By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 21 December 2015 at 12:00 am
Photos by Tom Rivers
ALBION – Last month a new sign went up on Route 98, noting Albion is the home of “Legendary Santa” Charles W. Howard, who started the world’s’ first Santa School. Howard ran the school in Albion from 1937 until his death in 1966.
The school still bears his name, but has been relocated to Midland, Mich. It is run by Tom and Holly Valent. (Click here for more information.)
The new sign received an addition today: a large cutout image of Howard from 1965. Terri Wood, co-owner of the Lonowood Art Company, created the image of Howard from a black-and-white photo, believed to be one of the last images of Howard wearing the Santa suit.
The image of Howard is a mounted digital print on aluminum with a plastic core.
Terri Wood tightens a bolt for a bracket used to hold the image of Charlie Howard as Santa next to a new sign that proclaims Albion as home to the man who started the first Santa School.
The image of Howard is 6 feet, 2 inches. The sign is across from the Don Davis car dealership.
Howard is a revered figure in the Santa community. He was inducted in the Santa Claus Hall of Fame in 2010, part of the inaugural class. Click here for more information.
The Albion Betterment Committee paid for the new sign that is located on the property of Gil and Donna Wolcott.
Betterment Committee directors include, from left: Joe Gehl, Gary Kent and Gary Derwick.
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 20 December 2015 at 12:00 am
Village of Albion takes $5K hit in sales tax as town assessments continue to grow
File photo by Tom Rivers – The Villages of Orleans Health and Rehabilitation Center on Route 31 in Albion went on the tax rolls for the first time in 2015 at a $6,618,900 assessment. The facility is just outside the village borders.
ALBION – The addition of the former county nursing home to the tax rolls will result in a loss of sales tax revenue to the Village of Albion, and a gain for the Town of Albion.
The county collects about $15 million in sales tax each year and shares $1,366,671 from that total for the 10 towns and villages. (The $1,366,671 has been frozen since 2001.) The county is budgeting for a $250,000 increase in sales tax in 2016.
The town and village amounts are tied to assessed values. The villages have been shrinking in value in recent years while the towns have been gaining. That has resulted in more sales tax money for the towns and less for the villages.
The Village of Albion will get $5,307 less in sales tax in 2016, according to the sales tax apportionment approved by the County Legislature last week. The Village of Albion will get $169,998, which is down from $175,305 in 2015. In 2013, the village was getting $180,457 – $10,459 more than in 2016.
The Town of Albion’s sales tax will jump from $115,666 to $120,628. The Town of Gaines, which also includes a portion of the village, will increase from $86,558 to $86,902.
Albion’s village and town numbers shifted in 2016 mainly because of the nursing home. That 120-bed facility on Route 31 went on the tax rolls for the first time in 2015 with an assessed value of $6,618,900.
Comprehensive Healthcare Management Services LLC paid $7.8 million for the nursing home. Comprehensive has filed legal papers to drop the assessed value to $2.5 million.
Other villages also will see a drop in 2016. Medina is down from $159,586 to $158,208. Holley dropped from $47,746 to $47,706 and Lyndonville decreased from $15,473 to $15,316.
To determine the village share, the county divides the village taxable value by the town taxable value. As the villages lose assessed value and the towns gain, the village share gets smaller.
For example, in the Town of Albion, the village now accounts for 55.30 percent of the town’s total taxable value. It was 57.14 percent in 2015, 57.45 percent in 2014 and 58.59 percent in 2013.
Altogether the villages in 2016 will receive $391,229 of the $1,366,671 in sales tax shared with the towns and villages. The village share is down nearly $7,000 from the $398,110 in 2015. The villages received $404,666 in 2013.
Here are the amounts set aside for the towns in 2016: Albion, $120,628; Barre, $64,536; Carlton, $95,418; Clarendon, $116,261; Gaines, $86,902; Kendall, $86,813; Murray, $111,259; Ridgeway, $126,126; Shelby, $101,257; and Yates, $66,238.
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 18 December 2015 at 12:00 am
ALBION – The Orleans County Planning Board approved three small business projects on Thursday, including a new tortilla store in Albion, small engine repair and appliance sales business in Yates, and a motor vehicle repair shop in Kendall.
Gabriel Rodriguez wants to put up an 1,800-square-foot building to make and sell tortillas at 439 West Ave., Albion. The site would be next door to Rodriguez’s home, where he also sells boots and clothing.
The tortilla store would share the driveway to the residence and the other business.
The site is west of King Street in a General Commercial district.
Carl Stauffer wants to fix small engines and appliances, and also sell appliances from of 12025 Roosevelt Highway (Route 18), the former site of Murphy’s Fruit Stand.
Stauffer and his family moved to the property in July and have made several improvements, cleaning up the site. The Orleans County Planning Board recommended the Town of Yates give Stauffer a permit for a home business in a residential/agricultural district.
Carl Catracchia II wants to operate White Knuckle Motorsports and Automotive at 2655-2639 Peter Smith Rd., Kendall.
Catracchia says he will repair, maintain an build motorcycles, ATVs, snowmobiles and work on automobiles at the site, which is in a residential/agricultural district. The Orleans County Planning recommended the Town of Kendall approve the site plan and permit for the business.
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 17 December 2015 at 12:00 am
ALBION – The American Legion is moving from Main Street to the Scottish Pines club house on Gaines Basin Road.
The Legion has acquired the site at 3429 Gaines Basin Rd., just north of the Orleans Correctional Facility.
The Legion sold its Main Street location to the Community Action of Orleans & Genesee, which moved its thrift store to the building at 131 South Main in October 2014. The Legion was given up to 18 months to use the bar in back.
The organization could put on an 2,800 square foot addition at the club house at the golf course. The Legion would like to have more public events at the site.
The Orleans County Panning Board reviewed the site plan for the 70-by-40-foot addition and recommended the Town of Albion approve the project, as well as a permit for public/semi-public use in a residential/agricultural district.
A Legion representative said the organization hasn’t decided if it will continue the par 3 golf course. That will depend on availability of members. The golf course could provide income for the Legion. If the course doesn’t remain open, some of the land may be sold, the Legion representative told members of the Orleans County Planning Board this evening.
If the Legion decides to put on the addition, planners said it would have to add 28 parking spaces as well. Currently there are 43 parking spots.
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 16 December 2015 at 12:00 am
File photo by Tom Rivers – Albion village officials have been trying for years to get state assistance to upgrade equipment at Bullard Park. The grants announced last week by the state didn’t include funding for Bullard.
ALBION – The Village of Albion tried again for a state grant to update Bullard Park, but the long list of grants announced by the state last week didn’t include Bullard.
Village officials say they haven’t received official notification that Albion was denied in its request for $400,000. However, the village and its grantwriter, Jean O’Connell and Associates in Clarence, have combed through the list of grant winners and didn’t see money for Albion.
Albion tried for grants from the state in 2012 and 2013, then seeking $600,000. The application was scaled back this time with the top goals a new spray park and playground equipment.
The village created a committee, Rebuild Bullard, to prioritize the funding and projects at the park on Route 31.
The Albion Lions Club, Elks Club, village and town have all rallied to try to upgrade the park, which has hosted new community events in recent years, including the Rock the Park music festival and a Metro 10 race pitting Rochester and Buffalo runners.
The grants approved by the state have put a focus on jobs and economic development. The village thought the spray park would not only improve the quality of life for local children and their families, but would be a draw to the community. There currently isn’t a spray park in Orleans County, and some local residents go outside Orleans to spray parks on hot summer days.
Even without state help, the village has been making improvements to the park with new playground equipment added last year at the Pee Wee section of the park. The sledding hill also has been reshaped with fill from the Clarendon Street bridge. Stairs and hand rails also have been added to the sledding hill.
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 13 December 2015 at 12:00 am
Photos by Tom Rivers
ALBION – The Albion Merchants Association held its annual holiday window decorating contest and Pratt Works was declared the winner on Saturday after judges looked over the decorated storefronts in the downtown and on Main Street.
Pratt Works will receive a plaque for first place. These photos were all taken this evening.
The Hazy Jade Gift Shop came in second place.
Bloom’s Flower Shop tied for third place.
Dance Reflections by Miss Heather also came in third in a tie with Bloom’s.
Several other merchants decorated for the season with lighted displays in their storefronts. This photo shows Bindings Bookstore.
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 12 December 2015 at 12:00 am
Photos by Tom Rivers
BARRE – Santa Claus gets ready for a big hug today from a local Girl Scout. Santa is making the rounds today and on Sunday in Barre, visiting local children. He has traded his sleigh for a Barre fire truck as he makes his rounds around town.
Ben Flansburg, a Barre firefighter, is in back at right.
Girl Scouts in Barre and Albion were having a Christmas party at the Barre fire hall when Santa stopped by around 10:30 a.m. Barre firefighter Bert Mathes is in back at left.
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 12 December 2015 at 12:00 am
Photos by Tom Rivers
ALBION – FFA students in Albion delivered more than 30,000 pounds of food to Community Action this morning. The top photo shows Vivian Rivers, FFA president, handing a box of food to Emilie Barleben.
The FFA has been organizing, collecting and delivering the food to Community Action since 2010. The 30,656 pounds delivered today set a new record for the FFA, topping the 27,000 pounds from last year.
Jared Hollinger, an FFA member, hands a heavy box of produce to Adam Krenning, FFA advisor and Albion agriculture teacher. Kelsee Soule, FFA vice president, is also on the truck.
Students boxed up the produce on Thursday and Friday, and then stacked it on the tractor trailer this morning.
Emilie Barleben and Natalie DiCureia work together carrying a big box of squash.
Garrett Derisley and Katie Mann carry boxes of squash to a second trailer full of food.
The FFA members gathered for a quick photo after loading the tractor trailer. They hold a sign saying “Thank You” to the farms and businesses that donated for the food drive.
There were 22 farms and businesses that donated to the effort, including Call Farms, Costanzo Bakery, Barry Flansburg, Kast Farms, Kirby Farms, Kludt Brothers, Kreher’s Egg Farm, L. Brooke Farms, Müller Yogurt, Nesbitt Fruit Farm, Orchard Dale Fruit Farm, Orleans County Farm Bureau, Panek Farms, Partyka Farms, Pawlak’s Save-A-Lot, Rich Products, Dale Root, Root Brothers, Starowitz Farms, Torrey Farms, Triple G Farms, and CY Farms.
Angela English, a member of the Lord’s House in Waterport, carries a sack of cabbages for the food pantry at the church.
Ten food pantries and three food kitchens received food this morning.
When the trucks pulled up with the food, many of the food pantry volunteers clapped. Annette Finch has worked 38 years at Community Action. She started crying when she thanked the FFA kids for their work on the food drive. FFA students started calling farms about two months ago, trying to line up donations.
“This is a real tribute to young people and we don’t hear enough about the good that young people do,” Finch said.
Russ Peters, pastor of the Alabama Full Gospel Church, carries a bag of potatoes for the church’s food pantry.
Andy Ebbs is the maintenance supervisor for Community Action. He said the FFA food drive is a big help in stocking the food pantry shelves. He also said the Boy Scout food drive is important for Community Action.
Ebbs marvelled about all of the produce, which will be used through the winter.
“It’s simply amazing, especially seeing these girls throw their backs into carrying heavy bags of cabbage,” Ebbs said. “This is a real life-saver for us.”
FFA member Ellen Narburgh carries a sack full of cabbage.
When the Albion FFA first organized a food drive for Community Action during the holidays in 2010, the student organization was able to secure 3,000 pounds in donations. That jumped to 9,000 pounds in 2011, 17,000 the following year and 19,000 in December 2013. Last year it was 27,000 pounds. The FFA set a goal for 30,000 this year and surpassed that mark.
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 11 December 2015 at 12:00 am
Photo by Tom Rivers – Downtown Albion is decorated with banners and wreaths for the holiday season. Many of the merchants also have lighted displays in their storefront windows.
ALBION – Albion business owners will host their fourth annual “Hometown Holiday” on Saturday. The event has grown with new activities including a “Where’s Rudolph” challenge.
“This is our annual community program where we encourage people to shop local,” said Carolyn Ricker, president of Albion Merchants Association and owner of Bindings Bookstore. “There will be a lot of activities for kids and families to do together.”
There will be a Rudolph at 19 sites and children who can find at least five will receive a goody bag. Each participating merchant will have a passport for all of the reindeer locations.
Merchants will host other activities, including ornament making, letter writing to Santa, story time, coloring contest, and cookies with Mrs. Claus. The events run from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. with Santa at the Cobble-Ridge Co-op at 14462 Ridge Rd. from 1 to 3 p.m.
The event also includes a Christmas Gift Fair with several vendors at the Pullman Memorial Church from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.
For more information on the day, visit one of the businesses or check the Merchant’s Association Facebook page by clicking here.
A slender Santa who resembles Jim Knight helps promote the Christmas Gift Fair last Saturday. Vendors will be back tomorrow at the church.
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 11 December 2015 at 12:00 am
ALBION – The Village Board has approved a 20-year agreement for solar power at the water and sewer plants, a deal that is expected to reduce the electricity costs for the village by at least $2 million over two decades.
The Village Board accepted SolarCity’s proposal to install and own the solar energy systems that would be mounted on panels at the sewer plant on Zig-Zag Road and the water plant on the shores on Lake Ontario on Wilson Road in Carlton.
SolarCity will sell the power at a reduced cost to the village. SolarCity also will be eligible for federal tax incentives for installing and operating the system. The company also has most of the upfront costs for installing the system.
“It’s really kind of ground-breaking for us to be where we are with the project,” said Dean London, the Albion village mayor.
The village currently pays 12 cents per kilowatt-hour. SolarCity will sell electricity to the village for about half of what Albion is currently paying.
The agreement was approved by the Village Board on Wednesday, pending final review of the document by village attorney John Gavenda.
SolarCity will construct the solar energy system next year using two parcels of land by the sewer plant and one parcel by the water plant.
“It’s a new thing for us,” London said. “There is a potential for huge savings.”
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 10 December 2015 at 12:00 am
Orleans plans to replace more bridges and culverts in 2016
Photos by Tom Rivers – Orleans County officials and contractors for the Oak Orchard Road bridge in Barre gathered for a ribbon-cutting celebration on Wednesday for the new bridge near the muck. Pictured, from left: Chris Bayer, a civil engineer with LaBella Associates; County Legislator John DeFillipps; Highway Superintendent Jerry Gray; Legislature Chairman David Callard; Chuck Nesbitt, county chief administrative officer; Legislator Bill Eick; Legislator Ken DeRoller; and Karl Snyder, the estimator and project manager for Redman Construction in Brockport.
BARRE – A bridge near the muck was torn out in August and a new precast box culvert was put in its place. The new bridge opened last week, and county officials and contractors celebrated the conclusion of the project with a ribbon-cutting on Wednesday.
That wraps up the infrastructure work in a busy 2015 in Orleans County. The county also replaced a bridge from 1934 over Beardsley Creek on Waterport-Carlton Road in Carlton, and two culverts on Knowlesville Road in Ridgeway over the Oak Orchard Creek.
(The county also put a new roof on the Public Safety Building, and added two new pole barns for the Highway Department on West Academy Street.)
Orleans has more projects in the works in 2016 and ’17. Next year it will replace a bridge from 1959 in Kendall on Carton Road over Sandy Creek, and a bridge from 1936 in Ridgeway over Fish Creek on East Scott Road. It will also replace two culverts on Platten Road in Yates, just east of the Village of Lyndonville.
The plan for 2017 includes bridges from 1928 in Ridgeway over Fish Creek on Culvert Road, and a bridge from 1956 in Kendall over Sandy Creek on Norway Road. The county will also replace two culverts on South Holley Road in Clarendon.
The new bridge in Barre goes over Manning Muckland Creek. The bridge has new guard rails, and is wider with more room on the shoulders.
The infrastructure work is part of an $8 million bond taken out last year to address bridges that had badly deteriorated. The federal and state governments would normally help pay for the projects, but those dollars have been hard to come by in recent years for Orleans County.
County officials worried the bridges would be “red flagged” by the state Department of Transportation with weight reductions. That would make travel more difficult, especially for the farm equipment, school buses and plow trucks.
The DOT considered 49 of the 131 bridges in the county to be rated deficient, as of Aug. 31, 2015. The DOT rates bridges on a score of 3.00 to 7.00. Anything less than a 5.00 is considered deficient.
The county will replace six bridges from 2015 to 2017, doing two each year. That should bring the number of deficient bridges down from 49 to 43.
The two bridges replaced this year had very low ratings. The bridge over Beardsley Creek in Carlton was rated a 3.80, and the bridge over Manning Muckland Creek in Barre was rated a 3.85.
The base of the new bridge in Barre notes it was built in 2015.
There has been a benefit to tackling the projects without state and federal help: far less cost and red tape. County officials estimate the projects are about one third cheaper than through the federal programs.
Those reduced expenses should allow the county to replace at least one more culvert or bridge as part of the infrastructure efforts.
“We can do it a lot cheaper,” said Jerry Gray, the county highway superintendent. “We’ve proved it.”
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 9 December 2015 at 12:00 am
Photo by Tom Rivers – Roz Starkweather, left, and Sharon Midea, who have each worked nearly a half century in the insurance business, will both retire later this year. They work for Albion Agencies on Main Street.
ALBION – Two insurance agents in Albion have each spent nearly a half century in the business, helping to write policies for home owners, cars, motorcycles, businesses, farms and more.
Roz Starkweather and Sharon Midea have experienced big changes in the industry with the utilization of computers and a shrinking number of insurance carriers.
The two women are thankful for jobs that turned into long careers, allowing them to stay close to home with their families and also connect with so many customers.
“It’s nice to work in town and only have to drive three-tenths of a mile to work,” Midea said.
Both she and Starkweather will retire at the end of the year with their last day in the office on Dec. 22. They are both long-time employees at Albion Agencies. Midea started there in 1970. She handles most of the commercial accounts and is a certified insurance counselor. Starkweather started in insurance when she was in high school in Batavia.
“I started out at 17 and I didn’t know it would be my life work,” Roz said.
She worked for the J.R. Holt agency in Batavia, her hometown. She moved to Albion with her late husband Duane so he could run a gas station at the corner of Hamilton and West Avenue, the current site for Avanti’s. The couple raised three children in Albion.
Roz started working for the former Paganelli Agencies (where Snell Realtors is located). Roz said the insurance job was ideal when she had young kids in school. She would start the workday around 10 and be home when the kids were off the school bus at 3:30.
Starkweather worked at Paganelli’s for 20 years. She would often call Midea when Starkweather was looking for advice on how to handle a commercial account.
That has been typical of the insurance agents in town, the two said. They will call each other. It’s not a competition.
“It’s never been cutthroat,” Midea said.
Midea grew up in Perry, Wyoming County. Her husband Ben was hired as a funeral director at Merrill-Grinnell Funeral Homes, bringing the family to Albion. Sharon was working in the office for the former Bemis Bag manufacturing company in Albion (now the site of Environmental Construction Group across from Hospice of Orleans).
Mr. Midea saw Paul Haines, owner of Albion Agencies, and heard Mrs. Midea was looking for a job. That was in 1970. She has been a dedicated employee for 45 years. She said the insurance business “was overwhelming in the beginning.”
She started in claims, and there were reams of paperwork, “a lot of forms and carbon copies,” Midea said.
But she stuck with it, and learned many of facets of the business, becoming a licensed insurance agent and broker.
She remembers when Chris Haines joined the business out of college in the 1980s. Chris pushed to have the office computerized and for staff to have regular training.
“He’s been very progressive,” Starkweather said.
When she arrived at Albion Agencies in 1994, she had little experience with computers.
“I didn’t know how to turn it on,” she said about her office computer. “I still have my wars with my computer.”
But she is a convert to the technology. She can easily research issues and retrieve files and information.
“You used to have to go to big file cabinets,” she said. “There were tons of file cabinets. Now you hardly ever have to go to the file cabinet because it’s all on computers.”
The two women have put off retirement in recent years, opting for continuing education classes every two years.
Both Starkweather and Midea say the time is right to end their careers. Midea plans to spend seven months a year in Florida with her husband. The two will spend the rest of the year in an RV.
“This has been a great place to work,” she said. “That is why neither of us have left. We’re family.”
Starkweather said she is excited about the next phase of her life, but she will miss her many customers.
“Customer service is very, very important,” she said. “I babied my customers.”
Albion Agencies will have a retirement open house for community members to stop by on Friday to see Starkweather and Midea from 1 to 4 p.m. The office is located at 30 North Main St.
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 7 December 2015 at 12:00 am
Photos by Tom Rivers
ALBION – The Albion Free Methodist Church on Saturday hosted a Bible quizzing competition with 120 kids on teams from 11 churches in Western New York.
This photo was taken in the sanctuary of the church and shows the teams testing their seats. Each chair has an electronic device and the quizzer who “jumps” first gets the first chance to answer the question.
A team from Free Church in Rochester is at left and quizzers from the Pearce Memorial Free Methodist Church in North Chili are at right.
Jacob Thom, left, and Zoe Seniuk are members of the Young Rookies team from the Albion Free Methodist Church. Each round has 15 questions. Quizzers can “quiz out” if they answer five questions in a round.
Zoe Seniuk answers a question during Saturday’s quiz meet in Albion. In this round, the Albion Young Rookies competed agianst a team from Gowanda. Zoe quizzed out several times on Saturday, answering the maximum of five questions for an individual quizzer per round.
On Saturday, the focus was on the Book of Acts, chapters 9 through 12.
There are nine members of the quizzing program at the Albion church in grades six through 12.
Three high schoolers compete for Albion on Saturday. This photo shows, from left: Calandra Prentice, Catherine Thom and Michael Laine.
The monthly competitions rotate to different Free Methodist churches each month with the national competition in Seattle, Wa., in late June. More chapters from Acts will be added each month for the quizzers to learn and memorize.
Jacob and Catherine Thom’s mother, Tara Thom, is the coordinator of the quiz program at the Albion Free Methodist Church.
NORFOLK, Va. – Religious Program Specialist 2nd Class John D. Stageman, an Albion native, was recently selected as the Commander, Navy Region Mid-Atlantic Junior Sailor of the Year for 2015.
“I’m honored to be selected and that the board recognized all the effort and hard work I put in this year,” said Stageman, who has been in the Navy for nine years and currently works in the Chaplain’s Religious Enrichment Development Operation department for Navy Region Mid-Atlantic. “I’m really grateful for the opportunity to represent my command and community.”
Stageman is a 2006 graduate of Charles D’Amico High School. His mother, Darla Stageman, resides in Albion and his father, David Stageman, lives in Rochester.
The Junior Sailor of the Year award is part of a program established in the interest of recognizing superior performance of enlisted personnel with emphasis on outstanding achievements, exemplary personal conduct and military bearing, and demonstrated initiative in the performance of duty.
In addition to recognizing outstanding performance, this program motivates personnel to strive for improvement in their assigned duties, military behavior, appearance, and leadership.
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 6 December 2015 at 12:00 am
Photos By Tom Rivers
ALBION – It was breathtaking sunset today around 5 p.m. I took several photos of the churches around Courthouse Square as the sky changed colors and grew more intense.
The top photo shows St. Joseph’s Catholic Church (Holy Family Parish) at left with First Baptist Church towering even higher at right.
The seven churches by the courthouse are part of a district named to the National Register of Historic Places.
The Pullman Memorial Universalist Church
The First Presbyterian Churh, looking through columns at the Orleans County Courthouse
The Albion First United Methodist Church at left and Albion Free Methodist Church at right (the first Free Methodist church in the world)
Christ Episcopal Church in back at left with a Christmas tree in front (on the Courthouse lawn)
Here is one of the Orleans County Courthouse, the focal point of the historic district.
