By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 10 November 2013 at 12:00 am
Albion Legion and Medina VFW serving free meals to vets
Photo by Tom Rivers – This memorial site at the State Street Park in Medina was dedicated in honor of Medina area residents who served in World War I in 1917-18.
ALBION – Orleans County officials and veterans will gather for a ceremony at 11 a.m. Monday in Albion at the Veterans Service Agency at 13996 Route 31 West.
State Assemblyman Steve Hawley also is scheduled to speak at the service.
Veterans are welcome to have a free meal to two posts on Monday. The American Legion in Albion is serving a soup luncheon for veterans. The VFW in Medina will also serve lunch to veterans beginning at 1 p.m.
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 9 November 2013 at 12:00 am
Photo by Tom Rivers
Two Albion Boy Scouts, Jacob Thom, left, and Aaliah Knickerbocker went door to door this morning placing door hangers about a food drive.
The hangers are reminders for Albion residents to leave canned food and other nonperishables out next Saturday for Scouts to pick up for the local food pantry.
Jacob and Aaliah are both 10 and members of Troop 164 in Albion. Scouts throughout the county have out been out reminding residents of the annual “Scouting for Food” campaign.
Provided photo
In this provided photo, Medina Scouts in Pack and Troop 28 are pictured with some of the food they collected. Troop 35 also participated in the food collection efforts.
The Scouts hung door hangers throughout Medina last week and then collected the food today and donated it to the local food pantry to help local residents in need.
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 9 November 2013 at 12:00 am
Photo by Tom Rivers
ALBION – The Albion High School Student Council organized a benefit walk this morning for the Golisano Children’s Hospital in Rochester. The Student Council expected to raise about $300.
Student Council President Audra Hessler, left, is pictured on the 1.5-mile walk around the Albion school campus with Emily Shabazz, Student Council secretary, and Emily’s mother Cheryl. Emily’s sister Yazmeen is in the back.
About 15 Student Council members worked on the event. The council wanted to have a local walk for the Children’s Hospital after Albion students last June participated in a “Stroll for Strong Kids” at Riverside Park in Rochester.
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 8 November 2013 at 12:00 am
Photos by Tom Rivers – Jean Smith stands in front of the Hardie-Blake House, where she has lived since 1957 on West State Street in Albion.
The carriage step with the inscription “1875” used to be in front of the house but was moved back by a carriage barn before Jean and her husband Ed moved in more than a half century ago.
ALBION – When Jean and Ed Smith moved to a Victorian house on West State Street in 1957, the couple quickly fell in love with the historic features of the property, including a carriage step in the back yard.
The house was originally built in 1830 as a much smaller home. It was expanded in 1875 and turned into a home of Victorian splendor.
It was in the Hardie-Blake family until 1962, when the Smiths bought it from Francis Blake. (For five years prior the Smiths rented the house.)
When they bought the property there was an apartment as part of the house. The Smiths took that out and worked for decades to restore the site. A finishing touch came 12 years ago when the Smiths put a sign on the front of the home, “The Hardie-Blake House.”
When the Smiths bought the house, Mr. Smith told Francis Blake the Smiths would honor the Hardie and Blake families with the house. The Smiths lovingly cared for the home, raising three daughters and welcoming seven grandchildren and 14 great-grandchildren to explore the grand old house. The sign was Mr. Smith’s idea.
“We kept our promise to Francis to name the house after him,” Mrs. Smith told me on Thursday when I stopped by. “Francis grew up here and he loved this house.”
I visited Jean because I heard about the carriage step she had in back. I like old hitching posts and carriage steps. I saw Jean at the polls on Tuesday. She works as an election commissioner. We made a date for Thursday to talk about the house and the carriage step.
The step is next to a carriage house in a herringbone style, which Mrs. Smith said is unusual. When she and her husband moved to the site it still had the buggies in the barn. The previous owner took them out when the Smiths bought the property.
When Ed and Jean moved in in 1957, the carriage step was already moved out back. It originally was next to the street. It bears the inscription “1875.” These old steps are heavy and this one has sunk into the ground a few inches, covering the bottom part of the letters.
Jean said the her children and other kids in the neighborhood often gravitated to the carriage step.
“Little kids loved to play on that in the way that little kids do,” she said. “They like to step up and step down.”
The Smiths put a bird feeder on the top of the stone. The base is still there. The carriage step is next to barn that was once used as a carriage house for buggies and horses.
Smith displays a blue star in her window to signify she has family serving in the military.
Jean and Ed were hoping to get the house listed on the National Register of Historic Places. But Mr. Smith was killed in an accident, crossing Main Street on the way to St. Joseph’s Catholic Church.
Mr. Smith loved local history. He led tours of the Catholic Church and served as parish’s unofficial historian.
“We really enjoyed putting this house back together,” Mrs. Smith said.
She lives down the street from where Grace Bedell grew up in Albion She’s the girl who wrote Abraham Lincoln, urging him to grow a beard. He took her advice.
Smith believes many of the old houses in Albion have interesting stories and architectural features. She would like to see a walking guide developed that give people a glimpse into the history of the community.
She has visited other places, communities with less historical assets as Albion. But many of these other towns proclaim their heritage, she said.
“There is so much in this town that we should be proud of and that we could include on a walking tour,” she said. “I think we’re really missing out.”
The carriage step is heavy and has sunk into the ground over the years. When her children were growing up, Smith said they loved to play on the step, going up and down.
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 8 November 2013 at 12:00 am
Photo by Tom Rivers – Doug Burdick, right, is the store manager of the new Advance Auto Parts that opened today at routes 98 and 31 intersection. Burdick is pictured with Ray Emerson, a retired chief deputy with the Orleans County Sheriff’s Department. Emerson is one of 10 employees working for Advance in Albion.
ALBION – A new auto parts store opened in Albion today at a prominent spot in the community.
Advance Auto Parts say the location at the routes 98 and 31 intersection is “perfect.” The site in a former Rite Aid is also bigger than most Advance stores and the extra room allows the store to be well stocked, said Doug Burdick, manager of the site.
The deep inventory means people shouldn’t have to wait for a part, whether they are buying it themselves or an auto repair shop that needs a part for a repair, Burdick said.
The store remodeled the former Rite Aid at the northeast corner of routes 98 and 31. The inflatable truck out front is part of the celebration on opening day.
Burdick has more than 20 years in the auto parts business. He was working as the assistant manager of Advance’s store in Lockport.
Advance has 10 employees working at Albion. Burdick said more than 60 people filled out applications for jobs at the store.
While the 10 employees stocked the store in the previous eight days, Burdick said five or six people stopped by daily, inquiring about a job.
When the company sought a building permit for the changes on the building it told the village it expected to spend $140,000 on interior changes and improvements at the former Rite Aid.
Advance has nearby sites in Brockport, Batavia and Lockport.
The Albion store will be open everyday. For more information, call the store at 589-2101.
Advance enters an Albion market that already had three auto parts stores with Arnold’s, Napa and Auto Zone.
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 6 November 2013 at 12:00 am
2 boys visit Albion school before heading home on Friday
Photos by Tom Rivers – Jahan Zib, a 10-year-old from Afghanistan, joins Albion fifth-graders in a friendship circle today at the school.
Albion students give Nasratullah, wearing hat, a group hug today.
ALBION – Today they ran in the elementary school gym, smiling and kicking a soccer ball. When it was time for two boys from Afghanistan to go, a group of fifth-graders gave them a group hug.
Nasratullah, 10, and Jahan Zib, 9, have spent the past two months in Orleans County through the Project Life program at the World Life Institute in Waterport.
Both boys have lost parents in the war in Afghanistan. Project Life started in 1997 and has now hosted 128 children who are orphans from the troubled lands of Bosnia, Chechnya, Afghanistan and Sri Lanka.
Project Life Director Linda Redfield visited Albion Elementary School today with Jahan Zib and Nasratullah.
Four children from Chechnya spent this past summer in Waterport through the program. Project Life had not hosted an Afghan child since 2006. One Afghan boy, who spent the summer of 2002 in Waterport, is now in medical school. He connected with the Project Life program earlier this year and recommended Nasratullah and Jahan Zib.
Today they joined Project Life Director Linda Redfield in a visit to Albion Elementary School’s Multicultural Club. Redfield showed the students a power point with photos from Afghanistan and Chechnya.
She included pictures of Nasratullah and Jahan Zib when they first arrived two months ago. They appeared sad and lethargic.
“They had been drinking contaminated water and they arrived here sick,” Redfield said.
Jahan Zib kicks the soccer ball during a game with Albion fifth-graders today in the elementary school gym.
Project Life is sending water filters home with them so they don’t have to drink bad water. Nasratullah also had an eye condition that nearly blocked his vision. But with a visit to the eye doctor and medication, he doesn’t have any sight problems. He will go home well-stocked with the eye medication.
The boys were wearing their Afghan clothes today, which are made of very thin material because Redfield said it can be so oppressively hot in the country.
The boys have been staying with host families. They have been taking English classes and enjoying the fresh air, as well as good food, exercise and “careful attention,” Redfield said.
The Albion Multicultural Club said it will try to send care packages to the boys when they return to Afghanistan and try to maintain a friendship for the future.
The Afghan boys posed for a picture with the Albion Multicultural Club, which is led by ESL teacher CarmenRose Brittan, back row near center.
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 3 November 2013 at 12:00 am
Photos by Tom Rivers
ALBION – Singers from Episcopal parishes in three rural counties joined together for an “All Saints Sunday” service today at Christ Church in Albion. The multi-church choir was part of an annual memorial service for patients that were served by Hospice of Orleans.
The agency remembered 110 patients that died between Sept. 16, 2012 and Sept. 16, 2013. The Genesee Deanery Episcopal Choir includes members from Episcopal congregations in Orleans, Genesee and Wyoming counties.
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 3 November 2013 at 12:00 am
Photos by Tom Rivers
ALBION – The Albion Free Methodist Church, which is undergoing a remodeling project in its sanctuary, held its service inside the main meeting room at the Hoag Library this morning.
The church will be back at the library next Sunday at 9 a.m. before returning to the church building at the corner of the Platt and East State streets for Nov. 17. The church is removing its pews and adding cushioned seats, which will increase the seating capacity at the site. New carpeting, paint and other changes are part of the project.
Kevin Eccles, one of the church pastors, delivers the sermon today. A portrait of Emma Swan, one of the founders of Albion public library more than a century ago, is on the wall to the right.
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 2 November 2013 at 12:00 am
Photos by Tom Rivers
ALBION – I missed these projects when they were happening, but three initiatives have changed the looks of the Albion landscape.
Roger Hungerford, owner of the former JPMorgan Chase site on Route 31, already has the building repainted. It will become the home of CRFS, which is consolidating its Albion and Medina locations into the Chase site.
CRFS is adding 150 workers to its current 600 employees in Orleans County as part of the shift to Chase, which is expected to happen by March.
Two other projects aren’t as dramatic, but make an impact nonetheless. Freeze-Dry Foods on West Avenue put up a new stone sign last week. Freeze-Dry operates out of the former Lipton’s building across from McDonalds.
The Holy Family Parish on South Main Street has been around for more than a century, but it didn’t have a sign along Main Street for St. Joseph’s Catholic Church until last week.
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 1 November 2013 at 12:00 am
Two local artists also highlighted in Albion gallery
The late Charles Werberig, who created metal sculptures in an avant garde style, is featured at Marti’s on Main in Albion.
ALBION – Charles Werberig of Rochester was a prolific artist, as well as a professor of photography and film at Rochester Institute of Technology.
He created sculptures from metal, wood and also two-dimensional sculptures on walls. He created more than 1,000 pieces of artwork with many in an avant garde style.
Werberig died in 2004 and his family has been keeping his collection. Tonight it was featured in a gallery for the first time since his death. Kim Muscarella, owner of Marti’s on Main, met Werberig’s son David through a mutual artist friend, Peter Monacelli, a former Albion resident.
Muscarella saw some of Charles Werberig’s pieces and wanted to bring them to Albion. The artwork is very unusual and it stopped me when I visited the gallery at 229 North Main St.
Tonight was an opening reception at Marti’s and it seemed most of the Orleans County artist community was there. David Werberig also attended. He said his father created most of the work during the 1960s and 1970s. David also has collages and digital artwork on display in Albion.
Chris VerSteeg created this image as well as several others at Marti’s on Main.
Two local artists, Chris VerSteeg and Laurie Groth, both have artwork in the upstairs exhibit area. Muscarella said she welcomes people to stop by the gallery for a tour. For more information, give her a call at 589-6715.
Laurie Groth painted this cobblestone building. She has other paintings at the Albion gallery.
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 1 November 2013 at 12:00 am
This article has been updated from an earlier version that reported Trustee Kevin Sheehan called the police to pursue possible criminal charges against AMSA. Sheehan said he never contacted the police or suggested they be involved.
ALBION – On Tuesday morning members of the Albion Main Street Alliance removed Christmas decorations from Village Hall to do an inventory and fix the items.
The group wanted to replace bulbs and have the decorations looking good for the holiday season.
But in a misunderstanding over who owned the decorations, the situation soon grew tense, with at least one village official asking the police to investigate and to possibly lodge a formal criminal complaint against AMSA. Village officials say they were surprised when the decorations were removed from the premises.
The decorations were returned at 7:15 this morning.
The Village Board held an emergency meeting at 6:30 this morning. Police Chief Rollie Nenni researched who actually owned the decorations, whether it was the village or AMSA, because of the uncertainty.
Nenni found that former State Assemblyman Charles Nesbitt used a $30,000 state member-item grant to buy them in 2005. The money went to the village with the former Albion Business Association purchasing the decorations on behalf of the village. The village then bought the decorations from the ABA with the grant, Nenni said.
Village Trustee Fred Miller said the situation over the past three days “got blown way out of proportion.” He said the village needs to establish procedures for when village property is removed.
“This wasn’t really anyone’s fault,” he said.
Nenni said it was a “gray area” that should have been handled with diplomacy.
Village attorney John Gavenda said he was negotiating the return of the decorations. But a village official hinted that criminal charges could be brought against AMSA. That put AMSA on the defensive, including a shutdown in communication with Village Board members.
Dale Brooks, the DPW superintendent, said the decorations will be up before Thanksgiving.
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 1 November 2013 at 12:00 am
Photos by Tom Rivers
The high winds that are whipping through the area are knocking down some trees. I drove around Albion and saw one tree down in Mount Albion Cemetery and another one on West Academy Street near the grain facility by the railroad tracks.
There are lots of fallen limbs. But, for the most part, the trees are holding their ground against the gusts that have are up to 60 miles per hour.
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 1 November 2013 at 12:00 am
Organization insists it owns decorations, and wanted to spruce them up for holidays
Editor’s note: This article was updated to clarify a comment attributed to AMSA President Maarit Vaga, who says the village did not request to have the decorations returned.)
ALBION – The decorations are back at the village, but a dispute continues over which entity actually owns the wreaths, garland and lights.
The Albion Main Street Alliance believes it owns the decorations, and took them from the Village Hall on Tuesday morning to make an inventory of what needed to be fixed before they were hung up in the downtown later in November.
Some village officials saw the removal of the decorations as possible theft of village property.
AMSA says it has paid insurance on the decorations and has operated on the understanding for several years that they owned them. Even Mayor Dean Theodorakos said during an emergency meeting this morning that he thought AMSA owned the decorations.
AMSA representatives handed the decorations to village officials this morning. This after AMSA said it was threatened with criminal and civil litigation.
“This has been very upsetting because it’s so stupid,” Katelin Olson, the organization’s interim director, said. “It’s been a lot of wasted energy that could have gone into bettering the community.”
Village officials accused the organization of wrongdoing Tuesday when the decorations were removed. The village thought AMSA was doing an on-site inspection. But when the decorations were taken off-site, the village worried the decorations might not be available to display for the holiday season.
Village representatives said they tried to reach out to AMSA about the decorations. AMSA President Maarit Vaga said she heard from the village, but the village didn’t make a request to have the items returned.
Olson said AMSA never would have hidden the decorations or prevented them from being displayed out of spite, as was insinuated.
“There’s nothing to ever suggest we’ve done that kind of behavior,” she said. “We proceeded from a good-faith understanding that these were ours.”
Olson believes AMSA owns the decorations. Its predecessor, the Albion Business Association, rallied the community for donations and also secured a member-item grant from former State Assemblyman Charles Nesbitt to buy the decorations in 2005. The village today said the ABA was a pass through for the money and the village owns the decorations.
AMSA and the ABA stored the decorations from 2005 until the village agreed to store them in 2010, Olson said.
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 31 October 2013 at 12:00 am
Photo by Tom Rivers
ALBION – Employees at Five Star Bank in Albion today created a yellow brick road and Emerald City, while dressing as the main characters from the Wizard of Oz.
Branch manager Wendy Hinkley, right, dressed as Oz. Other employees include, from left: Katie Harvey as Dorothy, Amanda Bigley as the Scarecrow, Felicia Dhondt as the Lion, Susan Plummer as a witch and Marilea Greean as the Tin Man.
The bank also has been playing the sound track from the show throughout the day.
“People have just loved it,” Hinkley said.
Orleans Hub welcomes submitted photos from other workplaces that dressed up today. Please send the photos with IDs to tom@orleanshub.com.
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 31 October 2013 at 12:00 am
Photos by Tom Rivers
ALBION – Ann Batt dressed up as Harry Potter today for Halloween. She joined other senior citizens in costume during their exercise class at the Albion Academy.
The senior citizens have made it an annual Halloween tradition to dress up during their exercise class. The exercise session is led by Leslie Allen.
