By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 25 December 2013 at 12:00 am
Photo by Tom Rivers – McDonalds is open today in Albion from 7 a.m. to 2 p.m. A few other businesses are open as well.
A rare sight at the Walmart Supercenter today: no cars in the parking lot. The store in Albion is usually open 24-7, but took today off.
ALBION – I thought just about all businesses shut down on Christmas. But there are a few stores open in Albion today: the gas stations, Rite Aid and McDonalds.
McDonalds has been advertising on its sign for about a month that it would be open from 7 a.m. to 2 p.m. today.
Rite Aid didn’t make a big splash about its Christmas hours, but the store is open from 9 to 5 today.
If you’re a last-second shopping procrastinator or if you want a quick bite to eat on the road, I guess you have some options.
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 24 December 2013 at 12:00 am
Hardware store owner set to start as county legislator
Fred Miller is shown speaking during a Democratic Party picnic in July.
ALBION – Fred Miller has resigned as trustee on the Albion Village Board so he can become an Orleans County legislator next week.
Miller, a Democrat, defeated Henry Smith for the position during last month’s election. Miller will be the lone Democrat on the seven-member County Legislature.
He also will be the first village resident from either Albion, Medina, Holley or Lyndonville on the Legislature in many years. The village of Albion hasn’t had a resident on the Legislature, despite being the county seat, since Dick Eddy about 30 years ago.
Miller said he wants to bring “a village voice” to the Legislature, as well as an independent view.
Miller considered staying on as a village trustee and also serving as a legislator. The village doesn’t forbid an elected board member from serving in another elected position, but the county doesn’t allow that.
Before the Legislature started in 1980, the county government was run by the Board of Supervisors, with the town supervisor from each of the 10 towns. The new Legislature purposely didn’t want the legislators to be serving in town or village governments. They wanted the Legislature to be more independent and less committed to any one specific community.
So Miller needed to resign from the Village Board.
Miller, the owner of Family Hardware in Albion since 1986, said he would have resigned as trustee anyway, even if he legally could do both positions.
“It would have been a lot,” he said. “It would have been too much.”
Monday was the last Legislature meeting for Smith. Two other legislators, Ken Rush of Carlton and George Bower of Holley, are retiring from the positions.
Legislature Chairman David Callard thanked the trio for their service.
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 24 December 2013 at 12:00 am
Provided photo – Diesel, a pit bull at the Orleans County Animal Shelter, gets in the holiday spirit.
BARRE – In the hustle and bustle of the holidays, Joette McHugh encourages local residents to not forget about homeless pets in animal shelters.
She will be spending part of Christmas at the Orleans County Animal Shelter, where she is the lead volunteer. She welcomes the community to stop in between 10 a.m. and noon to play with the dogs and cats that are waiting to be adopted.
Three years ago the shelter opened on Christmas for the community to stop by. McHugh said about 30 people visited last Dec. 25, bringing treats and spending time with the animals.
“That’s the magic of Christmas when people show up and give a pet a hug,” she said.
There are six dogs and 11 cats at the shelter. In the last three weeks, 12 dogs and seven cats have been adopted out.
In the past five years, volunteers and the animal control officer have adopted out 1,200 animals from the shelter, the former Starrview Kennels at the corner of routes 98 and 31A.
The volunteers will have Christmas cookies for anyone who wants to stop by and see the animals on Christmas.
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 23 December 2013 at 12:00 am
Photos by Tom Rivers
Village of Albion Department of Public Works employees – Todd Sargent at left and Jay Pahura at right – remove fallen limbs from East Park Street this morning.
Local DPW and highway crews are out cleaning up after the ice storm on Sunday littered the landscape with fallen tree limbs.
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 22 December 2013 at 12:00 am
Photos by Tom Rivers
ALBION – Mount Albion Cemetery is littered with fallen tree limbs. It’s a sad sight.
I think it could have been worse because I didn’t see any trees fully uprooted. But there are broken branches just about everywhere, especially in the older section of the historic cemetery.
But even a lot of the smaller trees gave out under the stress of the ice load.
Whenever we get a high wind warning or an ice storm, I usually think of Mount Albion and big trees planted more than a century ago. Despite all of the snapped off branches, I think the trees held up well with the latest assault from Mother Nature.
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 22 December 2013 at 12:00 am
Photos by Tom Rivers – A monument is framed by frozen branches.
Mount Albion Tower, a 68-foot-high Civil War Memorial, looms in the background.
Mount Albion Cemetery is one of the most glorious places in Orleans County. The cemetery has terraced hills, tree-lined roads and many impressive monuments. It’s also been well cared for by the village of Albion.
Mount Albion was the first site from Orleans County to be listed on the National Register of Historic Places. That was in 1976, on the 100th anniversary of the construction of the Civil War Memorial, the big tower in the cemetery.
Here are some images of the ice-coated cemetery this morning:
One of the front gates on the east side of the cemetery is dripping with icicles.
A ring is covered in ice on an old hitching post in the old section. The cemetery has many hitching posts and carriage steps.
The Civil War section in the cemetery includes a cannon from the war.
A Grand Army of the Republic marker is next to the grave for Noah Green.
The front gates to Mount Albion Tower weren’t spared from the ice storm. The spiral staircase, in back, leads to the top of the tower.
The cemetery has a lot of mature trees and many of their branches were hanging close to the ground from the weight of the ice.
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 22 December 2013 at 12:00 am
Photos by Tom Rivers – The ice storm overnight coated trees and their branches with ice. It’s a striking sight, but some of the weighed down branches have snapped off, including this one on East State Street in front of the Orleans County Courthouse.
The courthouse looms in the background of this photo.
A big hunk of a tree on the courthouse lawn fell after being stressed from the storm. The County Clerks Building is in the background.
The First United Methodist Church in Albion is in the background of this photo.
There are a lot of limbs down, including this one on East Park Street. Power is out in some spots.
Today is a good day to wander around with your camera. You don’t have to go far. This is a tree in my backyard.
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 21 December 2013 at 12:00 am
Photo by Tom Rivers – Christine Versteeg of Kendall painted this 6-foot-long bench into a mural featuring a tugboat at sunrise. There will be at least 11 benches painted with local scenes or historical themes in Albion. They will be installed on Main Street and East bank Street in the spring.
Photo by Tom Rivers
ALBION – The plain backs and seats for a 6-foot-long benches are being turned into works of art.
Christine Versteeg of Kendall painted a bench into a mural of a tugboat. It’s one of at least 11 planned for downtown Albion.
The benches and the artwork are a portion of a $50,000 streetscape grant awarded for the downtown about two years ago. The Albion Main Street Alliance has shepherded this project through all the local and state government agencies.
It’s been a long journey and I was thrilled to see the first bench today. Other artists are working on their benches.
The grant will also fund potted trees, flowers, bike racks, a memorial, two interpretive panels about Albion history and other improvements.
I’ve been helping come up with a plan for how to spend the grant. I think the benches will draw people to the downtown. The benches will highlight our local history and showcase one of the county’s assets: the artists.
The benches should be out on the sidewalk and at Waterman Park in the spring.
I’m hoping we can work out an arrangement to have the benches stored inside at local businesses during the winter months so they can be enjoyed year-round.
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 19 December 2013 at 12:00 am
File photo by Tom Rivers – Village Historian Neil Johnson gives a talk on Nov. 20 about the iron fireman that once was on top of the Hose Fire Company in Albion for three years before a Rochester Fire Company took it in 1890. Several fire companies stole the Iron Fireman from each other before it found a permanent home in Honeoye Falls.
ALBION – Village Historian Neil Johnson will continue to give local history talks at the Hoag Library after a donor stepped up to fund the program.
The library planned to cut Johnson from the programming budget after 2013 due to budget constraints. Debbie and Scott Dragon agreed to sponsor Johnson’s “Take a Bite Out Of History” talks for 2014.
Johnson gives 10 of the talks a year on the third Wednesday of each month from 12:15 to 12:45 p.m. He takes July and August off.
Johnson has given the talks for the past seven years and he draws a loyal following.
Johnson, an archaeologist with a doctoral degree, has been the village historian for about 30 years. He is paid $65 for each presentation at the library.
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 19 December 2013 at 12:00 am
File photo by Tom Rivers – Hoag Library in Albion in April honored three local historians for leading programs at the library for many years. The group includes, from left, Gaines historian Dee Robinson, Albion historian Neil Johnson and Bill Lattin, the Orleans County historian.
ALBION – Just when it looked like Hoag Library would have to shelve its local history lecture series due to budget constraints, donors have stepped forward in the past day to keep two local historians as regularly scheduled speakers at the library.
An anonymous donor has committed to paying Dee Robinson, the Gaines town historian, to prepare 10 lectures as part of a “Tea with Dee” series the first Tuesdays each month at noon.
Robinson, a reference librarian at Hoag, is a past president of a state association of historians. She often speaks about trail-blazing women in the community from more than a century ago. That includes Jennie Curtis of Albion, the first woman spy for the Union during the Civil War.
Robinson has researched women who worked as lawyers, doctors and nurses in the community in the 1800s. She has compiled many of those stories in a book, “Historical Amnesia,” about women’s role in local history.
The donor will cover the $650 expense for 10 presentations. Robinson and Neil Johnson, who also gives 10 lectures about local history each year, take the summers off when the library is busy with a summer reading program.
Johnson, the Albion village historian since 1982, will stay on the library schedule thanks to Debbie and Scott Dragon who are sponsors of Johnson’s “Take a Bite Out Of History” talks for 2014.
Johnson gives his talks on the third Wednesday of each month from 12:15 to 12:45 p.m., except in July and August.
Both Johnson and Robinson have developed a loyal following in recent years with the history discussions. The two historians, along with County Historian Bill Lattin, were honored by the library in April for leading many programs over the years.
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 18 December 2013 at 12:00 am
Photos by Tom Rivers – Knight’s Pride at 120 North Main St. had the second most votes in the contest.
ALBION – The downtown merchants in Albion stepped up their decorating efforts this holiday season, with many of the storefronts full of holiday displays.
“I think the downtown looks nice and festive,” said Carolyn Ricker, president of the Albion Merchants Association and owner of Bindings Bookstore. “A lot of people have commented that there is a sense of pride in the downtown.”
The Merchants Association held a contest for the best window decorations and the public cast ballots for their favorites.
The Main Street Store at 49 North Main St. garnered the most votes.
Burgio Salon at 117 North Main St. came in third, according to the public votes.
Lisa Stratton, owner of the Hazy Jade at 50 North Main St., sent letters to all the downtown building owners and convinced many to decorate for the holidays. Stratton’s shop in shown above.
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 18 December 2013 at 12:00 am
ALBION – Claims Recovery Financial Services could spend up to $4,430,000 for new equipment, machinery and furnishings as part of its relocation and expansion into the JP Morgan Chase call center on East Avenue.
The company won’t have to pay sales tax on any of those purchases, a benefit that could save the company up to $354,400 because of the sales tax exemption.
The Orleans Economic Development Agency approved the tax exemption on Friday. That followed a public hearing on Dec. 10. No one spoke against the tax savings benefit for CRFS.
The EDA has the authority to lift the 8 percent sales tax for companies in an expansion project. CRFS won’t have to pay the 4 percent county and 4 percent state sales tax rates. Both the county and state would have received $172,200 in sales tax if CRFS spends $4.43 million for equipment and furnishings in its expansion and relocation.
The company is expected to start moving into Chase next month. It is consolidating Albion and Medina work sites into the former Chase building, and adding 150 employees. It projects there will be 750 workers out of the building.
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 17 December 2013 at 12:00 am
Photos by Tom Rivers – The stained-glass window tour on Saturday included a stop at the First United Methodist Church. The Good Shepherd window was created in the Tiffany style but not by Tiffany. The large window was gift to the congregation by the church’s pastor in 1914, the Rev. Henry Clay Woods.
ALBION – They drove through a storm to see works of art by famed masters of the craft.
Anne and Ed Engel of Oakfield weren’t disappointed on Saturday with the first ever stained-glass window tour of Albion’s seven churches in the historic Courthouse Square.
The Pullman Memorial Universalist Church has more than 40 windows created by Tiffany Glass and Decorating Company, perhaps the most esteemed stained glass artist.
Bill Lattin, Orleans County historian, talks about the Christ the Consoler window in the Pullman Memorial Universalist Church. The church in 1895 wanted a window with outstretched arms of Christ to fit the denomination’s welcoming tradition.
One of the windows of Christ the Consoler shows Jesus with his outstretched arms. George Pullman paid $5,000 for that window, which was installed in January 1895.
Tiffany highlighted that window as example of the firm’s work in an 1898 brochure.
Engel gazed at the glass, and ran her finger along the bottom of the window.
“I touched a Tiffany stained-glass window,” she said, breaking into a smile.
Tiffany revolutionized the stained-glass world. Stained-glass windows, prior to Tiffany, tended to have clear glass with a stencil pattern painted on the glass.
The Free Methodist Church in Albion was built in 1860, the first church in a denomination that now has more than 1,000 churches. The church still has the original stained-glass windows from the building. Those windows from 1860 were fairly plain compared to the style that emerged in the 1890s.
Tiffany developed opalescent glass, putting color directly in glass. His windows became very popular in the 1890s. His windows at the Pullman church were installed in 1895.
Other stained-glass artists turned to opalescent glass, and many churches, including several in Albion, swapped out their older, plainer windows with Tiffany-style windows, Lattin said on the tour. (Lattin wrote a book about Orleans County’s stained-glass windows: Luminaries in the Firmament.)
The windows in the seven churches range in age from the 1860s to the 1960s. Many of the masters of the craft, both at the regional and national level, created windows for churches in Albion.
Lattin concluded the tour of the seven churches inside St. Joseph’s Catholic Church, which includes many narrative windows that depict scenes from the Old and New Testaments in the Bible. Leo Frohe, a popular stained-glass artist from Buffalo, designed and created many of the windows at St. Joseph’s. The Frohe studio also has several windows at the former St. Mary’s Catholic Church in Albion.
Lattin said Albion is blessed to have so many exquisite examples of stained glass.
“There is really some extraordinary artwork here,” Lattin said after leading the tour. “There is really something here that can be marketed.”
Saturday’s tour drew about 40 participants on a bitterly cold morning. Tony and Cathy Mancuso of Elba have driven through Albion for years. They have long admired the churches, and wondered what they were like inside.
They took lots of pictures of the windows, the pipe organs and architectural features. Mr. Mancuso works in the real estate business.
“This place is absolutely gorgeous,” Mancuso said while on a tour of the First Presbyterian Church. “I love the woodwork in here.”
Lattin stands in the Presbyterian Church by a window created by Henry Keck, an apprentice at the Tiffany studio until 1933, when he started his own company in Syarcuse. This is an early work by Keck, created in 1934 as memorial to Ella Beckwith Kenney, a Sunday School teacher at the Presbyterian Church. Lattin said it’s one of his favorite windows in Orleans because of theme and striking colors. It shows a teacher and her two students.
Connie Mosher is a long-time local resident and an artist. She praised Lattin for his recall of the dates of the windows, who made them, and the stories behind them often as memorials for local residents. Lattin led the nearly two-hour tour without notes.
Mosher said the tour was an eye-opener and made her admire the community’s residents from a century ago even more. The seven churches showcase a variety of architectural features. The buildings are all listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
The churches have added meaning after learning about their windows, Mosher said.
“What a heritage we have,” she said. “Until you get inside, you don’t realize the richness of it.”
Tony Mancuso of Elba took a lot of photos on the stained-glass window tour. He is shown inside the sanctuary at Christ (Episcopal) Church.
Many of the stained-glass windows, including this one in the First Baptist Church, were paid for as memorials to prominent Albion residents.
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 15 December 2013 at 12:00 am
Photos by Tom Rivers
Catherine Thom and other dancers in Gotta Dance by Miss Amy perform Snowflakes, an excerpt from the Nutcracker during Saturday’s fourth annual Nicholas Kovaleski Hometown Christmas. The row in the back includes, from left: Laiken Ricker, Rylie Lear and Lauren Thomas.
Marcy Downey sings “Over the Rainbow” during the Hometown Christmas show on Saturday at the Holy Family Parish Lyceum.
A cast of about 50 performed songs and dances in memory of Nicholas, who died at age 15 on June 29, 2011. He was a popular student at Albion, excelling at football, swimming and tennis. He would have been a senior this year.
A video at the beginning of the program featured Nick’s classmates and school staff holding signs with inspirational messages. 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.
Lydia Erakare, one of Nick’s classmates, holds a sign that says, “Be Brave! Take Chances! Challenge Yourself!”
The Gotta Dance studio performed three shows on Saturday that drew more than 300 people. Proceeds are used to a fund a scholarship in Nick’s memory. So far, five scholarships have been awarded to graduating Albion students.
Nick’s mother Kelly Kovaleski , left, sings “The Shape of You,” a song she used to sing with her son at bedtime. She is joined by Albion music teacher Karen Conn.
Nick’s brother Matt Kovaleski introduces his band, “The Chick Magnets,” which also includes Noah Duvall, Connor McQuillan, Nick Sacco and Bryce Pritchard.
The Rev. Richard Csizmar, pastor of the Holy Family Parish, shares a reflection during the one of the shows on Saturday.
