Photos by Tom Rivers – Twin sisters Sam Hill, left, and Sarah, both 23 and from Middleport, sing “Silent Night” during tonight’s recital at St. Mary’s Athletic Club in Albion.

A singer who goes by “Daddy Cool” performs “Celebrate Me Home.”

St. Mary’s Athletic Club hosted “A Little Bit of Christmas Recital” tonight at the Moore Street site in Albion. Performers mixed the sacred – “Silent Night” and “O’ Holy Night” – with some silly songs, such as “I Want a Hippopotamus for Christmas.”

Eight performers sang 16 songs as part of the show by JNS Productions, which is led by Albion residents Nick Russo and Shellane Bailey.

This is their second effort at St. Mary’s. In August their first production was a Broadway revue. (Click here for previous story.) Tonight and Friday the show includes Christmas songs.

Albion native Lance Anderson hams it up while singing “I Want a Hippopotamus for Christmas.”

“We had a really good response to the first one,” Russo said. “We want to keep building on it.”

Russo and Bailey would like to do two or three different productions a year in Albion.

Many of the performers at the Dec. 5-6 shows were part of the cast in Les Miserables. The Lake Plains Players performed that show in October. (Click here to see previous article.)

Jake Hayes of Albion sings “O’ Holy Night” during a Christmas recital in Albion.

Albion native Lance Anderson had the lead role, Jean Valjean, in Les Miserables. Anderson lives in Spencerport. He said he is grateful for a chance to keep performing with the production in Albion.

“There aren’t enough opportunities for people to perform,” Anderson said. “We need more things like this in the area.”

Tickets are available at the door for the Dec. 6 show, which begins at 7:30 p.m. St. Mary’s is located at 538 Moore St.

The cast joins for the finale of the show by singing “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas.”

Photo by Tom Rivers

ALBION – More than 50 participants have been rehearsing for the fourth annual Nicholas Kovaleski Hometown Christmas. Gotta Dance by Miss Amy will perform three shows on Dec. 14 at noon, 3 p.m. and 6:30 p.m. at the Holy Family Parish Lyceum, 106 South Main St.

Amy Sidari, Gotta Dance owner and director of the show, is pictured with a group photo of last year’s cast.

Nicholas Kovaleski 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 been a senior this year.

Several of Nick’s classmates will share a presentation during the Hometown Christmas. Nick’s mother Kelly will sing a solo, “The Shape Of You,” and Nick’s sister Michayla will do a solo dance. There are 15 acts in all.

Noted local musicians Marcy Downey and Gary Simboli are among the performers.

“It’s going to be a lot of fun with a lot of humor,” Sidari said.

The Rev. Richard Csizmar, parish priest, will also share a reflection during the each of the shows.

For more information about the show and tickets, click here.

ALBION – Despite a death this week in Rachel Miller’s family, the family wants a dedication of a room in Miller’s memory to go forward on Thursday.

Earlier today the Arc of Orleans County said the dedication would be delayed until January. But Miller’s family wants the dedication to stay on schedule.

The dedication will be Thursday from 6 to 7 p.m. at the Arnold Gregory Memorial Complex, 243 South Main St., Suite 220. Refreshments will be provided.

Rachel Miller was a beloved coworker and speech-language therapist who worked 15 years at Rainbow Preschool, which is located at Arnold Gregory Memorial Complex in Albion.

The new room will be a socio-dramatic play center. It will be in honor of Miller, who was killed last March 4.

ALBION – A dedication program planned for Thursday, naming a room at Rainbow Preschool in honor of Rachel Miller, has been delayed until January.

There was a recent death in Miller’s family and funeral arrangements are expected to be later this week.

Rachel Miller was a beloved coworker and speech-language therapist who worked 15 years at Rainbow Preschool, which is located at Arnold Gregory Memorial Complex in Albion.

The new room will be a socio-dramatic play center. It will be in honor of Miller, who was killed last March 4.

Photo by Tom Rivers

ALBION – The Village of Albion Department of Public Works and Orleans County Highway Department are putting up a big artificial Christmas tree on the Courthouse lawn in Albion this morning. The tree should be lighted this evening and throughout the holiday season.

The village DPW about two weeks ago put lights on the evergreen tree in front of the former Swan Library building. (You can see it in this photo in the back to the right.) This will be the first season the two trees are both lighted for the holidays.

The artificial tree didn’t go up last year, and the DPW lighted the tree in front of Swan for the first time.

Rachel Miller

Editor’s Note: Due to a recent death in the Miller famiy the dedication of the room has been delayed until January.

ALBION – Rainbow Preschool will dedicate a room in memory of Rachel Miller, a beloved coworker and speech-language therapist. The dedication will be Thursday from 6 to 7 p.m. at the Arnold Gregory Memorial Complex, 243 South Main St., Suite 220. Refreshments will be provided.

The new room will be a socio-dramatic play center. It will be in honor of Miller, who worked 15 years for the Arc of Orleans at Rainbow Preschool.

Miller was killed last March 4. Her boyfriend Frederick Miller has been charged with second-degree murder. He is scheduled to go on trial, beginning Jan. 13.

Rachel Miller was 53 when she died as a result of blunt force trauma combined with multiple stab wounds, according to an autopsy.

Photos by Tom Rivers – These three sisters met with Mrs. Claus today to write notes to Santa Claus. The girls are, from left: Julia, 6; McKinley, 5; and Malia, 9. Their father, Jeremiah Knight, owns Knight’s Pride on North Main Street. He hosted Mrs. Claus today. She will be back at Knight’s Pride from 1 to 3 p.m. on Dec. 14.

ALBION – With Santa working around the clock, Mrs. Claus stopped in Albion today without her very busy husband.

Mrs. Claus was at Knight’s Pride, a custom cabinetry shop, from 1 to 3 p.m. She brought along a scroll and note cards for children to send a message to Santa. She also handed out stickers.

“Behind every great man is a great woman,” she said.

Mrs. Claus bears a striking resemblance to Valerie Rush, who has a full-time job as a teacher’s aid at Albion High School.

“I just wanted something to bring back Christmas that is fun and not commercial,” Mrs. Claus said about her appearance in Albion.

Mrs. Claus said she doesn’t like how expensive Christmas has become, and how the holiday shopping season now encroaches on Thanksgiving.

“I want to help bring the magic of Christmas back,” she said.

Mrs. Claus gets ready to meet children during a stop in Albion this afternoon.

Albion area congregations take turns at community kitchen

Photo by Tom Rivers

ALBION – The West Barre United Methodist Church prepared a full course meal with turkey that was served to 56 people tonight at Christ Church in Albion.

Christ Church, an Episcopal congregation, has a kitchen and dining hall in Albion, and congregations in the community take turns preparing the meals, serving the food and cleaning up.

The meals are offered on Fridays throughout the year. A tradition has been serving a full course meal the day with turkey after Thanksgiving.

The West Barre church takes a turn the fifth Fridays, about four or five times a year. Today happened to be the fifth Friday of November, and it fell a day after Thanksgiving.

I showed up this evening when the West Barre church was cleaning up. Pictured include, front row, from left:  Alice Mathes, Jean Peglow, Karen Dibley, cousins Allison and Lily Mathes, sisters Johanna and Melissa Dibley, and Joy Markle. Back row: Jim Peglow and Dan Shuler.

The church has been volunteering in the community kitchen for two years.

“You know there is a need out in the community,” Mrs. Peglow said.

Linda Reed died in crash Saturday near Mobile, Ala.

Photo by Tom Rivers – Linda Reed in August became owner of the Clothesline at 18 East Bank St.

ALBION – Linda Reed was known among the downtown Albion merchants for her big heart. She especially took time for needy residents.

“She was a really nice person who looked out for others,” said Lisa Stratton, owner of the Hazy Jade.

Reed died on Saturday in a car accident in Poarch, Ala., near Mobile. She was down south visiting family, including two new grandsons she met for the first time in Texas, her daughter Lisa LaRose said.

Reed stopped and saw other family and friends in Louisiana. She was on her way home Saturday when her 2003 Ford Explorer left the road and struck a tree at 11:55 a.m. on I-65 in Escambia County. (Click here to see news article from al.com.)

Reed, 65, had been volunteering at The Clothesline, a consignment and gift shop. She became owner of the business in August and took pride in the site, changing the decorations in the front window several times.

Reed in a photo on her Facebook page

“I had just talked with her and was excited about decorating for Christmas,” Stratton said.

Reed, a cancer survivor, may have been best known in the community for her passionate fund-raising for cancer research. She sought donations and participants for a Relay for Life team in Lockport. She put purple ribbons on her home on East Park Street.

She also had purple toilets that she put in people’s front yards and in front of businesses as a fund-raiser for cancer research.

“She was relentless,” Stratton said smiling about Reed and her creative and persistent fund-raising.

Reed closed the store for a couple weeks so she could go see her family. A sign in the front window says she intended to be back at the store on Nov. 29.

She is the second East Bank Street merchant to die in a car accident in less than a week.

Joshua Lunn, 25, owned the Grease Lightning business at 102 East Bank St. He died in a Nov. 20 accident in Kendall. He was traveling westbound on Route 18 when he attempted to pass a westbound vehicle. Lunn lost control of his pickup truck and left the south shoulder striking several trees.

Holmes

ALBION – Two Rochester men face numerous drug charges after they were arrested on Friday in the village of Albion during a vehicle stop at 167 South Main St.

The charges followed a month-long investigation into the sale and distribution of heroin and crack cocaine in the village of Albion, during which police seized 40 bags of heroin. They also confiscated more than a quarter ounce of crack cocaine, with a street value of over $1,000, the Orleans County Major Felony Crime Task Force reported this morning.

Terry L. Holmes, 31 of 380 Calm Lake Circle in Rochester was charged with two counts of criminal sale of a controlled substance in the third degree, two counts of criminal possession of a controlled substance in the third degree, one count of criminal possession of a controlled substance in the fourth degree, and one count of aggravated unlicensed operation in the first degree.

Holmes is currently under parole supervision with the state Department of Corrections and Community Supervision.

He was arraigned by Albion Town Justice Kevin Howard and committed to county jail on no bail, due to Holmes’s previous criminal history, according to the Task Force.

Burroughs

Law enforcement also arrested Kamerin D. Burroughs, 23, of 126 Normandy Ave. in Rochester. He was charged with two counts of criminal sale of a controlled substance in the third degree, two counts of criminal possession of a controlled substance in the third degree, and one count of criminal possession of a controlled substance in the fourth degree.

Burroughs was arraigned by Justice Howard and committed to the county jail on $25,000 bail. Both Holmes and Burroughs are to return to town court at 9 a.m. on Tuesday.

The Major Felony Crime Task Force teamed with the Albion Police Department and the Orleans County Sheriff’s Department to conduct the vehicle stop on Friday. The investigation is ongoing and further charges and arrests are pending, the Task Force said.

Linda Reed owned The Clothesline on Bank Street

Linda Reed, owner of a downtown Albion business and a cancer survivor who rallied her neighbors to join her Relay for Life team, died in a car accident on Saturday.

Reed was in the state of Alabama, visiting friends. Orleans Hub doesn’t have the details about the accident.

Reed lived on East Park Street in Albion. She held frequent yard sales to raise money for cancer research. She went door to door, seeking donations for the cause and enlisted neighbors in a Relay for Life walk in Lockport.

Reed in August became owner of The Clothesline, a consignment and gift shop on East Bank Street.

Reed’s Facebook page includes many tributes from family and friends.

ALBION – Ed Salvatore says his phone has been ringing often in recent days. Several people have asked him to run for mayor in March.

Dean Theodorakos, the current mayor, announced this week that he won’t be running for re-election.

Salvatore served in the position from 1998 to 2006. He lost a very close election to Mike Hadick for mayor in March 2006. Hadick pulled off the upset, 440 to 438. A paperwork filing snafu kept Salvatore from running as a Republican in that election. He was forced to use an independent line, which showed up at the bottom of the ballot.

Salvatore didn’t want to leave village office. He said he had three unfinished initiatives: downtown revitalization, improvements to Bullard Park and the continuation of a sidewalk replacement plan.

The village has worked on those issues, but Salvatore said he would like to see a faster pace of progress. He thinks it could be done with a full-time mayor.

The Kodak retiree and past Albion fire chief put in full-time hours when he was mayor, despite a salary of about $9,000.

“Albion needs a full-time mayor because there are so many problems and things that need to be done,” he said. “It’s not something that can be done a couple hours on the evenings and the weekends.”

Kevin Sheehan, a village trustee for nearly eight years, said he intends to run for mayor.

Sheehan works full-time as a maintenance mechanic at the VA Hospital in Batavia. He said the position offers a flexible schedule.

Salvatore is 83, and he said some people may think he’s too old to be mayor.

“People may say I’m an old man, but I have the energy,” he said. “I’m in good shape. I take care of myself.”

Salvatore is a registered Republican. He said he intends to decide next week if he will run for a four-year term as a mayor. The election is in March and the term starts April 1.

“I got to make some phone calls and talk to people,” he said. “If I do it I will commit to it full-time.”