Photos by Tom Rivers

ALBION – Members of Christ Church, an Episcopal parish in Albion, served more than 300 chicken barbecue dinners on Wednesday. In the top photo Mitzy Peglow gets ready to take six of the dinners home as take-outs. Matilda Erakare, one of the church parishioners, assisted at the event.

Several church members and volunteers worked in the kitchen including (from front to back) Lori Draper, Faith Smith, Mike Smith and Jim Theodorakos.

ALBION – Two Albion police officers have been trained to administer naloxone, an antidote for heroin and other opioid overdoses.

The officers will teach all members of the Albion Police Department on how to properly administer naloxone, which will be carried in all Albion patrol vehicles, Police Chief Roland Nenni said.

A rise in heroin and other opiate use has resulted in many overdoses leading to death and other serious long-term medical issues, Nenni said.

Albion police are often the first to arrive at the scene when someone has overdosed.

“If a person has overdosed on an opiate and is serious condition, officers will be able to administer naloxone in an attempt to save the person’s life,” Nenni said. “The administration of naloxone has saved many lives across the country.”

The two Albion officers attended a training on Tuesday with about 30 officers from several police agencies in Western New York. The New York State Division of Criminal Justice Services led the training and provided supplies of naloxone at no cost to the police departments.

The training was at the Rural Police Training Academy at Genesee Community College in Batavia. The training is part of a statewide initiative to combat the rise of heroin use.

The officers’ training also included an overview of the state’s Good Samaritan Law, which is intended to encourage individuals to seek medical attention for someone who is experiencing a drug or alcohol overdose or other life-threatening injury. Those witnesses may not be inclined to seek help for fear of criminal prosecution.

“As a former District Attorney, I have seen first-hand the devastating and far-reaching effects of opioid abuse,” said DCJS Executive Deputy Commissioner Michael C. Green. “Key to DCJS’ mission is providing training and support to local law enforcement. This training will help local law enforcement agencies deal with this public health and public safety crisis in a smart and effective way.”

ALBION – Some members of the Village Board want to limit how often residents can have garage sales after complaints that two locations currently have sales almost every day during the summer.

The board is considering enacting a local law that would limit garage sales to Friday, Saturday and Sunday.

Code Enforcement Officer Ron Vendetti suggested residents be required to register a garage sale. There won’t be a fee to the village, but Vendetti would like to have a record of when residents have garage sales. He would like to limit locations to no more than two different garage sales a year.

Village Board members didn’t want to go that route yet. Limiting sales to three-day maximums would address some of the current sites that seem to have sales perpetually during the summer.

“This is an attempt to define a garage sale so it’s not a business,” Vendetti told the board.

Trustee Stan Farone doesn’t want to see any restrictions on garage sales, especially when there are only two that are prolonged.

Mayor Dean London would like to see some guidelines in a local law. “There’s only two now but there could be 10 in the future,” London responded.

The village will have a public hearing on the proposal at 7 p.m. on Sept. 10. That hearing is for setting Friday through Sundays as options for garage sales.

Vendetti also would like to see the village impose sign standards for garage sales. He said the signs advertising a sale should be limited to a person’s property, and not be posted on telephone poles and other prominent spots in the community.

“You have no idea how we chase down all these people with yard sale signs,” Vendetti said. “They’re good at putting up the signs but not so good about taking them down.”

Farone said he opposed a local law about garage sales. He said the sales draw people to the village.

“I don’t want to punish everyone in the village because one person has a garage sale seven days a week,” Farone said. “I don’t want to be known as the village that restricts or bans garage sales.”

London said he welcomes feedback from the community during the public hearing.

“We can look at it and start somewhere,” he said. “We can always revisit it.”

Provided photo – The Moore family in Albion was in New York City this morning and appeared briefly on the Today Show. Meganne Moore, 8, is behind her sign about having an emergency appendectomy. Her mother Sara is directly behind her while Meganne’s brother Andrew (hat on backwards) holds the “Hello Orleans County” sign. Their father Mark is next to Andrew in back at right.

A week ago 8-year-old Meganne Moore had an appendectomy. This morning she was on the Today Show, standing with her parents Mark and Sara and her brothers Andrew, 14, and Zach, 13.

They all got camera time except for Zach, who gave up his spot for a smaller kid.
In between segments, one of the TV hosts Willie Giest chatted with Meganne, inquiring about her surgery. She held a big sign that said her emergency appendectomy wouldn’t keep her from the Today Show.

The Moores took their first family vacation in years and went to New York City. Mrs. Moore went to Fashion Institute of Technology at NYC and loved the city. She and her husband both work as nurses. They also have a small farm on Route 98 in Albion.

Mrs. Moore and her two sons are going to Lima, Peru, in February for a mission trip with the Albion Free Methodist Church. She wanted her sons to have some big-city experiences before they went to Peru.

The family was up at 4 this morning and was outside the Today studios at 5:15 a.m. They were on TV around 8 a.m.

“It was very exciting,” Mrs. Moore said.

Press release, Orleans County Sheriff Scott Hess

BARRE – Four men escaped serious injury this morning after they became trapped in a hopper containing a mixture of sand and gravel at a commercial business in the Town of Barre.

The incident occurred at about 10:45 a.m. at Frontier Sand & Gravel in the 4700 block of Eagle Harbor Road. A large hopper was being loaded with material when it became over-loaded & blocked. Jacob E. Vick, 20, of Albion entered the hopper along with his brother Lawrence Vick, 22, of Albion; Devin Taylor, 19, of Medina; and Richard Miller, 61, of Albion. Their intent was to shovel the excess material and free-up the blockage.

At some point Miller sank to an opening in the bottom of the hopper that leads to a conveyor belt, and consequently he became totally covered in material. During the efforts of the other three men to rescue him, Jacob Vick sank to the lower level as well and became partially covered in material.

All four men were finally able to extricate themselves, assisted by Barre firefighters. All four sustained minor injuries and were treated at the scene by fire department EMS and Central Orleans Vol. Ambulance personnel. None of the victims were transported.

The incident was investigated by Lieutenant Chris Bourke. There will be a follow-up investigation by the Occupational Safety & Health Administration.

Photos by Tom Rivers

ALBION – Holy Family Parish welcomed the community for its annual Lawn Fete this afternoon, serving up lots of grilled and deep fried food, and offering lots of prizes for many carnival-like games.

In the top photo, Gina Sidari, 7, and Myleigh Miller, 10, show off their face painting designs.

Jim Fiegel manned the booth where people could win prizes for popping balloons with darts. Fiegel was assisted by Falisha Fleisher who took time to sample an ice cream dessert.

Corey Metz, left, and his father Greg Metz grill some Italian sausage at the pavilion outside the Elk’s Club on West State Street.

Eileen Banker tries to land a ring around one of the wine bottles. Justin Sheehan ran the game for the annual Holy Family Lawn Fete.

Photos by Tom Rivers
ALBION – The Albion Merchants Association put on its first wine-tasting event this afternoon and about 200 people tried wines at several spots on Main Street and in the downtown.

In the top photo, Jim Knights is dressed in a toga while sipping wine and serving as the greeter outside the Pullman Memorial Universalist Church in Albion, one of the stops on the wine tasting.

Each person on the tour received a souvenir glass with a picture of the Orleans County Courthouse. Some extras of the glass will be for sale at select Albion businesses.

Dave Licata of the Winery at Marjim Manor in Appleton serves up wine tastings to Jessica Downey, right, and her friends, Wilian and Elizabeth Penafiel, and Meghan Doherty. They are inside the Pullman Memorial Universalist Church.

Wesley Bedford drinks some wine inside Morrison Realty while attending the “Sip and Stroll Through History” event today. He is standing next to his brother-in-law Zack Burgess. Peggy Theodorakos serves as host for the event at Morrison, which is owned by her husband Jim.

Ryan Smith serves some watermelon beer at Krantz Furniture to from left: Molly Moyle, Arica Burns and Lindsey Colonna.

Fischer’s News Room served wine freeze pops made by Lake Effect Artisan Ice Cream in Lockport. These Albionites gave the wine freeze pops a good review. They include, from left: Tom O’Hearn, Dusty DeCarlo, Theresa O’Hearn and Nicole DeCarlo.

Scott Sackett of Batavia, one of the vendors at the Downtown Browsery, pours Blanc d’Orleans from Leonard Oakes Estate Winery.

Photo by Tom Rivers

ALBION – Kit Lyman was back in her hometown today signing copies of her debut novel at Bindings Bookstore.

Here she greets Pat and Brad Shelp of Albion during a book-signing today at Bindings Bookstore. Lyman attended the First Presbyterian Church with the Shelps. In back, Pete Toenniessen of Albion waits to have his book signed. He was a Girl Scout volunteer when Lyman was active in Girl Scouts.

Several of Lyman’s friends and former teachers stopped by the book-signing to reconnect with Lyman, who lives in Texas.

Lyman has sold more than 1,000 copies so far of her psychological thriller, “Satan’s Garden.” She also was in Albion on Monday to lead a writing workshop at Hoag Library.

Provided photos
ALBION – Michelle Watt, the children’s librarian, lets out butterflies that emerged from caterpillars over about a month at the Hoag Library.

Charlie Warren lets a butterfly rest on his finger on Thursday at the Hoag Library when butterflies were released after spending a month inside the library. They arrived as caterpillars in mid-July and hatched on Aug. 2.

Gianna Hyde has a butterfly on her head.

File Photo

Press Release, Hoag Library

ALBION – The trustees of the Hoag Library of the Swan Library Association have announced the selection of Jeffrey Davignon as the sixth Library Director. The appointment was made at a special meeting of the trustees this morning. Davignon is currently the Director of the Walworth-Seely Public Library in Wayne County, and will begin his tenure in Albion at the end of August. He had previously been the Childrens’ Director at the Seymour Library in Brockport.

According to Library Board President Kevin Doherty, “We had a number of excellent candidates respond to the posting. A nine-member search committee, which included sitting trustees, the Interim Library Administrator, two current employees, a retired school librarian and a retired trustee, interviewed nine of the 20 candidates and recommended three for a final interview with the full board. Each of the finalists was well-qualified, but Jeff was the unanimous choice because his vision and professional vitality met the goal of upgrading the library’s services and programming to match the spectacular new building that our community has built.”

Jeffrey Davignon and his family live in Brockport. He holds degrees from Canisius College and the University at Buffalo. The Walworth Library has a service area which includes about 8,800 people and an annual budget of about $310,000. The Hoag Library service area includes about 16,000 and has an annual budget of slightly over $685,000.

Press release, Albion Police Chief Roland Nenni

ALBION – The Albion Police Department conducted “Operation Safe Crossing” today. This law enforcement operation focused on pedestrian safety while crossing streets in marked crosswalks.

An undercover police officer dressed in bright visible clothing walked in marked crosswalks. If motorists failed to yield to the officer, which is required under section 1151 of the New York State Vehicle and Traffic Law, they were stopped and issued uniform traffic tickets.

Police issued 48 tickets to drivers who failed to yield during this three-hour detail. Only motorists who blatantly failed to yield were stopped and ticketed. The officer was inside a clearly marked crosswalk in the roadway crossing when the violations occurred.

The detail focused on the cross walks in the Village of Albion at the intersection of South Main Street at Park Street, and West Avenue at Hamilton Street. Both of these intersections are where pedestrians have been struck and killed by motor vehicles in the past.

The Albion Police Department has received numerous complaints from citizens regarding motorists failing to yield to pedestrians walking in crosswalks. The Police Department uses many tools, including the issuance of traffic tickets, in an attempt to make motorists aware of their obligation to yield to pedestrians in crosswalks.

The Albion Police Department is focused and dedicated to making our highways and streets safer for all who use them. We will continue to use operations similar this Operation Safe Crossing as well as other measures to make our community as safe as it can be.

The Albion Police Department was assisted in the operation by the New York State Police.

Photo by Tom Rivers – Carolyn Ricker, left, and Debbie Grimm have been working hard on Albion’s “Sip and Stroll Through History,” a wine-tasting event on Saturday from 3 to 7 p.m. A VIP reception begins at 2 p.m. at Hoag Library.

ALBION – The Albion Merchants Association hopes wine and heritage will bring people to several Main Street and downtown stops this Saturday for the first “Sip and Stroll Through History.”

There will be about a dozen stops for people to try taste wine from 11 different wineries. The wine-tasting event begins at Hoag Library and includes write-ups on the history of each location and as well as profiles of the current operators.

“We decided to add history because everyone is interested in that,” said Debbie Grimm, coordinator of the event and a vendor at the Hazy Jade Gift Shop. “We want to showcase our businesses.”

Tickets for the wine-tasting are $15 with a VIP pass for $22. The Merchants have been working on more events to promote the business district with help from the village.

That includes a new Thursday evening concert series, as well as a fresh brochure listing the amenities in the downtown as well as on routes 31 and 98.

The poster for the event includes images of historic Albion buildings.

The Merchants Association has seen the success of the wine-tasting events in other communities, including the one in Medina that sells out with 750 tickets in February. (Medina has added a “Sweets in Summer” event this Saturday.)

“You can go at your own pace,” Carolyn Ricker, president of the Merchants Association and owner of Bindings Bookstore, said about the wine tastings. “It’s a nice event to do with a friend.”

The wine-tasting will include a souvenir glass, two farms selling produce, a photo booth and also is a chance to see some of the recent street-scape improvements, including 10 benches painted in heritage themes.

Ricker said the downtown has a cluster of businesses with available storefronts for more entrepreneurs.

“If you want to attract more businesses you have to support the ones that you have,” Ricker said. “That makes more people want to come here.”

For more information about Sip and Stroll, call Bindings Bookstore at 283-4498. The following businesses are selling tickets: Bindings, Hazy Jade, Xpress Fitness and Tanning and Fischer’s News Room. Tickets are also available on-line by clicking here.

Provided photos – “Satan’s Garden” was written by Kit Lyman and has received a positive response from her hometown of Albion.

Kit Lyman’s debut novel gets good reviews

By Sue Cook, staff reporter

ALBION – Kit Lyman is coming home to Albion this week to lead a writing workshop and also sign copies of her debut novel, a self-published psychological thriller “Satan’s Garden.”

Lyman will be returning to Albion from Texas to visit the community that has helped make her a success. She has sold about 1,100 copies of her book and earned some strong reviews.

“It’s been the Top Rated Kidnapping Thriller on Amazon for the past three months now, and I’ve also received top ratings from renowned reviewers, such as Amazon Top 500 Reviewers, IndieReader, and Readers’ Favorite,” Lyman said. “I’m currently a finalist for two categories in Readers’ Favorite’s 2014 Book Awards Contest, and the winners will be announced in September.”

The Huffington Post also took an interest in Lyman’s novel. Nina Sankovitch, Huffington Post reviewer and author of two best-selling books, was approached by Lyman’s sister Laura Sidari. Laura convinced Nina to review the book on her Huffington Post blog.

In July, Lyman traveled to Chicago for a book talk at City Lit Books, an independent bookstore. Albion grad Tara Garcia Mathewson approached City Lit’s events coordinator about hosting Lyman. Two months after that, Lyman was welcomed as the featured event.

“It was a very surreal experience,” said Lyman. “I owe so much to the readers and friends who speak up about the book and vouch for it. Pursuing a full-blown book tour is challenging as a self-published author, so events tend to evolve on their own and come about when there is public interest.”

Kit Lyman

On Monday, Lyman will be at the Hoag Library for a writers’ workshop event, beginning at 9 a.m. Della Morales, the Albion High School Media Specialist, had originally asked Lyman to speak to high school students. As the community began to hear about the event on the Authors at Albion Facebook page, interest grew to the point that the event was opened to the public.

“I’m thrilled about the event,” Lyman said about the program at the library. “I think high school is such a defining time, and I feel privileged to have this opportunity. A good portion of my book focused on high school pressures and the coming-of-age struggles that we all go through. I would love to talk at other high schools in the future, and I think Albion is the perfect place to start.”

Lyman plans to begin the event as a book discussion and Q&A focusing on what she has learned in the last five years. The workshop portion will revolve around the style, substance and structure of story.

“I have found that there are basic foundations and building blocks to all types of storytelling,” she said. “Inspiration is largely about unveiling those secrets and finding ways to use that knowledge to your advantage.”

Lyman will also be at Bindings Bookstore for a book-signing at 3 p.m. on Saturday. That event will be at 28 West Bank St. and is timed to coincide with the Sip and Stroll wine-tasting in Albion. She plans to have a more informal meet-and-greet during that time. She is excited to talk individually to readers and answer more specific questions about her book.

“Having that kind of opportunity is so important because it allows me to learn more about what is working and what isn’t,” she said. “It also gives me a chance to address any unanswered questions people may have about the book.”

Bindings Bookstore will have copies available during the Hoag workshop or the book can be requested for the Sip and Stroll event by calling the bookstore at (585) 283-4498.

Photos by Tom Rivers

ALBION – Kim Martillotta Muscarella of Albion painted this bench to look like a piano. The bench was added to the downtown this afternoon. It’s in front of the Uptown Browsery and Knight’s Pride. Muscarella’s son, Jeremiah Knight, owns Knight’s Pride, a custom woodworking business.

The Albion Department of Public Works also installed a new 5-foot-wide interpretive panel about historic downtown Albion. The panel is in Waterman’s Park next to Conrad Cropsey’s law office.

The downtown now has 10 benches that have been painted in heritage or historical themes. The piano bench is in front of the Pratt Opera House. Michael Bonafede and his wife Judith Koehler are working to restore that third-floor site. The benches were paid for a Main Street grant through the state. The Albion Rotary Club paid the artist fee for the piano-themed bench.

The interpretive panel provides information about the history of downtown Albion and highlights some of the architectural features in the buildings. The panel also notes the Albion area is home to four other nationally recognized districts: Mount Albion Cemetery, Courthouse Square, the Cobblestone Society Museum and the Erie Canal National Heritage Corridor.

The panel was paid for by the Main Street grant. The staff at the Lake Country Pennysaver designed the panel, which has been placed next to a mural celebrating the quarrymen.