United Methodists don’t have money for building repairs

File photos by Tom Rivers – The First United Methodist Church in Albion, built in 1860, is located at the corner of Platt and East State streets.

ALBION – The congregation at the First United Methodist Church is looking for a buyer for its historic building, a 14,000-square-foot structure built in 1860.

The building at 19 Platt St. needs about $1 million in repairs. Its roof is structurally unsound. The church has used five tall wooden beams to help support the roof since December 2012.

The 30 active families of the church in August voted to abandon the site. The church still uses the site for its services and doesn’t have a time frame for leaving, said Terry Wilbert, chairman of the administrative council.

“We’re thinking sooner rather than later,” Wilbert said.

The congregation five months ago voted to turn the building over to the denomination. In October, denomination officials sent a letter back to Albion saying that the denomination wouldn’t take over the site.

“They didn’t want to set a precedent,” Wilbert said. “They would have 95 other churches behind us.”

The church has been using five wooden beams to help support the roof. The beams were added in December 2012.

Many of the mainline denomination churches have cavernous historic buildings with small congregations that struggle to keep up with the maintenance and bills on the structures.

In 1914, the Albion church reoriented the sanctuary. When that happened, some members didn’t like that lower beams that helped support the roof truss system were more visible. The church removed the lower beams. A century later, the roof is in danger of collapse from a truss system that needs to be totally rebuilt.

The congregation thinks the project will cost too much for the members. So the congregation is looking at three options:

Wilbert said the United Methodist congregation may leave its building and share another church building with an existing church, with the two congregations staggering their worship services.

The United Methodists may decide to acquire land and build a new site that would be smaller, handicapped accessible and have more parking than the current site.

Or the church may acquire an existing building and rehab it. He doubts the church will stay in its current site long-term. But if a big donation comes in for the repairs, Wilbert said the congregation may not go.

“If someone offers us $500,000, we’ll take it and stay,” he said. “That’s just my opinion.”

The United Methodist Church building is one of seven churches in Albion that are part of the Historic Courthouse Square, a district named to the National Register of Historic Places.

The church is working with the Landmark Society of Western New York to identify potential buyers for the building. The United Methodists also will reach out to real estate firms to see if they can help find a buyer.

“We don’t know what to ask for it,” Wilbert said. “That’s to be determined.”

The church applied for a $350,000 state grant last year through the Environmental Facilities Corporation, but was denied.  Albion also sought a state grant for Bullard Park improvements but wasn’t approved.

Wilbert said the state is directing more grants to bigger population centers.

“The money is going to ‘the haves,’ the people that already have a lot of money,” he said.

(Editor’s note: I think this building could be turned into a Sacred Sites Discovery Center, a site that would draw tourists to Albion and detail important religious movements in the state’s heritage. I wrote about this on Aug. 28. Click here to see that article.)

Albion site would like bigger freezer, money for supplies

Photos by Tom Rivers – R.J. Bannan stopped by the Community Kitchen at Christ Church in Albion on Friday. Elder Brian Houskeeper of the Mormon Church volunteered as a server.

ALBION – For 20 years Christ Church has been home to the Community Kitchen, providing hot meals on Fridays to local residents.

R.J. Bannan has been a regular at the site for more than a decade. He praised the volunteers who cook and serve the meals every week.

“It’s excellent food and the people are friendly,” Bannan said Friday evening. He sat down and ate the chicken casserole dinner, and went back for two desserts of cherry crisp.

The kitchen has become increasingly busy on Fridays. Faith Smith, the manager, says there are many working poor in the community, and elderly seniors who see their funds depleted by utilities, gas and other expenses.

“When I started here I only pictured homeless people at soup kitchens,” Smith said. “But there are so many people who need us and depend on us.”

Faith Smith, manager of the Community Kitchen at Christ Church for more than four years, is pictured with her daughter Savana Farewell.

The Community Kitchen nearly closed about four years ago, but a committed core of volunteers has kept it going.

“I’ve thought about walking away, but I just can’t do it,” Smith said. “I’ve grown to love these people.”

On Friday, the church served nearly 300 meals with 121 take-outs and 171 people eating in the dining room. There were 29 kids, 43 seniors and 99 other adults who ate at the dining hall on Friday.

Smith has served as the volunteer manager for the kitchen since September 2009. The first night she managed the site, she served 79 dinners. The record so far: 384. On that night, Baxter Healthcare paid for and prepared tacos.

Baxter in Medina provides about $5,000 a year for the kitchen, which has about a $9,000 annual budget. It relies on many donations from Foodlink and the community.

It takes about a dozen volunteers each Friday to prep the food, serve it and then clean up the kitchen and dining hall. Baxter employees serve on the first and second Fridays. Holy Family Parish takes the third Fridays and the Free Methodist Church works on the fourth Fridays. West Barre United Methodist Church serves on the fifth Fridays.

Debbie Mulcahy, an employee at Baxter Healthcare in Medina, helps at Community Kitchen.

Debbie Mulcahy of Byron has been serving in the kitchen the first and second Fridays for more than a year. She has worked a Baxter the past 2 ½ years. She worked at a different company for 24 years and then was let go in a downsizing. She was unemployed for a year before getting a job in Medina. She had a tough year when she was without a job.

“I realize there by the grace of God go I,” she said.

She is surprised to see so many people at the kitchen, including many families with young children.

“It’s sad to see that many people in need,” she said.

Stephanie Cox has been coming to the kitchen the past two months. She stops by after working at the Main Street Store.

She talks with some of the other people in the dining hall. She said the meals and the fellowship is important to local residents.

“It’s that one time a week for a lot of people that they get a hot meal,” she said.

Smith said the volunteers will serve anybody who comes in.

“You could be a millionaire and you get treated the same as a homeless person,” she said.

Robin Dirmyer, a Baxter employee, works in the kitchen with her husband Chuck, a Kodak employee. Baxter employees help prepare and serve meals the first and second Fridays each month.

Smith said she has enough volunteers to prepare and serve the meals each week, but the Community Kitchen could use donations for paper products – plates, cups, take-out containers and cups.

She would like to replace a small household-size freezer with an industrial-size one. That would cost about $3,000. A bigger freezer would let her store more food and give her more options for planning the meals.

She would also like to upgrade the kitchen, which was designed for occasional servings in the fellowship hall for the Episcoal congregation.

“This wasn’t designed to put out 300-plus meals on a Friday,” she said.

For more information on the kitchen, contact Smith at 585-319-1578.

ALBION – For years she served on the Albion Recreation Committee and was a cheerleader for the local parks and the youths that played there.

Soon a new swingset will provide more than exercise and thrills for youngsters. The swingset will serve as a memorial for Kathy LaLonde, who was 54 when she died on Oct. 6 after fighting cancer.

The new swingset will go at Pee Wee Park, a part of Bullard Park with playground equipment for young children. The Village Board approved spending $3,727 for the swingset during its meeting on Wednesday.

LaLonde had volunteered in recent years by spearheading a long-term master plan for Bullard Park. The village sought a state grant to implement some of those improvements but was denied in the most recent funding round.

In other action at Wednesday’s meeting:

Sgt. Joe Fuller notified the village he plans to retire from the Police Department in June after a 20-year career.

Larsen Engineers did an initial survey of village-owned buildings to see if the sites are good candidates for installing solar panels to help reduce the village’s electric bills.

The company looked at the DPW garage on Washington Street and sewer plant on Densmore Street. Those buildings have enough space for panels that would cut Albion’s electric bill by 17 percent, according to Larsen.

The village would like more savings than that if it pursues a solar project, village officials said.

DPW Superintendent Dale Brooks said he will work with the firm to identify other possible locations. Larsen worked with Medina to install panels at the Medina DPW and at the Wastewater Treatment Plant, a project that Brooks said has been a success in cutting Medina’s electric bills.

The board renewed the lease with the Orleans Economic Development Agency. The EDA will pay $22,080 in 2014 to use the second floor of 121 North Main St., a village owned building. That is up from $21,600 in 2013. The EDA will pay a monthly rent of $1,840.

Photo by Tom Rivers – Ed Salvatore, president of the Albion Exempts Club, serves up a plate of spaghetti during a dinner at the Exempts today. Salvatore volunteers as manager and cook at the site.

ALBION – Ed Salvatore, Albion’s mayor for eight years from 1998 to 2006, won’t seek the position in the upcoming March village election. Nor will he run for village trustee.

“I’m done with politics,” Salvatore said today. “I’m going to hang my political hat up.”

Salvatore the past two months considered another run for Village Board. The mayor’s position and three trustee seats are all up for election.

But Salvatore, 83, said a spot on the Village Board would force him to cut back at the Albion Exempts Club, a social organization of the Albion Fire Department. Salvatore spends about 25 hours a week at the Exempts, managing the site at 143 South Clinton St.

“I don’t want to give that up,” said Salvatore, who has been a member of the Fire Department for more than 60 years, including a stint as fire chief.

Salvatore enjoys volunteering at the Albion Exempts Club, including Thursday spaghetti dinners.

He is president of the Exempts Club and volunteers as a cook for the club’s Thursday spaghetti dinners, which are open to the public. He has filled the Exempts Club with historical photos and artifacts from the fire department.

Salvatore also has served as chairman of the Albion Republican Committee, but he no longer is on the committee.

Both the Democratic and Republican parties will pick their village candidates during caucuses later this month.

Salvatore is spending some of his free time working on the restoration of a boat. He hopes to have it ready for the summer.

“The only sign I’m putting out in my front yard is ‘Gone Fishin’,” he said.

Photos by Tom Rivers – A new year brings a new team to the Albion Town Board, led by Matt Passarell, center, the new town supervisor. The board held its organizational meeting tonight. The group includes, from left: Councilman Dan Poprawski, Councilman Richard Remley, Passarell, Deputy Town Supervisor Jake Olles, Councilman Todd Sargent and Town Clerk Sarah Basinait, in front. Remley and Sargent are both new to the board.

ALBION – A new administration has officially begun in Albion Town Hall with former Town Councilman Matt Pasarell now the town’s top elected official as town supervisor. He is joined by two other newcomers on the Town Board: Richard Remley and Todd Sargent.

Two holdovers on the board – councilmen Dan Poprawski and Jake Olles – both have completed two years on the board. Previous Town Supervisor Dennis Stirk did not seek re-election, nor did Councilman Tim Neilans.

Matt Passarell takes the oath of office as town supervisor with the oath adminstered by Town Justice Kevin Howard.

Passarell and Olles both ran for town supervisor and Passarell emerged as the victor in a very close race, 503 to 495. Passarell named Olles the deputy town supervisor tonight, a resolution supported by the full board.

Passarell said he wanted to extend the olive branch to Olles, and also recognize that Olles, a sergeant at Attica Correctional Facility, nearly won the election.

“We’ve had a lot of disagreements over the years but I think this is a good way to reach out,” said Passarell, who works in the quality department at Baxter Healthcare in Medina. Passarell, 34, also served in the Iraq War and is a past post commander for the VFW in Albion.

Todd Sargent takes the oath with Town Justice Kevin Howard administering.

At tonight’s organizational meeting, when officials approve a list of appointments, it was smooth sailing except for the appointment of the town attorney. Passarell and Remley both favored bringing back John Gavenda, who served as town attorney until the Stirk-led board approved Robert Roberson of Lockport two years ago.

Roberson was paid $36,000 a year. Gavenda of Albion said he would do the job for $25,000. Poprawski, Olles and Sargent all said they wouldn’t support Gavenda in the position.

Remley and Passarell said they backed Gavenda but would be open to another attorney in Orleans County. Passarell tabled the resolution.

Richard Remley is sworn in as town councilman.

“The cost was excessively high (with Roberson),” Passarell said. “We have plenty of options that are within the county.”

The board set the pay for elected officials with Highway Superintendent Jed Standish paid $53,740 plus $20,908 as water superintendent; Town Clerk Sarah Basinait will be paid $34,920 in that role plus $7,679 as water/sewer clerk and $3,000 as registrar of vital records; Town Justices Gary Moore and Kevin Howard will each be paid $16,480; the four town councilmen will be paid $3,704 with Passarell receiving $5,750 as town supervisor.

Some of the appointments include:

Cheryl Staines as historian, $450 a year; Phil McKenna as constable at $150 a year; Sarah Stirk as deputy town clerk at an hourly salary of $14.21; The Daily News of Batavia as official newspaper with the Lake Country Pennysaver of Albion as a supplement to publish town notices; First Niagara is the official depository of town funds; Todd Sargent will serve as fair housing officer; and employees will be reimbursed 56 cents a mile when using their own vehicles for town business.

The Town Planning Board members will be paid $600 a year with the chairman paid $1,000; The Zoning Board of Appeals members will be paid $250 a year with the chairman paid $350; Board of Assessment Review members shall be paid $175 for the year with the chairman getting $300.

The board’s regular monthly meetings will be the second Monday at 7 p.m.

Dede family lost house, possessions in blaze

BARRE A late Friday night fire in bitter cold destroyed the Dede family’s home on East Barre Road and killed their two labs, Raven and Remy.

Linda Dede lived in the house with her son Thadeus, 20, and daughter Elizabeth, 16. The family is staying in a motel until Monday and is looking for an apartment in the village of Albion, said family friend David Krug.

He and other members of New York Revolution have rallied to help the family with clothes and basic necessities. They also are working to get them beds and appliances.

“They have been devastated and they’re down to absolutely nothing,” said Krug.

The family wasn’t injured in the blaze that broke out around 8 p.m. at 14665 East Barre Rd. The fire remains under investigation. The house has been declared a total loss.

“Nobody got hurt – that’s the main thing,” Krug said.

Photos by Tom Rivers – Firefighters were on the scene in Barre for several hours in frigid temperatures last night.

BARRE The conditions at last night’s fire in Barre, temperatures at 2 degrees below zero, were brutal on local firefighters, who arrived at the scene at about 8 p.m. and didn’t leave until 1 a.m., Barre Fire Chief Jesse Babcock said.

“The firefighters did a heck of a job for the conditions,” Babcock said this morning.

The ground was slippery from the water on the road. Firefighters also had to keep water moving through the hoses so the lines wouldn’t freeze. Firefighters fought off the cold by trying to stay in constant motion.

The fire left a farmhouse at a total loss at 14665 East Barre Rd. Babcock said the fire started in the back corner of the house. The fire remains under investigation. A cause has not been declared yet.

Police and fire officials have not released the names of the house’s owner or the occupants. The Red Cross is assisting the family.

Barre was assisted by fire companies from Albion, Town of Batavia, Carlton, Clarendon, East Shelby, Elba, Fancher-Hulberton-Murray, Holley, Oakfield and Shelby.

Photos by Tom Rivers

ALBION – Brandon Bias, left, and his friend Jacob Rausch, both 15, made a rink on the frozen Erie Canal just east of the Ingersoll Street bridge today. The two, who both play for the Brockport Eagles hockey team, played together for more than two hours today on the canal.

Bias of Hilton was visiting his father in Albion. He helped shovel a spot for the makeshift rink. Rausch lives in Le Roy.

The canal was busy today, even though it closed for the boating season about two months ago. At about 1 p.m. today, several snowmobilers, three cross country skiers and and a jogger all passed the hockey players.

Many fire companies turn out in sub-zero cold

Photos by Tom Rivers

BARRE Firefighters from several departments put out a house fire on East Barre Road late Friday night in sub-zero temperatures.

The fire destroyed a farmhouse at 14665 East Barre Rd. The Red Cross was on the scene to assist the family.

Orleans Hub should have more on the fire Saturday.

ALBION – One of the front-runners to be the next Albion mayor won’t be seeking the position because of the federal Hatch Act, which prevents a federal employee from running in a partisan election.

Kevin Sheehan, the current Albion deputy mayor and a village trustee the past eight years, wanted to run for the village’s top elected position in March. He was recently hired as a maintenance mechanic for the VA in Batavia. As a federal employee, he can’t run in the village election.

Sheehan can complete his term as trustee, which expires March 31. But he can’t run for another term as trustee, either.

“I’m really saddened about it because I really wanted to stay,” Sheehan said this morning. “I have to pick between the two jobs I love and I picked the one with benefits.”

Sheehan said he will remain active in the Albion community. He is currently vice president of the board of directors for Central Orleans Volunteer Ambulance. He said he would be willing to serve on a village committee. He can be appointed to a village position.

“This really stinks because it wasn’t my decisions or the voters’ decision,” Sheehan said about the Hatch Act and its role in the local election.

The 1939 law prohibits federal employees from engaging in partisan political activity, including running for office in a village election.

The Republican and Democratic parties in Albion are working to find candidates for the March 18 election. Both parties will have their caucuses between Jan. 21 and 28.

The Republican Party wanted to have non-partisan elections in the village with all candidates running under independent lines. But the Democratic Party didn’t support that for this election. So candidates again will run through the two major political parties.

Former Mayor Ed Salvatore, a past Republican Party chairman, is weighing a run for office. He may seek mayor or trustee.

“I’m still undecided, but I’m leaning towards running,” Salvatore said this morning. “There are still some things I can do. To be mayor you have to be interested and dedicated to it. I would be dedicated because I have all the time in the world.”

Dean Theodorakos isn’t seeking re-election for mayor. The seats for Eileen Banker, Fred Miller and Sheehan are all up for election. Sheehan said he worries about a lot of turnover on the board, especially with several projects in the community, including a replacement of the Clarendon Street bridge perhaps the most notable.

Sheehan said the village has tackled many projects in his eight years on the board, with significant repairs to the sewer lines and sewer plant one of the biggest accomplishments. The village was under a consent order by the state Department of Conservation to upgrade its sewer system and reduce infiltration into Sandy Creek. The projects have improved the system, and the consent order was lifted by the DEC.

“I wanted to stay because there was a lot of unfinished business,” he said.

Joe Allen

LOUISVILLE, Ky. An Albion native was killed early Saturday morning after he was hit by a taxi cab while walking down the side of the road.

Joseph Allen, 26, graduated from Albion in 2005 and then joined the military, serving four years with the Navy before returning to Albion in 2009.

He was killed just before 1:30 a.m. on Dixie Highway just north of Katherine Station Road in Louisville.

“Of course we haven’t ruled out any factors at this point,” Louisville Metro Police Department spokesman Dwight Mitchell told WLKY in Louisville. “Our investigators are investigating. Hopefully we’ll have more information once the investigation is complete.”

Allen of West Point, Ky., was pronounced dead at the scene. He is the son of Dave Allen, a former reporter for The Journal-Register and a lawyer in Medina. Allen is now a staff sergeant in the U.S. Army and lives in Fort Knox, Ky.

Joe’s mother, Carmela Allen, lives in Waterport and his sister, Patricia McDonald, is in Medina.

Mr. Allen, in a Facebook message this morning, said his son visited him in March and liked the area and decided to stay. He was working in maintenance at a local factory.

The family will receive friends at the Christopher Mitchell Funeral Homes, Inc., 21 W. Ave., Albion, on Friday from 5 to 8 p.m., where prayers will be said Saturday at 9:30 a.m. followed by his Mass of Christian Burial at Holy Family Parish/St. Joseph’s Church at 10 a.m. Burial will be in St. Joseph’s Cemetery. Memorials may be made to the Veterans Outreach Center, 459 South Ave., Rochester NY 14620.

Photo by Tom Rivers

ALBION – Seamus Kenney, a 1993 Albion graduate, returned home for the holidays and also to put on a concert tonight at the Cabaret at Studio B at Gotta Dance by Miss Amy.

Kenney, a professional musician the past 13 years, lives in Durham, North Carolina, where he teaches middle school band. For a decade he traveled and performed with the band SNMNMNM.

Photo by Tom Rivers

His niece, Shannon Vanderlaan, opened the concert. Vanderlaan is also an Albion native. She is currently a junior at The College at St. Rose in Albany, where she is majoring in oboe. Her mother and Seamus’s sister Karen Conn also sang during the concert tonight.

Photo by Tom Rivers – Shannon Vanderlaan

ALBION – Residents are invited to bring their Christmas trees to a bonfire Jan. 17 at Bullard Park as part of a fire and ice festival.

The festival will include a fire performer, pulled pork sandwiches from the Crooked Door, hot cocoa and hopefully night sledding if there is enough snow on the big hill.

Village officials, incuding Program Coordinator Sid Beatty, are working on more details for the event. They encouraged people to hang on to their trees until the bonfire rather than leaving them at the curb for the garbage trucks to grab.

Photos by Tom Rivers

ALBION – Joe Sacco has done it every Christmas morning for at least 20 years: He sings Christmas carols from the choir loft at St. Joseph’s Catholic Church, now the Holy Family Parish.

He is shown singing “Birthday of the King.” He also sang “Ave Maria,” “Hark the Herald Angel Sings,” and “Oh Come Let Us Aodre Him.”

Sacco also was the featured soloist during a Christmas Mass at the church, singing several Christmas songs, including “O Holy Night.” He was joined by Harriette Greaser, who played the organ for the carols and at Mass.

St. Joseph’s is a stunning church made of local Medina sandstone. The church has numerous stained-glass windows and a big pipe organ.