBION – Bus drivers at Albion are pictured this morning with some of the food collection they helped gather and donate. This group includes, from left: Donna Hart, Charlene Cook, Joseph Marvin, Christina Naylor, Pete Toenniessen and Dan Deibel.
The bus drivers, office staff and mechanics at the Albion bus garage are employees of Student Transportation of America which for three years now has run a friendly competition among transportation employees who work for STA at nearby districts, including Lyndonville, Newfane, Barker, Lockport and Starpoint, as well as Albion.
The competition is based on donated food in pounds per person. In Albion, STA has 57 employees, who donated an average of 19 pounds per employee or 1,083 pounds of produce, nonperishable canned foods, turkeys and hams.
The food will be given to three families picked by bus drivers, The Warrior House in Shelby (which provides a hunting retreat for wounded veterans) and Eagle Star Housing, which provides transitional housing in Pembroke for homeless veterans.
The Albion bus drivers won the food competition the first two years among the other districts. The winner for this year hasn’t been announced yet, and today is the deadline. The STA staff in Albion bought most of the food with their own money, and also secured donations from local farmers. Root Brothers Farm donated cabbage, Stymus Farms gave potatoes and squash, and Lake Ontario Fruit donated apples.
“We know there are people out there who need it,” said Donna Hart, one of the Albion bus drivers.
The Albion drivers, staff and mechanics see the competition as a friendly rivalry with the other districts, said driver Pete Toenniessen.
“We’re a close-knit group,” Toenniessen said about the drivers and staff at the bus garage. “We’re all neighbors trying to help out the community.”
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 19 November 2016 at 8:47 am
Provided photo: JaQuess Harrison, a student in the new Science of Food class at Albion, cuts a turkey on Friday when the class had a Thanksgiving meal with food mostly grown by the students. (The turkey was purchased from Save-A-Lot.) Ben Restivo is in the back working on part of the meal.
Students grew cauliflower, broccoli, Brussels sprouts, peppers, tomatoes, squash, potatoes and pumpkins.
Photos by Tom Rivers: Laurencé Walker works on a Brussels sprouts salad, a popular dish on Friday. The class is led by Adam Krenning, the high school FFA advisor and agriculture teacher.
The students have been growing and preparing food, and experimenting with recipes. Krenning said those recipes are being compiled and will be shared beginning next year at the FFA’s annual food drive, when about 30,000 pounds of produce is donated by local farmers and given to Community Action of Orleans & Genesee and local food pantries.
Alexis Bentley checks on the turkey. Students made the stuffing for the turkey. The class worked on the meal over three days.
Janae Doty and Meach Gardner are making squash pie.
Provided photos: Andrea Nauden and other members of the class happily consumed the meal on Friday.
The class poses for a picture. They will dehydrate and freeze some of the vegetables for upcoming meals. For example, some of the tomatoes have been frozen and will be used by students to makes their own sauces for pasta dishes.
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 17 November 2016 at 9:54 am
Photos by Tom Rivers
ALBION – Annalise Steier plays Frog, left, and Emily Mergler is Toad in Albion Middle School’s production of A Year with Frog and Toad.
Students will perform the show at 7 p.m. on Friday and noon and 7 p.m. on Saturday in the Middle School Auditorium.
Frog and Toad are two close friends who go on fun-filled adventures together through four seasons. They plant gardens, swim, rake leaves, go sledding and learn plenty of life lessons along the way.
Zachary Kilner plays Snail and Aubrey Boyer is Turtle. Snail is tasked with delivering mail. After a successful delivery, a proud Turtle sings, “I’m Coming out of My Shell.”
These Birds include, from left: Leeanna Montanarella, Olivia Morrison and Abby Allen. The Birds return at the end of winter and are anxious for spring.
Leah Kania and Faith Bennett also play Birds in the show.
A Year with Frog and Toad tells the story of a friendship that endures throughout the seasons.
ALBION – The Albion Police Department is pleased to announce being awarded the 2016 Community Traffic Safety Platinum Award by the America Automobile Association.
The nationally recognized AAA Platinum Community Traffic Safety Award is the highest award AAA can bestow on any Police Department. It’s awarded to departments that have developed and maintained traffic safety initiatives in their communities and who have shown success in those initiatives.
The Albion Police Department has used programs such as Buckle Up New York, Selective Traffic Enforcement Program, Stop DWI, Pedestrian Crossing Safety and Awareness, and the Child Passenger Safety Seat Program to enforce vehicle and traffic laws as well as to educate and assist motorists.
Throughout 2016 the Albion Police Department conducted several targeted details that focused on specific areas of safety for both motorists and pedestrians. These details were done in non-traditional ways to increase their effectiveness.
Several more details are planned using techniques that have never been done in our area and will increase awareness and effectiveness with the end goal of making our community safer.
This is the sixth consecutive year that the Albion Police Department has received the Community Traffic Safety Platinum Award.
The Albion Police Department is dedicated to making our highways and streets safer for all who use them. Throughout the holiday season we will continue our efforts by adding more patrols and details and we urge motorist to make responsible decisions.
(Editor’s Note: The Holley Police Department, which is also managed by Nenni, won AAA’s Bronze Award for community traffic safety.)
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 3 November 2016 at 7:06 pm
ALBION – Enoch Martin stars as Jonny Martin, a high school student who dies in a motorcycle crash but comes back as a zombie. Jonny had fallen in love with Toffee (Riley Seielstad) and returns as a zombie to attend the high school prom and be with Toffee.
The Albion High School drama program will perform Zombie Prom on Friday at 7 p.m., and Saturday at noon and 7 p.m. at the middle school auditorium.
The musical is set at Enrico Fermi High School, which is near a nuclear power plant. The students go through their daily routine at their lockers, in biology lab, industrial arts class and more. They also practice drills where they seek protection under their desks. That’s where Jonny (Enoch Martin) and Toffee (Riley Seielstad) fall in love.
Toffee’s parents played by April Henchmen, left, and Sam Slick don’t approve of the rebellious Jonny, nor does the principal of the school, Delilah Strict (right), played by Angela Tarricone. They encourage Toffee to break up with Jonny. When Jonny hears the news, he leaves distraught on his motorcycle and ends up dying in a crash.
Toffee (Riley Seielstad) is in mourning over Jonny’s death. Her friends encourage her to get over Jonny and think about the upcoming prom and other fun senior activities.
Angela Tarricone, who plays Miss Strict (the high school principal), isn’t happy when the students don’t follow her exacting rules. Here, Tarricone and cast members sing, “Rules, Regulations, and Respect.” As the plot develops, Miss Strict has a surprising connection to one of the lead characters.
Kate Krieger plays “Little Debbie.”
Zachary Moore (Jeffrey) jumps in the arms of Chase Froman (Jasper) when a siren goes off because the school is near a nuclear power plant.
These boys are busy measuring wood in shop class. They include, from left: Zachary Moore (Jeffrey), Chase Froman (Jasper), Connor Zicari (Joey), Victor Benjovsky (Jake) and Richard Flanagan (Josh).
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 3 November 2016 at 3:11 pm
ALBION – Parts of Mount Albion Cemetery look like a blanket of orange, red and yellow leaves.
The cemetery’s workers have been making long piles of leaves and then sucking them up with a vacuum truck. Kenny Blank, one of the cemetery’s workers, was clearing leaves on the east side of the cemetery this afternoon.
Blank and the cemetery workers are busy trying to clear the historic cemetery, home to many tall mature trees, from numerous leaves.
Many leaves are yet to fall at Mount Albion.
The tower at Mount Albion, a memorial that was built in 1876 to the nearly 500 Orleans County soldiers killed during the Civil War, is more visible now that the trees are shedding leaves.
Mount Albion is even more stunning in the fall, with the blast of colors from the fall foliage.
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 30 October 2016 at 6:00 pm
ALBION – This scarecrow, made by Matt Hand and family (United Structural LLC), won first place for scariest in the first-time scarecrow contest in downtown Albion.
The event was organized by Energize Albion and the Albion Merchants Association.
Gianna Hyde received runner-up for scariest with Humpty Dumpty.
Organizers of the first-time contest in Albion are pleased with many participants and creativity shown, said Kim Remley, one of the organizers. She expects the scarecrow contest will return next year and become an annual fall tradition in Albion.
The scarecrows have been out most of October and the community was urged to vote for their favorites in four categories: cutest, scariest, funniest and most traditional. The winners were announced on Friday at Beggar’s Night. There were 68 votes.
Here are the other winners:
Cutest: Dance Reflections by Miss Heather won first place.
The Village of Albion’s office staff were runner-ups for “cutest” with Leilani, pictured Friday evening during Beggar’s Night.
Downtown Browsery won first for “funniest” with the “Can-Can Girls.”
Albion Agencies’ “Ninja Turtle” was a runner-up for funniest with this Ninja Turtle.
Krantz Furniture also was a runner-up for funniest with “Scarebot.”
Sisters Ella and Kelsey Froman won first place in most traditional for this scarecrow.
Five-Star Bank was a runner-up for most traditional.
Knight’s Pride also was a runner-up for most traditional.
Photo by Tom Rivers: This group from Albion Central School posed for a group photo before today’s “Orchard Walk for the Cure” at Watt Farms. Several Albion teachers and staff are cancer survivors and they were part of the walk today that raised about $7,000 for The Cancer Services Program of Genesee and Orleans County.
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 29 October 2016 at 4:18 pm
Peggy Lemcke, a teacher’s aide at Albion Central School, is applauded before the walk for being a cancer survivor for 16 years now.
ALBION – About 250 participants today raised more than $7,000 to pay for cancer screenings and to support people battling cancer in Orleans and Genesee counties.
Watt Farms for 11 years was a host for the making Strides Against Breast Cancer Walk. Several hundred people attended that walk each year and raised $350,000 for the American Cancer Society.
Karen Watt, a 12-year breast cancer survivor, wanted to shift the walk this year so the funds would stay in Orleans and Genesee counties. She also wanted the proceeds to benefit people battling all types of cancers.
Today’s funds will go to Cancer Services of Genesee and Orleans, which funds mammograms, colonoscopies and other services to people underinsured or without insurance. The group contracts with Community Partners at Orleans Community Health in Medina for those services in Orleans County.
Lisa Franclemont, coordinator of Cancer Services of Genesee and Orleans, welcomes the participants for the walk at Watt’s.
Karen Watt and her grandson Evan lead the group in the walk, which was either 1 kilometer or 5 kilometers.
This group in front is from Holley Fire Department. Holley firefighters have been regulars the past five years at Watt’s for the walk. Karen Meiers, wife of past fire chief Ron Meiers, has been a breast cancer survivor for five years.
Joe and Maegen Suhr of Lyndonville are pictured with their daughter Ella, who turns 1 on Wednesday. Ella completed chemo treatments on Oct. 3. She also had two surgeries after doctors found a brain tumor. Many of the participants in the walk today wore shirts that said “Suhr Strong.” Ella’s parents are both teachers. Joe teachers high school history at Lyndonville and Maegan is a high school special education teacher at Batavia. They said Ella had a clear scan for cancer two weeks ago.
Emily Blanchard is pictured with Karen Watt after the walk today. Emily was the top individual fund-raiser at $3,450. Emily, 17, has been raising money for the walk the past nine years and estimated she has secured nearly $30,000 in donations by sending letters, emails and asking people in person.
Emily raises the money in memory of her grandmother, Patricia Blanchard, who was a kindergarten teacher at Lyndonville. She also ran a nursery school.
“She was the kind of person that everyone loved in Lyndonville,” Emily said.
This group mostly includes students from Syracuse University, who joined their classmate Joyce LaLonde who walked in memory of her mother, Kathy LaLonde, who died from breast cancer at age 54 on Oct. 6, 2013. Joyce and her father Steve are fifth and sixth from left in front row. Many of Kathy’s friends and family from Albion also walked at Watt’s today in her honor.
Lisa Franclement, left, introduces cancer survivors before the walk today. They include, from left: Karen Meiers of Holley, 5 years; Marge Walls of Elba, 29 years; Karen Watt of Albion, 12 years; Peggy Lemke of Albion, 16 years; Dawn Arnold of Albion, 2 years; and Kelly Wadhams of Albion, 5 years.
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 28 October 2016 at 10:22 pm
ALBION – Downtown Albion was full of superheroes, and some scary characters during Beggar’s Night this evening. More than 500 kids turned out for the event in the downtown. There were also games, candy and bounce house at the Free Methodist Church.
The top photo shows Eric Flugel and these three girls dressed as the pink ladies from the movie Grease. Flugel is joined by his daughter Autumn, 10, (left) and his nieces, Liana, 10, and Alayna, 6.
This photo shows Ethan Campbell, 3, leading a pack of candy hunters on East Bank Street. Ethan is dressed as “Bat-Hulk” which includes a Hulk Hogan shirt with Batman mask and cape.
Leah Pawlak has on a costume of Annabelle, a character in a horror movie, during Beggar’s Night. She is joined by her brother Tristan Lusk and their grandfather Jerome Pawlak. They are handing out candies for Pawlak’s Save-A-Lot outside Family Hardware on West Bank Street.
Kylie Hughson, owner of the Tease hair salon, decorated her storefront and sidewalk for Beggar’s Night.
Mary Grose of Albion holds her granddaughter Rainnah Hughes, a rainbow witch, while stopping at Arnold’s Auto Parts, where employee Joe DiBella handed out candy while wearing a costume.
A Cookie Monster scarecrow is in front of Dance Reflections by Miss Heather, were Heather Hapeman and her family doled out candy.
Provided photo: Gretta Smith, left, (Cindy Lou Who) and Amber Robinson (The Grinch) dressed up for Beggar’s Night outside the Lynne Marie hair salon, which is owned by Robinson.
