Photo by Tom Rivers

ALBION – The Albion Rotary Club presented a check for $5,000 today to the Orleans County Joint Veterans Council to help buy a low-mileage van to transport veterans to medical appointments.

Past President Cindy Perry presented the check to Paul Fulcomer, chairman of the Veterans Council. Perry also is the coordinator of the Rotary Golf Tournament in July, which generated the funds for the van.

The Veterans Council has five vans that it uses to take veterans to medical appointments. With the $5,000 from Rotary, Fulcomer said there is now enough to replace a high-mileage van.

The Veterans Council acquires and owns the vans, and the VA pays for the gas and maintenance. The service is free to veterans.

Fulcomer said 30 residents are faithful volunteer drivers, taking veterans back and forth to medical appointments.

“We’re very fortunate here in Orleans County that we have this many people who care about our veterans,” he told the Rotary Club.

Photo by Tom Rivers – Girl Scouts in Albion are planning their first “Junior Angels in Action” project on Nov. 29 to assist Community Action of Orleans & Genesee. Pictured, front row from left: Kaitlyn Allen, Neveya Barnes and Emma Snitzel. Back row: Emma Wadhams, Jessica Schleede, Community Action case manager Anni Skowneski and Kelly Ricker, Cobblestone Service Unit manager for the Girl Scouts.

ALBION – Community Action has a new group of angels to help the agency gather canned goods, winter clothing, school supplies and personal hygiene items.

Girl Scouts in Albion are planning their first project as “Junior Angels in Action” for Community Action of Orleans & Genesee. The Scouts will be spreading the word about the items noted above. Community members are welcome to drop off the canned goods, winter clothing and other supplies from 9 to 11 a.m. on Nov. 29. The Scouts will be at the Gotta Dance by Miss Amy studio at the corner of Liberty and West Bank streets.

Community Action has an “Angel” program for adults. They generally help with school supplies, winter clothing, holiday baskets and other materials that are outside what is considered crisis services, said Anni Skowneski, case manager for Community Action.

This is the first time the agency is working with “Junior Angels.” Skowneski said Wyoming and Genesee counties have a Junior Angels program. She would like to expand it in Orleans to Scouts, Student Councils and other youth organizations.

She said community members are always welcome to drop off canned goods, winter clothing and school supplies at Community Action sites on East State Street in Albion and the Public Square in Holley.

Provided photo – This hand grenade was found inside the basement of a house on West Park Street on Tuesday.

Press Release
Albion Police Chief Roland Nenni

ALBION – The Albion Police Department was dispatched to 231 West Park St. on Tuesday for a possible live hand grenade that had been found inside the residence.

Albion Police personnel arrived on scene and found what appeared to be a live World War II era hand grenade in the basement of the residence.

The grenade was found by a private contractor who was cleaning out the house after an estate sale. The home was lived in by an elderly woman who resided in the home since the 1920s. She had recently moved out of the home to live with relatives.

The Monroe County Sheriff’s Office Bomb Squad was called to the scene. The Bomb Squad technicians evaluated the grenade and determined that in fact was a live WWII era ordnance. The grenade was removed by the Bomb Squad and placed in a secure container and taken from the scene. The grenade will be detonated by the Bomb Squad at a later time.

It is believed that the grenade was brought to the home by the elderly woman’s brother or brother-in-law. They both lived at the residence for a short time after their military service during WWII.

Photo by Tom Rivers

BARRE – It was an annual tradition every fall for Fred Daniels. He would carve many pumpkins and set them on a wagon by his barn on West Barre Road. He strung Christmas light in the pumpkins so they would light up.

Daniels died suddenly on Oct. 22 at age 75. His grandchildren decided to honor his memory by carving these pumpkins and displaying them on his wagon.

Photos by Tom Rivers – Members of the Monroe County Bomb Squad and Albion police officer David Mogle head into a house on West Park Street to remove a live grenade.

ALBION – The Monroe County Bomb Squad was in Albion late this afternoon to remove a World War II-era grenade from an Albion home on West Park Street.

The grenade was live and will be detonated by the Bomb Squad, said Roland Nenni, Albion police chief.

The grenade was discovered early this afternoon at 231 West Park St. The house has been owned by Elizabeth Donovan. The house has been in her family for many generations, going back before World War II, a family member said.

Donovan recently moved to Florida and the house is in process of being sold. There was an estate sale there over the weekend with more than 50 people in the house.

Linda and Joe Roberts were cleaning out the house today. Mr. Roberts discovered the grenade in the basement between a floor joist and the foundation. He noticed the pin was still in the grenade.

The Monroe County Bomb Squad was in Albion at about 5 p.m. to remove a grenade.

He called the Albion police, which took pictures of the grenade and sent them to the Monroe County Bomb Squad. They arrived at about 5 p.m. and removed the grenade. They put it into a container and will detonate it off site.

The Bomb Squad confirmed it was a pineapple grenade from World War II that had not been disarmed.

One of Donovan’s family members speculated Donovan’s brother and her brother-in-law, who both served in the war, may have brought back a grenade as a souvenir.

Mr. and Mrs. Roberts do many house clean-outs. They recently found a solid cannon ball from the War of 1812 inside a house.

Photos by Tom Rivers

WEST BARRE – Church members say it’s an Election Day tradition that goes back at least 50 years. Every November election the church serves turkey dinners and has a church bazaar.

The West Barre United Methodist served up 100 roast beef and wick lunches today and then had 350 turkey dinners ready. In the top photo, church member Lee Preston serves Larry Wolfe, who drove from Waterport with his wife Shirley for the dinner.

“You can’t beat it for the money and the companionship,” Mr. Wolfe said about the $9 dinners. “It’s a homey feeling.”

Church members, including Roger Chandler (shown cooking potatoes), arrived early to prepare the food.

“We all enjoy working together,” said Jean Peglow, the event chairwoman. “We all do a bit of this and a bit of that.”

The church at 5377 Eagle Harbor Rd. was once a polling place for the Town of Barre, but that ended about 15 years ago when the polls were consolidated at the Town Hall.

That shift hasn’t hurt attendance for the annual event, Peglow said.

“They love the turkey dinner,” she said.

The bazaar included many crafts, baked goods and other items. Louise Henderson, an assistant with the Adventurers 4-H Club, sells wreaths, treats in a jar and other gifts made by 4-H’ers for the church bazaar.

ALBION – When residents in the Town of Albion go to the polls on Tuesday, they will be voting in a new spot at 134 South Main St. Hoag Library is the town’s new designated polling place.

It had been at the Elk’s Club on West State Street. Prior to that it was at the Town Hall.

Orleans County election commissioners suggested the move to Hoag Library, where there is better lighting and privacy for voters.

Polls are open from 6 a.m. to 9 p.m.

Other polling places on Tuesday include Barre Town Hall, Carlton Town Hall, Clarendon Town Hall, Gaines Town Hall, Kendall Town Hall, Holley Junior-Senior High School for Murray voters, Ridgeway Town Hall and Ridgeway Volunteer Fire Company, Shelby Town Hall and Yates Town Hall.

Photo by Tom Rivers

ALBION – Amy Sidari, owner of Gotta Dance by Miss Amy and coordinator of the Hometown Christmas production, meets with performers and support staff on Sunday for the 5th annual Nicholas Kovaleski Hometown Christmas.

About 50 performers will be on the stage for three shows on Dec. 13 at Holy Family Parish Lyceum. Some new performers for this year’s show include Josie Waverly and Rachel Curtin, the Albion Elementary School principal. Waverly for the first time will also sing publicly with Marcy Downey, an Albion native and professional singer.

Hometown Christmas also serves as memorial for Nicholas Kovaleski. He inspired the Albion community with his valiant fight against leukemia. He died at age 15 on June 29, 2011. He was a popular student at Albion, excelling at football, swimming and tennis. He would have graduated last June and likely would be a college freshman.

His mother Kelly and his sister Michayla will also perform during the show on Dec. 13.

During his fight with leukemia, Nick urged the community to “Live with Purpose.” His classmates and the school staff and teachers continue to keep Nick’s memory and his message alive. Proceeds from the show are used for a scholarship in Nicholas Kovaleski’s name. It is given to a senior who lives with purpose.

For more information, click here.

File photo – Catherine Thom and other dancers in Gotta Dance by Miss Amy perform Snowflakes, an excerpt from the Nutcracker during last year’s Hometown Christmas. The row in the back includes, from left: Laiken Ricker, Rylie Lear and Lauren Thomas.

Photos by Tom Rivers

ALBION – Orleans County Historian Bill Lattin shared photos of people dressed in Halloween costumes, with some pictures dating back a nearly century, during a presentation Saturday at the Pullman Memorial Universalist Church.

The top photo shows a group of Albion residents dressed as hobos in 1943 and includes, from left: Sanford B. Church, Albert Mason, Ruth Mason and Dr. John Jackson.

About 100 people attended “Halloween is Going to Hell: From Saints to Spooks.” The event, which traced Halloween’s sacred roots to its modern day pagan holiday, was a fundraiser for the restoration efforts at the Pullman Church, 10 East Bank St.

Lattin is working on a book to be released for Halloween 2015 that will include photos of people in costume as well as stories of pranks. He is seeking photos and stories from before 2000. Proceeds from that book will go to the church restoration.

Father George Heyman also spoke at the event. He is pictured with some of the 19th Century prints on display of saints. Lattin is sharing the Victorian images for an exhibit that will be on display inside the church until Valentine’s Day.

Heyman has been a priest in the Diocese of Rochester for 33 years. He was an associate professor of Biblical studies at St. Bernard’s School of Theology and Ministry in Pittsford. He was recently named new president of St. Bernard’s School.

The event also included Rich Della Costa playing the piano, Harriette Greaser on the Johnson pipe organ and Al Capurso and his son Dan playing their guitars.

Two of the attendees at the event look over some of the prints of saints.

Students learn skills to use with Common Core tests

Photos by Tom Rivers – Students have questions for High School Principal Dan Monacelli, who portrayed “Forgetful Frank” in Friday’s mystery where students tried to determine who robbed the Pig E. Bank.

ALBION – Middle school students are told, over and over again, to gather evidence when they are in class. They will need facts to support their arguments when they take tests.

They need to observe, have deductive reasoning and make a compelling case in their writing.

On Friday, students in sixth through eighth grade put those skills to the test. They needed to solve a robbery at Pig E. Bank, a middle school mystery that had students moving throughout the school, interviewing suspects and witnesses.

Middle school staff left clues throughout the building that either pointed to certain suspects or exonerated them from the crime.

“We’re teaching them to reach in and find evidence and clues,” said High School Principal Dan Monacelli. He also portrayed “Forgetful Frank,” one of the suspects in the crime. (He couldn’t remember where he was at the time of the robbery.)

The exercise on Friday began with a video that introduced students to the seven suspects in the crime, Monacelli and six teachers.

Kami Feder, the middle school art teacher, portrays “Talking Tessa” in Friday’s exercise where students gathered clues to solve a mystery at school, an exercise to teach students to gather evidence and use deductive reasoning in their writing assignments. Talking Tessa enjoys talking and texting people, and also likes to share tons of useless trivia.

Students were given clues about the suspect after they solved problems. For example, they were given a formula that said length of a person’s foot is approximately 15 percent of his or her height.

They were given a foot size of the suspect and they could calculate the person was about 60 inches or five feet tall. They discovered symbols and matched them with Egyptian hieroglyphs. Those symbols suggested the word, “Pretty.”

Students carried notebooks and made stops through the hallways. They asked questions, trying to get information from the suspects and witnesses about the crime.

“We’re trying to get them to have fun while using their head,” Monacelli said. “The whole idea is citing evidence in the text when writing.”

Eighth-grader Kate Krieger, center, portrays “Miss Uh-huh,” a witness to the robbery.

Friday’s exercise was intended to help students learn the tactics needed to perform well on the Common Core tests. Monacelli believes having students get out and physically hunt for clues and build evidence will help them when they are taking the tests at a desk.

“It’s just like taking the ELA test,” said Liz Marquette, a science teacher and new teacher mentor coordinator. “You need to support your findings with evidence.”

Students used clues to narrow the list of suspects. Ultimately, the evidence pointed to “Pretty Penelope,” who is math teacher Jennifer Rowe.

ALBION – Albion Village Board members are sounding an alarm about the village’s financial picture. The village’s reserves are down to $226,000 after the board applied $300,000 to the 2014-15 budget.

The village shouldn’t take more from its reserves so it has a cushion in case of an emergency expense, Trustee Eileen Banker said.

Without $300,000 to use from reserve funds the next budget, the village needs to cut expenses or find new revenues – or a combination of both – to stave off a big tax increase next spring.

The Village Board typically starts the budget process in January with the spending plan getting approved in late April. The village fiscal year runs from June 1 to May 31.

But the difficult financial situation is prompting an earlier start.

Village trustees met this morning and didn’t see any easy options for maintaining services and the tax rate.

“We’re at the 11th hour,” Trustee Banker told fellow board members.

The village’s 2014-15 budget totaled $6.5 million. The village takes in about $2.5 million in property taxes. The board trimmed the tax levy by $10,283 in the current budget. But the village’s overall taxable value dropped by $2.7 million. The loss in tax base resulted in the tax rate increasing from $16.86 to $17.48 per $1,000 of assessed property.

Trustees this morning spoke of the despair in trimming the tax levy, but still seeing the tax rate rise. The next budget the village won’t have a big reserve to use to help knock down taxes.

Trustee Pete Sidari would like to push for more state aid. He noted the disparity in aid compared to villages and cities, a sharp contrast highlighting several times by Orleans Hub. Banker, who works as chief of staff for Assemblyman Steve Hawley, said it could take years to get the state to address that disparity, which won’t help the village in the short-term.

She thinks Gov. Cuomo is depriving the villages of aid to force them to dissolve.

“He is trying to drive the villages out of business,” she said.

The village could also seek an increase in the county sales tax formula. The county has frozen the overall share to towns and villages at 2001 levels – $1,366,671 to be shared among four villages and 10 towns. The county keeps about $13 million in sales tax. (The four villages’ share has dropped with the towns getting more because of the falling assessments in the villages.)

Trustee Gary Katsanis wants to see the village pursue more sales tax and state aid, and also find ways to reduce the village costs.

“Everything should be on the table,” Sidari said.

However, he doesn’t want to reduce public safety.

Trustee Stan Farone said the unions should be brought to the table and employees should be willing to make concessions in benefits to help the village stave off a big tax increase.

Sidari bemoaned how many costs seemed to be passed down to villages from other governments. Those governments are largely leaving the village to provide many services – police, streets, cemetery, water and sewer – while providing little to no aid for the services.

“They need to see that we’re all in the same life boat, and if we sink, everybody could sink,” Sidari said.

Provided Photos

ALBION – Orleans Hub put a call out for photos of workplaces dressed up for Halloween. Claims Recovery Financial Services in Albion sent in these two.

In the top photo, this group is dressed up in characters from Toy Story, including Jennifer Farrington as Jessie the Cowgirl, Linda Coots as Woody, Jasmine Mosele as Buzz Lightyear, and Amanda Clemons as Mrs. Potato Head.

In this picture, Corina DeFilipps is Garth Algar, Candace Hackenberg is Wayne Campbell, Barb Wroblewski is a nerd, and Hannah Kneeppel is Abby Scuito.

Photo by Tom Rivers
ALBION – Becky Karls, director for Merrill-Grinnell Funeral Home, presents a check for $1,100 today to Patty Leight, an administrative assistant for Hospice of Orleans.

Karls organized a car show on Sept. 28 with classic cars, food and raffle tickets. The event topped the $1,000 raised a year ago in the debut car show.

“Next year we’ll shoot for even more,” Karls said.

Photos by Tom Rivers

Staff at The Village of Orleans are dressed in many different costumes today including a Raggedy Ann Doll, The Stay Puft Marshmallow, Little Bo Peep, a werewolf and other characters. William Gillick, the nurse home administrator, is dressed as a Yankees fan. He is seating on an original seat from Yankee Stadium.

The group includes, front kneeling or seated, from left: Kelly Daigler, Rachel Drew, Tanya Foster, William Gillick and Nikole Fix.

Back row: Teiona Kemp, Ondrea Pate, Tab Pearce, Paul Parsons, Sandy Webster, Tara Churchfield, Debra Albertson, Deb Donnelly and Sue Williams.

The staff at the Five Star Bank in Albion also kept up a tradition of dressing up for Halloween. They all wore football jerseys today. Jamie Bennett, the assistant manager, is wearing a Brett Favre jersey from when he played for the Atlanta Falcons and Susan Plummer, a teller, is wearing a jersey from LaDainian Tomlinson of the San Diego Chargers.

Any other workplaces with employees dressed up for Halloween can send pictures to news@orleanshub.com.