Omar Peterson, Damian Wilson care for their moms and give them lots of emotional support

Photo by Tom Rivers: Omar Peterson and his mother Angela English are pictured last week at their home in Albion. English is fighting stage 4 cervical cancer.

Provided photo: Damian Wilson celebrates his graduation with his parents, Chad and Lisa.

ALBION – Omar Peterson and Damian Wilson, members of Albion’s Class of 2020, say their senior year has been emotional and gut-wrenching.

But not because of the Covid-19 pandemic that has kept students out of local schools since March 13.

Omar and Damian both have mothers in serious health battles. Damian’s mom, Lisa Wilson, suffered a series of strokes. Angela English, Omar’s mom, has stage 4 cervical cancer.

Omar and Damian have both needed to do more around the house to help their families. They have cared for their mothers, maintained jobs and kept up with their school work.

Both are headed to college this fall. Damian will stay home and go to Genesee Community College. Omar will be off to Morrisville State College.

A son’s encouragement

Angela English, 36, was diagnosed with cancer on Dec. 27. She started chemotherapy in January and will finish in August.

Omar, 17, said school has often been a struggle. He wanted to give up this year, especially in the winter when his mother started chemo. But he knew that would just add to her stress.

“I told myself that I had to get through and finish,” he said.

He graduated in a personalized ceremony with his family at the school last month. Albion did individual ceremonies for all 135 members of the class.

Angela is thankful the school did it that way. She wouldn’t have wanted to be in the high school gym with 2,000 other people for graduation, like the school normally does. She worries about her compromised immune system right now. (The state set a 150-person maximum for outdoor graduation ceremonies. Social gatherings inside were limited to 25 people.)

The Covid-19 pandemic has kept Omar and his sister Olivia, 11, home from school since March 13. Olivia has been cooking many of the meals for the family. Omar said his little sister has amazed me with the meals. She recently made shrimp teriyaki that Omar raves about.

Omar and Olivia keep a close eye on their mother, making sure she takes her medications and they give her a steady stream of encouragement.

“You have to keep a positive attitude,” Omar said. “We have to push each other.”

Provided photo: Angela English celebrates with her son Omar after his personalized graduation ceremony. Angela considered wearing a wig or a fancy hat for the ceremony, but Omar told her not to. “Wear your bald head because you’re beautiful,” he told his mother.

Omar said he tries to keep his mother upbeat. When her hair started to fall out and she shaved her head in February, Omar also went bald, getting rid of his beloved dreadlocks.

Angela wept when her son cut off all of his hair.

“That was a sign that we would be going through this journey together,” she said.

Photo by Tom Rivers: Omar Peterson played goalie and was a captain on the varsity soccer team.

Omar tells his mother she’s beautiful. He tells her she will get better, and there are only a few more chemo treatments to go. (During her chemo, Omar will often Facetime his mother with a positive message: “You’re almost done. You’re getting better.”)

He has come by his mother’s bedside to pray with her.

Angela has watched a transformation of her son in the past six months.

“When he came by my bedside and prayed, that’s when I realized I have a growing son,” Angela said.

Angela’s parents, Eddie and Rose English, are the leaders of The Lord’s House church in Waterport. Angela is the praise and worship leader at the church. She also works as the staffing and payroll coordinator at The Grand Rehabilitation and Nursing in Batavia.

“I couldn’t ask for a better support system with the community reaching out,” Angela said. “Their prayers are working.”

Omar was the goalie on the soccer team, a vocal leader with no fear on the field. He also has been on the swimming and track teams, and been involved with school musicals, the marching band and select choirs.

He currently works at Kirby Farms. He called them up asking for a job in March. He previously worked as a dishwasher for Tillman’s Village Inn. Working on a farm has been a great experience, Omar said.

It’s hard work, and it’s technical with operating a tractor and caring for the fruit trees and crops.

“I like being outside and it’s made me appreciate being on this beautiful planet,” Omar said. “But farming is way more work than you think.”

He plans to major in mechanical technology at Morrisville. He wants to run his own business and be a mentor to others when he’s older.

His mother’s illness has forced him to grow up faster.

“I definitely appreciate life more,” he said. “It’s made me open my eyes. I try to be positive and talk about the things in my future.”

Omar also wanted to thank the community for adopting members of the senior class, giving them presents and gifts during the pandemic. He received some of his favorite snacks, gift cards, cookies and a jersey from his favorite soccer team, Manchester City. One of gifts was a graphing calculator that he will need in college.

“Those gifts make me want to come back and give back to the community,” he said.

Mother’s work ethic in recovery inspires son

Chad Wilson adjusts his son Damian’s graduation cap during a ceremony at their home last month. Lisa Wilson was part of the graduation for her son.

Damian Wilson, 18, also has had more on his mind this senior year than his school work and the pandemic.

His mother suffered a serious stroke on Nov. 6. She was in the ICU for a month after that and remained hospitalized and then at a rehab center until June 3.

Because of restrictions on visitors at healthcare facilities, Damian wasn’t able to see his mother in person for nearly three months.

The two would video chat three or four times a day.

Lisa has made progress since her initial stroke. She has physical, occupational and speech therapy as she works to recover and retrain her brain and body.

Lisa, 44, has worked in banking for more than two decades years. She was at ESL in Rochester after working about 20 years in Albion at the site that has been Dime Bank, Washington Mutual, Chase and CRFS.

She was organized and a take-charge leader in the family.

Her husband Chad said Damian and his younger brother Drake have stepped up since their mother was strickened by a series of strokes. Damian makes breakfast for the family and Drake makes lunch. Drake just finished eighth grade.

Chad, who is an IT specialist, makes dinner. He has been able to work from home, turning the basement into his work space.

They all pitch in with Lisa’s care.

Damian said his mother’s courage inspires him. She pushes herself in her therapies. Her right side is the most effected by the strokes.

“She is strong-willed and stubborn,” Chad said about Lisa.

Those characteristics are helping her now, during what can be exhausting physical and speech therapy sessions.

Doctors initially weren’t optimistic she would recover. Lisa didn’t wake up from a coma for 4 ½ weeks.

Her husband brought their puppy, Nico, to the hospital. Nico is white boxer. He gave Lisa a kiss and she moved her head for the first time since her stroke.

Chad put her left hand on the dog and she started petting Nico.

The family brought their two other boxers, Rocky and Kenna, to the hospital in the weeks that followed and Lisa responded to the dogs. Chad would bring one of the three dogs to the hospital and the dog would lay in bed with Lisa.

This photo from Sept. 22, 2018 shows Lisa Wilson, left, with her son Damian. They are joined by Myleigh Miller. They volunteered at the front table of a benefit for kindergarten teacher Angie Wolfe, who was battling cancer. The spaghetti dinner benefit and basket raffle for Wolfe was at the Albion Elks Lodge. Lisa Wilson and Angie Wolfe have been friends since they were kids.

Damian, an honor roll student, has worked the past two years at Walgreens. He pursued the job on his own when he was 16.

Damian said he initially wanted some extra money when he started the position. He enjoys his co-workers at the store.

He excelled in the graphic design program at the Orleans-Niagara BOCES, and was selected for the prestigious National Technical Honor Society.

He said he missed seeing his teachers and classmates every day in person during the pandemic.

“I just like talking to them,” he said.

He will get a degree in general studies from GCC and then transfer to a four-year college.

The Wilsons appreciated the school district coming to their home for Damian’s graduation ceremony. It would have been much harder to get to the school due to Lisa’s current mobility issues. She is working hard to regain her balance and ability to walk.

Lisa said the school coming to their home to present the diploma to Damian, “was very inspirational.”

Damian Wilson accepts his diploma from Albion school officials who came to his home last month. He is pictured with, from left: Kathy Winans, the class advisor; Michael Bonnewell, district superintendent; Kathy Harling, Board of Education president; and Jennifer Ashbery, high school principal.

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Photos by Tom Rivers

POINT BREEZE – Dick Remley holds up a plaque and pin which he received on Thursday in appreciation for his leadership as Albion Rotary Club president in 2019-2020.

Remley, the Albion town supervisor, acknowledged it was a very unusual year for the club, which has been meeting since mid-March through the Zoom video conference.

Thursday was the first time the club had an in-person meeting in more than three months.

Marlee Diehl, in red shirt, is the club’s new president. Thursday’s meeting was held at her home overlooking the Oak Orchard River. (Her husband Bill Diehl has twice served as Albion Rotary Club president.)

The club typically meets Thursday’s for lunch at Tillman’s Village Inn. The club is hoping to return to regular in-person meetings soon.

Most of the club’s fundraisers and events have been cancelled in 2020.  The club looks forward to 2021 and a return of the St. Patrick’s Ham Dinner, Strawberry Festival and a fishing derby. The club will celebrate its 100^thanniversary in 2022.

Diehl, a retired recruiter and past district governor for Rotary, is sworn in as new club president by Frank Adamson. He administered the oath by phone. Adamson is a Canadian and couldn’t be with the Albion Rotarians in person due to the Peace Bridge and other U.S.-Canada crossings closed to nonessential travel.

Frank Adamson administers the oath of office to Albion Rotary Club board members. Adamson leads a district that includes about 70 Rotary clubs in Western New York and Ontario, Canada. He is a member of the Rotary Club in Fonthill, Ontario.

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Scott Bischoping

ALBION – The Albion Board of Education appointed an interim superintendent on Tuesday evening. Scott Bischoping starts the job on Monday.

He will take over as superintendent for Michael Bonnewell, who will serve as evaluator of teachers in the his last year with the district before his retirement.

Bischoping most recently served as interim superintendent at North Rose-Wolcott Central School from Feb. 3 until last week.

Previously, Bischoping was an interim superintendent at Batavia City School District. He also was the district superintendent for Wayne-Finger Lakes BOCES.

Bischoping began his career in 1988 as a business education teacher at Livonia.

Albion is pushing to have a new superintendent in place by Jan. 1.

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Albion grads accept diplomas in virtual ceremony and then celebrate with parade

Provided photos from Sue Starkweather Miller: Paige and Kendall Derisley, twin sisters, have fun during a parade for graduates on Friday evening. Kendall is going to Fredonia and Paige is headed to GCC.

ALBION – The Class of 2020 held a virtual graduation ceremony with seniors receiving their diplomas in prerecorded personal ceremonies spread over 10 days. A compilation of those ceremonies was presented Friday evening at 20:20 (8:20 p.m.)

Click here to see the 1 hour, 47-minute video on the school district’s YouTube page.

The video includes student speeches by Valedictorian Ashlyn LeBaron, Salutatorian Katelyn Spierdowis and Class President Angel Rosario Soto. High School Principal Jennifer Ashbery, Board of Education President Kathy Harling and Superintendent Michael Bonnewell also addressed the graduates.

Students were also able to celebrate on Friday evening with a parade in vehicles around the campus and community.

Screenshot from YouTube video: Angel Rosario Soto, the class president, will be majoring in nursing at Brockport State College. He plans to finish his studies at the University of Buffalo and become a registered nurse anesthetist.

He played on Albion’s soccer, wrestling, tennis and track teams and was involved in the National Honor Society, Masterminds and other clubs.

Rosario Soto thanked his parents for their sacrifice and hard work. He said teachers really stepped up during the pandemic and “didn’t let us give up.”

He regretted the class hasn’t been together since March 13, the last day of in-school learning due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

Rosario Soto said the class has faced other challenges, besides the pandemic. The class members were born right after the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks. They grew up in era of the War of Terror.

The era included frequent school shootings across the country. The Albion students had drill to respond to an active shooter.

Rosario Soto said the class experienced other history, including the election of the first black president – Barack Obama.

The class president also praised the varsity football team for making it to a Sectional game at New Era Field, the home of the Buffalo Bills.

The class is ready for a new chapter.

“If you start to strive for something, don’t give up,” Rosario Soto said. “You pick yourself up and bust your butt off until you get there. Don’t let the negativity override the positivity.”

He urged the class to live their lives with purpose.

“Starting today our job is to show up wide-eyed, willing and ready for what, I don’t know, for anything, for everything,” he said. “To take on life, to take on love, and to take on the responsibility and the possibility. Today my friends our lives begin and I for one can not wait.”

Salutatorian Katelynn Spierdowis is headed to Clarkson University to major in civil engineering. At Albion, she was involved in the drama program, the orchestra and chorus. She played on the volleyball and tennis teams.

Spierdowis thanked the community for supporting the class, especially during the pandemic, when students were adopted by community members and showered with gifts.

“Your love and compassion has made us all feel truly special,” she said.

The graduating during the Black Lives Matter movement, a national push to fight systemic racism. Spierdowis said she is biracial and she shared about the challenges of acceptance.

“My friendships have been diverse,” she said. “I won’t label them as black or white. They were just my friends.”

She urged her classmates to “pursue a cause that is important to you.”

She concluded with a message of gratitude for the school district and community.

“Thank you Albion for giving me such a great start,” Spierdowis said.

Photo courtesy of Randy LeBaron: Ashlyn LeBaron gives the valedictory address. She will be majoring in nursing at Roberts Wesleyan College in Rochester. She was active on volleyball and track teams, as well as band, jazz band, pit orchestra, Bible study club, Rotary interact, history club and the National Honor Society.

LeBaron thanked teachers, coaches, administrators and family “for investing in our lives.”

She said the pandemic disrupted the senior year. The pandemic prevented the seniors from having their own in-person ceremony with all of their classmates.

“These times that we are in have changed our world and they have also changed us,” she said. “I believe each of us will rise out the situation stronger than how we went into it. These trials have shown we have the work ethic and determination to triumph over any situation. And we made it. ”

The class demonstrated perseverance and diligence to overcome obstacles that no other graduating class has faced. She said.

“It’s because of that I believe our class will go on to change the world,” LeBaron said. “The class of 2020 will serve as an example of resilience to all.”

Michael DiCureia gets a ride in the parade from his mother Bridget DiCureia.

District Superintendent Michael Bonnewell said the class has needed to adapt to unforeseen changes. The superintendent said he appreciated the chance to see the students individually during their personal graduation ceremonies spread out over about 40 hours and 10 days. They were spaced out in 15-mnute intervals.

That was the first time the students had been inside the high school in three months.

Bonnewell said he wished there could have been a large ceremony. Commencement usually has about 2,000 people inside the gym. The state capped the ceremonies to no more than 150 people and that was if they were outdoors. Indoor gatherings were limited to 25 people.

“Class of 2020, this is certainly not the graduation and indeed the senior year any of us wanted or had imagined for you,” Bonnewell said.

The class succeeded in the last stretch of their school experience, despite the challenges, he said.

“You persevered, grew and prospered in spite of the pandemic,” he said.

They can go into the next stage of life knowing they have overcome a great challenge.

“I miss you already and always,” Bonnewell told them.

High School Principal Jennifer Ashbery waves to graduating senior Deyonci Farley during the parade. Deyonci and his family are headed down Route 31.

Jennifer Ashbery, the high school principal, praised a class of “accomplishment, resilience and perseverance.”

There were 135 students in the class. Friday’s graduation was the 142^nd commencement for Albion.

Kathy Harling, the board president, said the Covid-19 pandemic led to an unprecedented shutdown of schools.

“No one asked for a global pandemic,” Harling said. “No one asked to be confined to their homes for weeks and months on end.”

She said she hoped the pandemic gave students spend more time with their families and also by themselves – “You can be at peace for yourself and enjoy your own company.”

She urged the graduates to take a cooperate approach in their role as citizens.

“The community functions better when we all work together,” Harling said.

Aggeliki Alexandris, who is headed to GCC, rides in the parade with her mother, Shelcy Plueckhahn.

Kyle Pappalardo gets a ride from his brother Liam Ward at the parade. They are both members of the Class of 2020.

Ryan Krenning is joined in the graduate parade by his mom, Amanda Krenning-Muoio.

Connor Hollenbeck, who is going to Rochester Institute of Technology, is joined by his parents, Dawn and Brian, at Friday’s parade.

Click here to see more photos of the parade on the school district’s website.

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Photos by Tom Rivers

ALBION – This banner of Sidney Eddy hangs on a light pole next to the First Presbyterian Church of Albion. Eddy served in World War I. He returned to Albion and ran a printing company and was a charter member of the Albion Rotary Club.

The Albion Department of Public Works hung up 33 banners this morning.

Provided photo: Albion Mayor Eileen Banker coordinated the effort with the banners. She is shown in a lift next to the banner of her father, the late John Pahura. The banners are 2 ½ feet by 5 feet.

“They look beautiful,” Banker said today.

Families or loved ones of the soldiers paid the cost for the banners. Banker is putting in another order for about 15 more banners.

For more information, send Banker an email at ebanker@villageofalbionny.com.

Thomas Heard Jr. is featured on this banner on Main Street. He served during World War II.

Rick Engle of Albion was 19 when he was killed in Vietnam on Feb. 2, 1968. His sisters, Brenda McQuillan and Lisa Ireland, paid for the banner.

These banners on East Bank Street show Leonard Levandowski, a lieutenant colonel with U.S. Air Force who served in World War II, Korea and Vietnam.

David Scharett, also lieutenant colonel with U.S. Air Force, is in back. He served during the Vietnam War.

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Provided photos

ALBION – The Albion Lions Club on Friday cooked hamburgers and served lunch to local police officers and deputies.

Lions Club member Lloyd Wright is shown at the grill with Albion police officer Chris Glogowski.

The Lions Club wanted to thank the local law enforcement officers for their work in the community.

About a dozen officers stopped by for lunch, which was prepared in Kelly Conrad’s backyard. His son Dan Conrad is a member of the Lions Club.

Lions Club member Mark Johnson greets Orleans County Sheriff’s deputies Brian Marsceill, left, and Jason Barnum.

The officers and deputies signed a poster from the Lions Club.

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Commencement will be virtual on Friday with senior parade in vehicles

Photos by Tom Rivers: Geno Allport hugs his daughter Callie after she graduated in a personalized ceremony last Thursday. The district did personal ceremonies for all members of the Class of 2020 because of the limitations on large gatherings during the Covid-19 pandemic.

ALBION – It was stretched out nearly 35 hours, the personalized graduation ceremonies for 135 members of the Class of 2020.

Albion completed the individual graduations on Saturday. They were spaced out every 15 minutes. It took more than a week to have all the students come through. They brought their families and close friends.

“It made it more special,” said Mekhi Rivera, who received his diploma last Thursday. “My family was right there with me while I walked through the cafeteria, down the hallway and then right up to the stage.”

Photo courtesy of Sue Starkweather Miller: Salutation Katelyn Spierdowis delivers her speech which will be shared online Friday during a virtual commencement. District Superintendent Michael Bonnewell is at left, next to Kathy Winans, the senior class advisor.

The district tried to create an almost-normal graduation ceremony. Pomp and Circumstance was played, High School Principal Jennifer Ashbery announced their names, the grads walked up a riser, then they walked to the center of the stage and Board of Education President Kathy Harling handed them their diplomas.

They smiled for a photo with the BOE president, and then moved down the line to be congratulated by Kathy Winans, the senior class advisor, and then Michael Bonnewell, the district superintendent.

Then the graduates walked down the riser, stopping briefly to get their picture taken by their families.

Callie Allport gets ready to walk up the riser and accept her diploma. From left on stage include Superintendent Michael Bonnewell, Senior Class Advisor Kathy Winans, BOE President Kathy Harling and Principal Jennifer Ashbery.

Geno Allport takes a video of his daughter Callie Allport as she walks down the riser after receiving her diploma.

After they received their diplomas, students returned to the stage for photos with their families.

It some ways, the graduates liked it better than the traditional ceremony, when 2,000 people pack the high school gym and it can feel hectic after the ceremony, with a big crowd gathered on the front lawn of the school.

This year, it is a quieter commencement but it still proved meaningful to graduates.

Callie Allport had her family and close friends at her graduation. She said she would have liked to have her classmates by her side, but having her family up close proved extra special.

Mekhi Rivera is happy after receiving his diploma last Thursday. He is pictured with his girlfriend Mercy Sugar, his mother Sandra Rivera, and brother Israel Florentino.

In many ways, it felt like the usual high school graduation at Albion. But the gym was;t packed. And there weren’t other classmates in the front rows.

Mekhi Rivera misses his classmates. He said he has only seen a few close friends since the school was closed in mid-March due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

“It’s been hard not seeing my friends and the teachers,” Rivera said.

Mehkyron Drisdom received his diploma last week in a personalized ceremony.

Mekhi’s mother Sandra Rivera has attended several Albion graduations. She appreciates the district’s efforts to have a ceremony for each graduate because a large ceremony isn’t possible during the Covid-19 pandemic. The state has capped graduations at no more than 150 people.

She would have liked her son to have been with all of his classmates and a large contingent from the community.

“This was different,” she said after her son walked the stage. “I like it with the gym full. You can feel the love in the air.”

The district will compile the individual ceremonies and put them together in a virtual graduation to be aired online Friday at 8:20 p.m. That will include the student speeches by Valedictorian Ashlyn LeBaron, Salutatorian Katelyn Spierdowis and Class President Angel Rosario Soto.

The ceremony will be presented after a senior parade in vehicles on the school campus. Seniors will start to line up at 6:30 p.m. at the middle school.

Molly Wadhams continued one commencement tradition: a photo on the front lawn with the class numbers.

Molly Wadhams would have preferred the big graduation ceremony with all of her classmates. She said the past three months have been difficult for seniors who missed their senior prank, senior skip day, baccalaureate and other time with their friends. She also was looking forward to her final time on stage in a school musical. But the Little Mermaid was also cancelled in April. (Wadhams is majoring in musical theater at Geneseo in the fall.)

Molly Wadhams is happy after receiving her diploma.

She is hopeful the senior prom can still happen. It was scheduled for June 12, but now is scheduled for Aug. 6.

“It has been hard but you can’t change it,” she said about a senior year during a pandemic.

She also liked appreciated that the school changed one policy for the personalized graduations. They let the seniors decorate the mortar boards on the graduation caps. Wadhams’ mortarboard had a musical theme, “End of Act One 2020.”

Her mother Pam Wadhams has had two other children graduate from Albion. As a parent, she wanted Molly to be recognized at graduation with her classmates.

“It’s nice we can do this,” Mrs. Wadhams said about the personalized graduation. “But it is a little sad because her friends aren’t here.”

Molly Wadhams is ending Act One and looks forward to the next chapter in her life.

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Photos by Tom Rivers

ALBION – A mural of three swans soaring over the Albion countryside was unveiled to the public for the first time today.

The mural is about 23 feet long. It is in the Curtis Room at Hoag Library. That is the main meeting room of the library, which is being used today as a polling site for a primary and special election. The library is closed to the public today except for people voting.

Stacey Kirby Steward, an Albion native, was up high on scaffolding in the Hoag Library on Saturday, working on the mural.

The family of the late Marion Moore paid the artist fee for the mural. Moore served as director of the Swan Library from 1961 to 1973. Albion’s public library was known as Swan Library from 1900 to 2012. The new Hoag Library opened in July 2012.

The mural shows three swans flying over the Erie Canal. The painting also highlights the farm fields, Lake Ontario and a cobblestone schoolhouse. Steward used a drone to get aerial views of Albion last fall, looking down on the area near the Gaines Basin Road canal bridge.

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