By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 15 May 2015 at 12:00 am
Photos by Tom Rivers
ALBION – Sandy Climenhaga, Albion AP biology teacher, and student Katelyn Perry work together in planting flowers this morning.
Students in Albion’s AP biology class put flowers in 17 planters that will head to downtown Albion next week. The students worked with three volunteers from the Albion Merchants Association on the project.
Lisa Stratton, Debbie Grimm and Paula Brooks helped with the effort from the Merchants. The Merchants and Town of Albion paid for the flowers with additional sponsors from 17 businesses. This year there will also be 16 hanging baskets in the downtown, Stratton said.
Climenhaga said her students try to help with a flower planting project each year in the community. They expect to help plant flowers next week at Bullard Park.
“The kids like going by and seeing their work,” she said. “It definitely gives them pride in the community and we want to help the businesses who are already busy working at their shops.”
The bio students learn about flowers as part of their class. They study photosynthesis and dissect flowers to learn about plants.
Jordan Deskins helps with the flower planting effort this morning. Other AP students who helped include Ryan Reed, Jacob Squicciarini, Andrew Hollenbeck and Katelyn Perry.
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 14 May 2015 at 12:00 am
Photos by Tom Rivers – The 9-inch-wide lockers in the high school, which are about 40 years old, will be replaced with ones that are a foot wide as part of a capital project at the three school buildings as well as the bus garage. The high school would go from 1,200 lockers to 800 because of the wider lockers.
ALBION – The school district is proposing a $14.3 million capitol project on Tuesday that will address numerous maintenance issues and infrastructure upgrades.
The project includes work in the elementary, middle, and high schools, as well as the bus garage and athletic facilities.
The $14,370,548 project for building reconstruction, energy and safety improvements will be 91 percent covered by state funds. The district has its 9 percent share, $1,286,000, already in a local reserve fund, school officials said.
The capital project was discussed during a public hearing on the budget Tuesday at the LGI Room at the high school. Kirk Narburgh, a partner at King & King Architects in Syracuse, detailed the scope of the work. Narburgh is an Albion graduate.
The project would replace half of the roofs, upgrade parking lots, improve drainage on athletic fields, resurface the track, and add some exterior lighting and utilize more LED lights.
The District Office, currently housed in what was intended to be a temporary metal building in the 1964, would be demolished and those offices would shift to existing space at the middle school.
“The district office has exceeded its useful life,” Narburgh said at the hearing.
Kirk Narburgh outlines the proposed capital project at Albion Central School.
The capital project would also include stronger doors at school entrances and card access controls.
“We’re going to solidify the entrances more,” Narburgh said.
The fire alarm would be replaced with a new system at the elementary school, which would also see a relocated flag pole to the front of the building, HVAC upgrades, additional exterior lighting, and a new playground on west side.
The elementary school would also receive a shading system on the south side to reduce solar heat gain in the warmer months.
The work at the elementary school adds up to $5,249,261.
The capital project also will replace some single-pane windows in the middle school with more energy-efficient windows, upgrade the sound booth, improve the boiler and heating system, add exterior lights to northeast side of the school, widen the sidewalk by bus loading zone and replace decaying steel hand railing with aluminum ones.
The middle school work would cost an estimated $5,730,265.
At the high school, the 1,200 high school lockers that are less than 9 inches wide would be replaced with 800 lockers that are a foot wide. The bigger lockers would allow students to better store their thick backpacks and winter coats.
The high school library would also be repurposed with new technology to meet the needs of the 21st Century.
The high school track would also be resurfaced and better drainage would be added to the football field.
The high school improvements would cost an estimated $2,851,885.
The capital project would also include work on the bus garage, adding an emergency generator, and new doors and lighting at an estimated $539,137.
Voting for the project, budget and other propositions will be Tuesday from noon to 8 p.m. in the elementary school’s Conference Room A near the community entrance in the back of the school.
Shawn Liddle, the district’s assistant superintedent for business, discusses factors in the budget that will reduce taxes.
Residents will also vote on a proposed $33,240,940 budget reduces spending by $310,111 or 0.92 percent. The tax levy would drop by 1 percent to $8,355,939.
This is the eighth budget in the past nine years where the district has either kept the tax levy the same or cut it.
Shawn Liddle, the district’s assistant superintendent of business, said the district runs a cost-effective operation while maintaining many programs and opportunities for students.
Albion has a per pupil cost of $17,705, which compares to the state average of $23,218, and an Orleans County average of $20,213, Liddle said.
Albion will see payments to the retirement system drop by $398,000 in 2015-16. The district also expects to save about $145,000 with staff retirements. The district will maintain staffing and all of its programs in the new budget, but retirees will be replaced by less experienced staff with smaller paychecks.
The district also budgeted a $133,000 decrease in tuition through the Orleans-Niagara BOCES and $72,000 less in debt service payments.
Rising salaries for district staff is the biggest increase in the budget at an additional $478,000.
The budget vote on May 19 also includes propositions to spend $460,000 for buses and $680,411 to be collected for Hoag Library.
Two candidates are unopposed for five-year terms on the Board of Education, including incumbent Marie Snyder and Chantelle Sacco. Snyder works as a welfare fraud investigator and Sacco is an engineer. Incumbent John King decided not to seek re-election to the volunteer position.
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 13 May 2015 at 12:00 am
Photo by Tom Rivers – Walter Jakubowski of Albion is pictured with some of the photographs he has featured in an exhibit about the Pratt Opera House and the restorative efforts from 2013 to 2015.
ALBION – One photo from 10 years ago shows former Congressman John LaFalce and former Albion Mayor Ed Salvatore in the Pratt Opera House. The floor is covered in pigeon droppings and pigeon carcasses.
More recent photos show the same stage in the Pratt Opera House cleaned, sanded and refinished.
Walter Jakubowski, an Albion photographer, has been taking photos in the Pratt since 2013. He documented some of the restorative efforts by Michael Bonafede and his wife Judith Koehler.
About 20 of those photos will be on display in an exhibit opening Saturday at Salih Studio at 24 East Bank St. There will be an opening reception from 2 to 5 p.m. The exhibit runs until June 20, and will be open from 2 to 6 p.m. on Thursdays through Saturdays.
One of Jakubowski’s photos shows a ticket from a performance at the Pratt Theatre.
The exhibit also includes old seating charts and some historic photos of the Pratt, where construction on the third floor building started in 1890.
The opera house seated 400 and hosted numerous plays, theater events and other live performances. By World War II, the opera house was largely dormant and its chairs removed so the steel could be salvaged during the scrap metal drives.
The opera house would spend about 70 years pretty much out of the public eye. The site was falling in disrepair when Bonafede and Koehler purchased it in 2005.
The couple was on the tour with LaFalce and Salvatore. The former mayor asked the Bonafede family to take on the project, seeing a restored opera house as a major draw for Albion.
The family has done extensive work on the opera house and the entire building. The opera house has more work to be done. It doesn’t yet have a certificate of occupancy.
Jakubowski has many photos of the interior of the Pratt following an extensive cleanup effort and restorative work.
The first and second floors on the building on North Main Street are home to 11 tenants, up from two when the Bonafede family acquired the property.
“We feel like we’ve salvaged the building,” Michael Bonafede said today. “We didn’t achieve our dreams but we’re ready for someone to take it to the next level.”
Bonafede and Koehler said they would consider an offer for the property from “someone with the right vision.”
Jakubowski wanted to document the efforts by Bonafede and Koehler, and also highlight an important building in Albion’s history.
“People used to have rocking times up there,” he said. “It’s part of the cultural history of the area.”
Jakubowski said generations of people have been driving by the building without seeing or appreciating the opera house. He wanted them to get a glimpse of the grandeur.
“I think a lot of people aren’t aware of what’s up there,” he said today while hanging his photos at Salih Studio. “It’s tucked up on the third floor and people don’t see it or think about it.”
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 12 May 2015 at 12:00 am
Photo by Tom Rivers – Deputy James DeFilipps (right) was recognized during an Orleans County Legislature meeting on April 22, along with deputies Brian Larkin, left, Kevin Colonna, and other law enforcement officers in the county. DeFilipps was wounded in a March 21 shoot-out in Clarendon.
When Deputy James DeFilipps was shot on March 21, a bullet-proof vest likely saved his life. It was the 1,912 “save” for the Safariland Group, a company that makes bullet-proof vests, armor and other gear.
Safariland representatives will be in Albion at the Public Safety Building on May 19 for a ceremony to recognize DeFilipps. The company will present him with a plaque and will induct him into the “Safariland Group Saves Club.” The company will also give a plaque to the Sheriff’s Department in the ceremony at 3 p.m.
Members of the “Safariland Group Saves Club” often become advocates for the law enforcement community, sharing the importance of wearing body armor, as well as providing other safety tips derived from their own experiences, the company said.
DeFilipps was shot twice in the vest during a shootout on March 21 in Clarendon with a James Ellis, 44, of Wyoming County.
Ellis crashed his vehicle into a telephone pole on Route 31A in Clarendon at about 3 a.m. on March 21. Police discovered the wreck in a neighbor’s front yard while looking for Ellis. When DeFilipps left his patrol car to search for Ellis, the suspect opened fire from a wooded area near the vehicle, Sheriff Scott Hess said during a news conference later that day.
Deputy DeFilipps was shot twice in the abdomen, and then managed to fatally shoot Ellis.
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 9 May 2015 at 12:00 am
Photos by Tom Rivers
ALBION – Donovan Braley, 7, a Wolf in Cub Scout Pack 164 in Albion puts an American flag on a veteran’s grave in Mount Albion Cemetery this morning.
Donovan and about 25 Scouts put hundreds of flags on graves for veterans, an annual tradition for Scouts before Memorial Day. They also placed flags for veterans at St. Joseph’s Cemetery.
Zack Baron, 7, carries flags and looks for veterans’ graves in the historic cemetery along Route 31.
Girl Scouts also helped place flags at the graves. Isabel Penafiel is a member of Troop 82252. She is pictured in the Civil War section of Mount Albion.
Civil War veterans have flags by their graves in Mount Albion.
The Scouts and their leaders are pictured by the Ingersoll Fountain in front of the chapel in Mount Albion.
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 8 May 2015 at 2:09 pm
File photo by Tom Rivers – Chris Rivers holds up his diploma in the high school gym last June, when he and 165 other students celebrated their graduation from Albion.
ALBION – Albion High School has been picked as one of 17 schools in New York and Colorado that meet an opportunity gap, helping students reach their potential despite issues with poverty and other challenges.
Charles C. D’Amico High School in Albion has been selected by the National Education Policy Center at the University of Colorado with a “School of Opportunity” designation. These outstanding schools demonstrate a range of practices that ensure that all students have rich opportunities to succeed, the center said in a news release.
“Our selection as one of the 17 schools in New York and Colorado recognizes and reinforces our efforts,” said Michael Bonnewell, Albion Central School superintendent. “Additionally, it provides us with information about the efforts of 16 other high performing schools that we can consider as we strive to continuously improve our own program.”
Bonnewell said the community, Board of Education and staff have all worked hard to provide opportunities for student success.
The schools picked all put students first before test scores, the National Education Policy Center said.
“Current ratings programs aimed at identifying the nation’s best high schools include many high-quality schools,” said Carol Burris, co-leader of the School of Opportunity initiative. “But the approach they use tends to reward schools that are affluent or those that enroll a selective group of students. It is time we recognize schools that do outstanding work with a wider range of students.”
Burris is principal of South Side High School in Rockville Centre, NY. She is jointly leading the School of Opportunity initiative with Professor Kevin Welner of the Boulder School of Education, who directs the NEPC. Burris was the 2013 New York State High School Principal of the Year.
“The schools we’re recognizing with this new project are all places you would crave to have your own children attend,” Welner said.
The Schools of Opportunity project highlights excellent practices designed to expand student opportunity and access to academic success. The program was piloted in just two states – Colorado and New York – in the 2014-2015 school year. Next school year, the project will include high schools nationwide.
The recognition of the 17 schools is based on 11 specific principles identified by experts in the 2013 Oxford University Press book, Closing the Opportunity Gap, which Welner edited along with Stanford University Professor Prudence Carter.
Specific practices include effective student and faculty support systems, outreach to the community, health and psychological support, judicious and fair discipline policies, little or no tracking, and high-quality teacher induction and mentoring programs.
The opportunity gaps facing the nation’s children arise from poverty, racism and other societal ills much more than from anything taking place in schools, said Burris and Welner. But schools are nonetheless important, and they can make a real difference in children’s lives, they said.
“We hope,” Welner said, “that this project will help move the nation past the constraining and wrongheaded discussion of school quality that focuses on ‘Problems, Statistics and Labels.’ Students and educators, as well as parents and researchers who spend time on our high schools, know that quality schooling comes from excellent practices.”
For more information on the Schools of Opportunity, click here.
Genesee Community College campus centers in Albion and Medina want to know what you think about how the centers are serving the higher education needs of the community.
The staff has created a survey using the Survey Monkey online utility seeking input from community members. The survey is available by clicking here. (Editor’s note: This link has been removed. The survey is completed.) It should take 3 to 5 minutes to complete. Those who answer the ten questions are entered to win a prize package that includes a Kindle Fire HD. The survey closes June 12.
“In our efforts to continuously improve our services to the community, we hope to garner the public’s interest and input on what they would like to see at the Albion and Medina Campus Centers,” Jim Simon, associate dean of GCC’s of the 2 campus centers in Orleans County. “From new courses to the hours our doors are open to innovative new career programs – we really want to hear what we can do better.”
The survey points out that GCC currently offers more than 70 degree and certificate programs at seven different locations as well as online. These include the main campus in Batavia and six campus centers. Besides Albion and Medina, there are campus centers in Arcade, Dansville, Lima and Warsaw.
Among the survey questions:
If you could invent a new class or program at the Albion or Medina Campus Center, what would it be?
If you were to enroll at GCC’s Albion or Medina Campus, what class times would you choose?
“We exist to meet the needs of the communities we serve,” said Michele Bokman, director of operations at the Albion and Medina campus centers. “The more honest respondents are, the better. We want a true picture of how we’re doing and how we can improve.”
The Albion Campus Center was GCC’s first, opening in 1990. More than 50 courses are typically offered each semester with an enrollment of more than 450 students.
Albion’s facilities include six high-tech classrooms, two computer labs, an art room, a quiet study lab, student lounge and outdoor patio. The center has served as a satellite art gallery for GO Art! (Genesee Orleans Regional Arts Council) with a variety of art exhibited throughout the year.
GCC Medina opened in 2007 and includes five classrooms, one with video link capabilities, a science lab and a computer lab. The Medina center has historically served more than 300 students each semester with more than 40 courses, and has also hosted the Civil War Encampment for the past three years.
“We’re grateful to those who participate in our survey and help us continue to provide quality education in Orleans County,” Simon said.
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 5 May 2015 at 12:00 am
Photo by Tom Rivers – Hoag Library is pictured this evening after the library on South Main Street closed after 8 p.m.
ALBION – Hoag Library has received most of the $1.3 million in pledges and gifts promised for a new library, but $51,000 remains in outstanding pledges, Library President Kevin Doherty said at the annual meeting on Monday.
Doherty was asked by some community members for that information. There were 502 people who made pledges or one-time gifts for the new 14,600-square-foot Hoag Library, which opened in July 2012.
The library had 195 people make pledges and 127 have been paid in full, Doherty said. Some people asked to stagger the payments over five years. Doherty said 20 donors are in arrears, having missed pledge payments.
Overall, about 96 percent of the pledges and gifts have been received. The $1.3 million in the capitol campaign exceeded the goal by about $300,000.
The library owes $1,742,000 on the mortgage for the building, and pays about $11,000 a month towards than loan, Doherty said.
The library board is considering wrapping the mortgage with the expense for a solar project for the roof of the building in a revised long-term, low-interest loan. A state grant is covering some of the costs for the solar project, and other incentives should reduce the library’s cost for that project, Doherty said. The solar project is still being finalized. The library is working with Arista Power on the solar initiative, which could be about $225,000.
The library presented its proposed $698,601 budget for 2015 during the annual meeting. Local property taxes would cover $680,411 of the budget, a 1.6 percent increase from the $669,860 in 2014. The library budget will be voted on May 19 from noon to 8 p.m. as part of the school budget vote at the elementary school.
The library typically elects trustees during the annual meeting. Dele Theodorakos opted against re-election. One community member, former library employee Grace Kent, submitted petitions signed by at least 25 people to be on the ballot. But Doherty said Kent withdrew from the election.
The board decided not to have the vacant position filled during the election because no one else submitted petitions.
Gerard Morrisey said the board should have allowed write-in ballots so the trustee could have been elected by residents and not filled by a board appointment. Doherty said the board intends to fill the position at its May 13 meeting.
Doherty said the board didn’t make provisions for a write-in ballot, and preferred the process of candidates submitting petitions to be on the ballot.
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 5 May 2015 at 12:00 am
Photo by Tom Rivers – Betty Sue Miller, interim director at Hoag Library, is pictured during a February meeting of the Board of Trustees.
ALBION – In her four months on the job as interim director at Hoag Library, Betty Sue Miller has been tasked with reorganizing some of the library’s layout, removing valuables and other items from the former Swan Library, and rebuilding some strained relationships among library staff and patrons.
Miller has met those objectives, Library President Kevin Doherty said. Two staff members, Cheryl Mowatt and Dee Robinson, both voiced support for Miller at Monday’s annual meeting for the library.
“Betty Sue Miller is just what the doctor ordered,” said Mowatt, a reference librarian at Hoag.
Miller, an Albion resident, was hired as interim director in January after the board parted ways with the previous director. Miller was hired with the intention it would be a short-term assignment, providing time for the board to prepare for another search.
But Doherty said Miller, a retired teacher and school library director in Holley, has done so well that the board isn’t pushing for her replacement.
“We are in no rush to start a search process,” Doherty said. “She is the right person at the right time.”
It’s been a busy four months with library staff and volunteers cleaning out the former Swan Library. That building is being sold to Chad Fabry of Holley for $53,000. A final closing date hasn’t been scheduled yet as lawyers work on the closing documents.
Some of the furniture pieces, paintings and other prized artifacts from Swan have either been moved to the Hoag or long-term storage.
Miller and staff also reorganized the adult section in the Hoag Library to better utilize space, and a future reorganization of the children’s library is being planned.
Miller also is working with the state on a NYSERDA (New York State Energy Research and Development Authority) grant for solar panels on the roof of the new library and she worked on a $2,500 grant through the Orleans County Youth Bureau for the library’s summer reading program.
She has added to the collection of library books and other materials and begun weeding the collection based on circulation reports.
“It’s been a fabulous four months and I’ve thoroughly enjoyed it,” she said.
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 5 May 2015 at 12:00 am
Photos by Tom Rivers
ALBION – The Orleans County Courthouse looms large and high in the sky on the Albion landscape.
This photo was taken this evening at dusk on Platt Street in the parking lot across from Dunkin’ Donuts.
I try to look for different angles and views of some of our more prominent buildings. I hadn’t taken a picture of the Courthouse from this spot before.
The courthouse was built in 1858 and is on the National Register of Historic Places.
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 3 May 2015 at 12:00 am
Photos by Tom Rivers
BARRE – Richard Barnard, right, and Amanda Dixon work to put out a brush fire today in Barre. The two are members of the Barre Volunteer Fire Company.
There may be a burning ban in effect until May 15, but that isn’t stopping people from burning brush. This afternoon, one of those brush piles quickly spread to a nearby hedgerow and scorched about a quarter acre of land on Route 98 in Barre, just north of Lime Kiln Road.
Barre firefighters, including Chris Flansburg (pictured) were called to douse the fire at about 5:10 p.m. The fire had jumped from the brush pile to the hedgerow. Assistant Fire Chief James Neal said if the fire had been unattended for much longer it could have quickly spread across the field and further down the hedgerow.
“This is why the DEC has the burn ban,” he said.
Neal is a farmer and he said the ground is dry with lots of dead plant matter. Once more grass starts growing, the fields will be less vulnerable to fire, he said.
James Neal works with Sarah Lamka to put out a hot spot in a wooded area. Sarah, 18, is a new firefighter. Her father, Patrick, is a Barre firefighter.
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 3 May 2015 at 12:00 am
Steven Papponetti, Nathan Bloom named firefighters of the year
Photos by Tom Rivers – Newly installed Albion Fire Chief Harry Papponetti, right, thanks Rocky Sidari, left, for his five years of service as chief of the Albion Fire Department. Jeremy Graham, center, is the department’s deputy chief. Papponetti mixed in a few jokes while praising Sidari during the installation dinner on Saturday night at the Carlton Recreation Hall.
ALBION – Rocky Sidari turned over the reins as leader of the Albion Fire Department to Harry Papponetti, who has twice before has served as the department’s fire chief.
The change occurred on Saturday night during the fire department’s installation dinner at the Carlton Recreation Hall.
Sidari praised the firefighters for their dedication to the community, for saving lives and protecting property.
He has three children with his wife Erin and the two youngest kids are approaching the age where they can play T-ball. He promised his wife he would make more time for the kids as they got older.
He said the department will be in good hands with Papponetti and the team of officers. Papponetti has been a member of the department for 45 years.
“He knows what he’s doing and he’s a good leader,” Sidari said.
The department has been busy with numerous structure fires in the past five years, and many other emergency calls, including a pipe bomb under a porch, an ice storm that required firefighters to pump many basements in the community, and hundreds of other calls to serve the community.
An enormous fire broke out at Orleans Pallet on Oct. 17, 2013, one of the biggest fires in Albion’s history.
Sidari said the fire on Oct. 17, 2013 at Orleans Pallet may have been the biggest blaze he’s ever seen. That fire engulfed a large sandstone warehouse. Firefighters were praised by the building’s owner for containing the fire to the one building and sparing neighboring structures, including Empire Coating.
Sidari proved to be a calm leader while battling fires and facing other emergencies, said Jeremy Graham, the department’s deputy chief.
Sidari made the time to teach younger firefighters how to respond in emergencies, and empowered the firefighters to gain leadership experience, Graham said.
“He was never power hungry,” Graham said. “He was always willing to explain and to get the learning experiences for the younger guys. He has been more than a fire chief. He has been a friend to all of us.”
Papponetti said he joined the fire department 45 years ago because many of his friends and neighbors were firefighters. He has enjoyed the many friendships he has made through the years and the chance to serve the community.
Two firefighters were named “Firefighter of the Year.” Sidari presented the awards to Nathan Bloom and Steven Papponetti, Harry’s son.
Rocky Sidari, left, is presented a blanket as a gift with images of his family members. Al Cheverie, back left, is holding the blanket with Will Francis, Jeremy Graham and Harry Papponetti.
Bloom, 34, joined the department in February 2014. His brother-in-law Andy Beach is a volunteer firefighter in East Shelby. Bloom said he was inspired by Beach’s example.
Bloom took the 96-hour Firefighter I training class. It was a lot of work, but he persevered.
“You need determination to get it done,” Bloom said.
He estimates he was on about 100 calls in the past year for the department, assisting at house fires, motor vehicle accidents, chimney fires and other emergencies.
Sidari praised Bloom for “busting his butt” with training and getting to so many calls.
“You’re helping people and they may be people you know,” Bloom said. “I find it very rewarding.”
Steven Papponetti, 22, has been around the fire hall since he was a small kid. He was an explorer at 14, a cadet at 17, and an interior firefighter by 18.
He just earned a four-year degree in forensic science and crime scene investigation from Hilbert College and is in the police academy. He starts on June 8 as a part-time police officer in Holley.
Rocky Sidari is pictured with the Firefighters of the Year: Steven Papponetti, center, and Nathan Bloom.
Papponetti said he goes to about 120 to 150 calls each year with the fire department.
“It’s what I love to do,” he said. “It’s following in my father’s and my brothers’ footsteps. It’s a great adrenaline rush and you’re helping out the community.”
Sidari presented other awards on Saturday, including Driver of the Year to Jeremy Babcock, the Officer’s Award to Harry Papponetti, and the Chief’s Award to Beau Piskorowski.
The 2015 officers include: Harry Papponetti, fire chief; Jeremy Graham, deputy chief; Will Francis, assistant chief; Steven Papponetti, first lieutenant; and James Peruzzini, second lieutenant.
The civilian officers include: Al Cheverie, president; Bill Francis, vice president; Renee Rowley, recording secretary; Bill Francis, financial secretary; Dawn Marciszewski, treasurer; and Kelly Irwin, assistant treasurer.
Cheverie, the president, also presented awards to Jeremy Babcock and Dawn Marciszewski for their efforts on the civilian side of the department.
“I’d like to thank them for everything they’ve done this year,” Cheverie said. “It would have been a lot harder without them.”
David Green, the retired Orleans County sheriff, served as emcee of the event. He noted the unrest in Baltimore the past week.
“You see on TV with all the protests and about joining the brotherhood of man,” Green said. “If you want to join the brotherhood of man, join your local fire department. Firefighters don’t preach the brotherhood of man, they live it.”
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 2 May 2015 at 12:00 am
Photos by Tom Rivers
ALBION – Marti’s on Main kicked off its seventh season of hosting art shows in Albion on Friday evening, featuring unusual sculptures and paintings.
Jim Fiegel, pictured in top photo, creates abstract paintings using a combination of acrylic, enamel, and water-based paint. He paints on Plexiglass and his paintings are curved. He also creates his own wooden frames and has LED lights behind the Plexiglass.
“The light has a calming effect,” said Fiegel, who is semi-retired after a career selling industrial supplies.
He also has worked in carpentry and housing rehabs, taking on 12 housing renovations.
Fiegel lives in Albion and attended a Marti’s art show about six years ago. He didn’t consider himself an artist, but he went home and experimented. He has now created about 400 of his unusual paintings, and has sold more than 30 to Artisan Works in Rochester. He has 24 pieces on display in the show at Marti’s.
“It helps me keep my sanity,” he said about creating the paintings.
He likes to use bright colors and create a feeling of outer space.
“I like to include planets in my paintings for my hero, Albert Einstein,” Fiegel said.
He varies the thickness of the paint in his abstract work.
“His stuff is awesome,” said Kim Martillotta Muscarella, owner of the gallery.
She has watched Fiegel from his early efforts to his more dramatic work these days.
He paints on the reverse side of the Plexiglass, and puts the top layer on first instead of last.
Martillotta Muscarella also is a featured artist in this month’s show. She has about 30 works of assemblage sculpture on display. She takes pieces of musical instruments, kitchen utensils, guitar necks, antlers, furs, animal bones, shells, drift wood and “old stuff that would be trashed.”
She combines them in many interesting pieces.
“People have commented that I have quite the imagination,” Martillotta Muscarella said.
In this assemblage sculpture, Martillotta Muscarella took doll heads of George and Martha Washington and glued them into candle holders.
Martillotta Muscarella used to create more assemblage sculptures but took a break from it for more than a decade. She took it up again this winter and had fun using odd items that likely would have been discarded anyway.
Her husband, Neal Muscarella, said he is impressed by his wife’s creativity.
“This stuff all comes from boxes of junk, and it got sorted out,” Mr. Muscarella said.
Martillotta Muscarella has sold 52 of the sculptures to Artisan Works in Rochester.
She has new shows at Marti’s each month with a reception the first Friday from 5:30 to 9 p.m. There are usually about 60 people that attend the receptions, which are free but donations are accepted.
Marti’s is located at 229 North Main St. To visit the gallery, give Martillotta Muscarella a call at (585) 589-6715.
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 29 April 2015 at 12:00 am
ALBION – The Albion Police Department is teaming with other local agencies for a family-friendly evening of activities at Bullard Park, tentatively scheduled for Aug. 4.
Police Chief Roland Nenni said his department is in the early stages of the planning the event, part of the “National Night Out” that connects police with their communities and promotes crime prevention and drug-free activities.
The Police Department is working with the Genesee-Orleans Council on Alcoholism and Substance Abuse on the effort. Nenni advised the Village Board he is welcoming the Orleans County YMCA, Mercy Flight, and firefighters for the event. He may reach out to other agencies as well.
Many communities have participated in “National Night Out” events that promote family-friendly activities with no alcohol, drugs or violence, Nenni said. He wants to see at least one community in Orleans County be part of the initiative that includes bike rodeos, canine demonstrations and other activities.
Nenni said the event is tentatively planned for 5:30 to 8:30 p.m. on Aug. 4. The event will be free and open to the community.
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 28 April 2015 at 12:00 am
Dedicated group committed to Orleans vets
Photos by Tom Rivers
ALBION – A line of 14 veterans from Albion and Holley, including Al Pulcino of Holley at right with beard, stand at attention in the Honor Guard on Friday at a graveside service for Frank Sidari of Albion. Sidari, 90, served in World War II.
Many of the veterans in the Honor Guard knew Sidari and wanted to honor him on Friday during the service at St. Joseph’s Cemetery.
The Honor Guard from Albion and Holley goes to about 50 funerals a year for veterans. They will fold the American flag and present it to the veteran’s family. They will give a gun salute and play Taps, either with a live bugler or with a recording.
Sometimes they even serve as pallbearers and chaplain Ron Ayrault may be asked to pray.
Two veterans, Jim Coates (left) of Holley and Joe Gehl of Albion, go take their places in the Honor Guard during the graveside service on Friday for Frank Sidari.
Ayrault, 83, averages about a funeral a week with the Honor Guard. Sometimes he goes to two in one day, and occasionally the services may be two or three weeks apart.
He is glad to go, even in the cold weather.
“This is for a fellow veteran,” Ayrault said. “He served his time.”
The Honor Guard stands at attention while Frank Sidari’s family and friends arrive at the cemetery.
Every veteran who has been honorably discharged is entitled to a military funeral, free of charge. The Honor Guard detail needs to include at least two members of the Armed Forces. The veteran is also entitled to ceremony that includes the folding of a flag and the playing of Taps.
Many communities do not have enough veterans willing to volunteer for the Honor Guard, said Paul Fulcomer, director of the Veterans Service Agency and also the county’s burial officer. Veterans may need to be brought in from outside the community to perform the duties in other counties.
“Fortunately in our county we have enough guys to do it,” Fulcomer said.
Pallbearers for Frank Sidari pass through the Honor Guard and head to Sidari’s gravesite.
Holley and Albion used to have enough veterans for their own Honor Guards. But about 20 years ago, Holley and Albion joined to form an Honor Guard unit.
Some of the members in the Honor Guard are World War II veterans in their 90s.
George Bakeman, 61, is one of the younger members. He has been active in the Honor Guard the past five years.
“Someone needs to do it and it’s the least we can do,” Bakeman said.
George Bakeman has been a dedicated member of the Honor Guard in Albion and Holley.
Sometimes the Honor Guard may be short some members, with people sick or out of town. Veterans from Medina may be called to help provide a presence at the funeral. The Albion and Holley members also will often help Medina at a service.
Fulcomer said Medina and Lyndonville currently have their own Honor Guards and those two communities will often work together.
He likes to see several veterans in the Honor Guard, more than the minimum of two.
“It adds a lot to the service to have the Honor Guard lined up with the flag,” he said.
The Honor Guard provides a presence at local funerals for veterans.
The Honor Guard welcomes more members, especially a new generation of younger veterans.
“Five to 10 years from now, I don’t know what we’ll have here,” Ayrault said about the Honor Guard. “The ranks are getting thin.”
Fulcomer said many of the funerals are during the workday when younger veterans are at their jobs.
As veterans retire and have more availability, Fulcomer said he hopes they will consider serving in the Honor Guard.
Andy Eibl is 73. He would like to see more volunteers be part of the Honor Guard.
“It’s getting worrisome because we have a lot of guys who are getting into their 80s and 90s,” he said.
The Honor Guard gives Frank Sidari a gun salute at his service on Friday.
Ayrault has volunteered in the Honor Guard the past 23 years. He estimates he has been to 1,000 funerals for local veterans.
“It’s an honor to do it for these veterans,” he said. “A lot of these guys were my friends. I feel good afterwards and people say they appreciate it.”
Ayrault and Chuck Pulaski of Holley work together folding the flag. Ayrault will usually address the family, thanking the veteran for his service to the country.
Nathaniel Bauder, the great nephew of Frank Sidari, plays Taps at the service on Friday.
Some of the Honor Guard members said they get nervous if they have to fold the flag. Some would prefer not to speak at the services.
Pulaski, 66, said he can be moved to tears at the funerals, especially if they are for his friends or if he hands the flag to a young child of a veteran.
Ayrault admits he, too, can sometimes struggle to get the words out.
“If it’s for a friend you get choked up,” he said.
Ron Ayrault, right, and Chuck Pulaski fold the flag during Frank Sidari’s service on Friday.
Pulaski and the Honor Guard about five years ago added a new element to the local services for veterans. He had heard about an Honor Guard that included three empty shell casings and placed them inside the flag. Those shells represent the veteran’s commitment to honor, duty and service to country.
Pulaski shared that message on Friday in discussing Sidari’s life of service.
(Sidari’s family would share those shells with his grandchildren.)
“People have commented that they think it is a nice gesture,” Pulaski said about the three shells.
Chuck Pulaski holds an empty shell, one of three he would tuck into the folded flag.
Sidari’s family said they appreciated the Honor Guard’s efforts at the service.
“It’s great thing that they do, that’s for sure,” Sidari’s son Frank said.
Ayrault said the group is committed “to trying to give them a good sendoff.”
Pulaski was at a relative’s burial recently in Cheektowaga and only three people were in that Honor Guard.
He is proud of the local veterans for their dedication to the Honor Guard in Orleans County.
“We still want to bring a certain honor and dignity,” Pulaski said.
A local veteran salutes Frank Sidari at his service on Friday.
