Photos by Tom Rivers – Dick Diminuco, the retired football coach and athletic director at Albion, addresses about 700 people on Wednesday night when he was inducted into the Greater Buffalo Sports Hall of Fame.

Diminuco’s plaque will be part of the Hall of Fame exhibit in the First Niagara Center, an arena in Buffalo. (The photo shows him as coach at Alden, where he led the team for four years after 34 years at Albion.

BUFFALO – Retired Albion football coach Dick Diminuco joined 12 other athletes and sports leaders in the Greater Buffalo Sports Hall of Fame on Wednesday. None of the other inductees, including NFL and NHL players, could top Diminuco in fan support at the banquet.

Coach D filled eight tables with former players, coaches, teachers, friends and family.

His crowd of supporters gave him an enthusiastic cheer when he was inducted into the Hall of Fame.

“He has touched so many lives in such a positive way,” said Randy Knaak, who succeeded Diminuco as Albion’s athletic director. “People are glad to have an opportunity to celebrate his special day with him.”

Knaak played tackle for Diminuco in 1980 and 1981. The team in Knaak’s senior year played at Rich Stadium. It was an unforgettable experience, Knaak said.

He credits his coach for pointing him to college and connecting him with the physical education program at Canisius College.

“I wouldn’t be doing what I’m doing today without him,” Knaak said.

Diminuco grew up in Rochester and attended college in Kansas at Ottawa University, where he was a star quarterback.

When Knaak graduated, Diminuco encouraged him to take a job at Albion, first in the correction room and as a coach for three sports. Knaak, a P.E. teacher, said Diminuco was a mentor to his players, coaches and the other teachers.

“He wasn’t just a coach to us,” Knaak said before dinner at the Hyatt Regency in Buffalo. “He was more than a coach.”

Diminuco won 204 games with Albion, including state championships in 1983 and 1987. When he retired from Albion, he took the job as coach at Alden for four seasons, including a 31-3 record the last three years. Diminuco won 242 games in his career with only 70 losses.

Knaak and Dan Monacelli put the call out in the Albion community to see who would want to attend the induction ceremony, where tickets cost $75.

“It wasn’t hard to get people here,” Knaak said.

Monacelli, now the middle school principal, played on Diminuco’s first team at Albion in 1979, a squad that played at Rich Stadium. Monacelli today counts Coach D as one of his best friends.

Diminuco steered Monacelli to Ashland University in Ohio, and welcomed him back to Albion as a teacher and coach after college.

“If it wasn’t for Dick Diminuco I wouldn’t be doing what I’m doing,” Monacelli said.

The Hall of Fame introduction for Coach Diminuco showed many newspaper clippings when he was coaching Albion, a perennial powerhouse for three decades under Coach D.

Monacelli said the coach treats people like they are a son or daughter.

“The turnout here tonight is because of all the relationships he’s formed over the past 40 years,” Monacelli said.

Albion was a perpetual powerhouse for three decades under Coach D, regularly defeating teams from larger schools. Monacelli said Diminuco stressed team over individuals.

“He made everybody believe that we were one,” Monacelli said. “He didn’t care who scored or who made the tackle. It was about doing what’s right and winning. He is the man, end of story.”

Diminuco called the induction in the Hall of Fame “very special.” The turnout, from so many at Albion, was “very humbling,” he said at the banquet.

“I’ve seen a lot of people tonight I’ve haven’t seen in a long time,” he said.

During his induction speech he thanked his wife of 37 years, Dale, for being such a great life partner. “I outkicked my coverage when I got you, honey,” he said.

“He wasn’t just a coach to us. He was more than a coach.” – Randy Knaak on Coach Dick Diminuco

Diminuco had a reputation as an intense coach who sometimes loudly voiced his displeasure with officials.

“One of my regrets is that I was very tough on football officials, especially in my younger days,” Diminuco a crowd of about 700 in Buffalo. “I feel bad about that, really I do. I’m serious, I do. I never won a debate with them.”

He referred to himself as “just an old football coach.” But the Hall of Fame committee said he had an impact of thousands of high school athletes in Western New York.

Diminuco said he is thankful for his career in high school athletics and the many relationships through coaching.

“I have not touched as many people as have touched me,” he said. “I have had so many great role models and mentors in my life.”

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.

ALBION – Albion Fire Chief Rocky Sidari and other leaders in the Fire Department gave what they said was a long-overdue message to the Village Board: “Thank you.”

Sidari and department officials attended last week’s board meeting to thank the village for its support of the department. Besides providing financial resources so firefighters have the needed equipment, Sidari said board members often go out of their way to help the department.

During a massive warehouse fire on Oct. 17, Trustee Eileen Banker was close to the scene, handing bottles of water to firefighters. Other members of the Auxiliary had food and snacks for firefighters, who were on scene for several hours of intense firefighting.

Some the firefighters were there all night.

At 4 in the morning the following day, Mayor Dean Theodorakos showed up with coffee for the firefighters.

“We wanted to thank you for your support,” Sidari told the board.

Sidari noted other village employees assisted the fire department in the aftermath of the blaze. Dale Brooks and the DPW delivered fuel in the middle of the night to keep the fire trucks going.

Trustee Kevin Sheehan praised Sidari and the department for their volunteer efforts in protecting the community’s property and often saving lives.

Banker called the fire department “the backbone of the community.”

“Thank you for thanking us, but right back at you,” the mayor said.

Photos by Tom Rivers

ALBION – Contractors have the shell of a warehouse knocked down less than two weeks after a massive fire destroyed the three-story building on Hamilton Street and Route 31.

After the fire at Orleans Pallet, the four walls of the structure remained. The east and north walls came down a day after the fire. But the other walls on the south and west sides had to be chipped away by hand. A demolition contractor needed to use a lift for more than a week to manually remove chunks of the sandstone walls.

Most of those pieces have been pushed into the rubble – the twisted steel and charred beams – from the building.

Orleans Pallet owner Shawn Malark has said he wants to save as much of the sandstone as possible for reuse in the community.

The Environmental Construction Group of Albion has been the lead contractor on the demolition. It was assisted by Empire Wrecking of Rochester.

Here is how the building looked on Oct. 18, before demolition crews went to work on the remaining walls from the site, which was built in 1901. The smaller sandstone building won’t be knocked down.

Team plays Albion teachers in fund-raiser for PTA

Photos by Tom Rivers – A Harlem Wizard named BP cheers on Alyson Snow, 6, of Albion while she balances a spinning basketball in front of a crowd of about 700 people in the high school gym.

Before the game, during the contest and at halftime the Harlem Wizards liked to stop and mingle with the crowd in Albion.

The Harlem Wizards played the Albion All-Stars, a group of teachers and administrators. When one teacher made a jump shot, teacher Alec Sherman raised both arms in the air from the Albion bench. The event was a fund-raiser for the Elementary School PTA.

Free Methodists will meet at library for next 2 weeks

Photos by Tom Rivers

ALBION – Members of the Albion Free Methodist Church removed the pews, carpet and platform from the church following a service on Sunday.

The church will spend the next three weeks remodeling the sanctuary at 25 South Platt St., the first Free Methodist church in the world.

The pews, which were purchased about 40 years ago from a church in Greece, are being swapped out with cushioned chairs. Some of the pews have been purchased by members of the church, while others are available for sale to another church.

New carpet will be added and the pulpit will be shifted from the east side of the building to the north wall.

The changes will allow the church to comfortably seat 240 people. Right now there is a space crunch for about 190 people that regularly attend the services.

The church will meet at the Hoag Library the following two Sundays before returning to the historic site on Nov. 17.

Photo by Tom Rivers

ALBION – A new bus shelter was installed about two weeks ago on South Main Street, near Route 31. Mayor Dean Theodorakos thinks it was a bad spot.

“It’s a horribly congested intersection,” Theodorakos said.

The shelter is the second one installed in Albion since August. The first one was put by the County Administration Building, well off Route 31.

The Rochester Genesee Regional Transportation Authority and Orleans Transportation Service picked the spots for the shelters. The second one is next to Rite Aid.

Funding for each bus shelter in Orleans County totaled $15,000, and was provided by the Federal Transit Administration.

Theodorakos said the shelter by Rite Aid was approved without input from the village. He said he was surprised the state Department of Transportation allowed it at the location on Route 98. The village has struggled to get approval from the DOT for street-scape improvements and other projects.

“The DOT puts the screws to us on everything but they allow that to happen,” the mayor said.

Photo by Tom Rivers – Sid Beaty dressed up as SpongeBob SquarePants and helped plan the Beggar’s Night event Friday in downtown Albion. She is pictured with her dog Archie, named for the family’s seasonal home on Archbald Road.

ALBION – The two-month trial run is over. Sid Beaty is hired.

The Village Board voted to add Beaty to the village staff as a program coordinator, working to promote businesses in the community in the downtown and on Route 31.

She worked two months for free with local businesses, planning events, including a shopping tour and Beggar’s Night event that was on Friday. She also has been developing a concert series for next year and submitted a grant to the local arts council to help pay for the entertainment.

“All the feedback we’ve got has been very positive,” said Mayor Dean Theodorakos. “She is truly an asset and it would be great to keep her.”

The board voted last week to hire Beaty as an independent contractor for $10,000 a year. She will be paid about $800 a month beginning Nov. 1 and the position will run until May 31, when the village fiscal year ends. Theodorakos and the board said they would look at continuing the position in 2014-15 based on the village budget talks in April. Beaty works out of the village office.

Carolyn Ricker, president of the Albion Merchants Association, urged the board to bring her on staff to help coordinate some of the events in the community.

Beaty, in the part-time role, wants to look at other longer-range projects in Albion, including the possibilities of historic walking trails, a downtown farmers’ markets and other events to promote the community.

“We’re trying to draw people down here to increase the critical mass for the businesses,” Ron Vendetti, the village code enforcement officer, told the Village Board. “If you want viable businesses here you have to help them.”

Beaty is working on events for the upcoming holiday season as well as helping with the Christmas decorations for the downtown.

Beaty dressed as SpongeBob SquarePants on Friday as part of the Beggar’s Night. She isn’t a stranger to the area. Her parents, Anne and Bruce Beaty, have a cottage at Point Breeze. She is the granddaughter of the late Dick Eddy, a long-time community leader in Albion. Beaty is named for Dick’s father, Sid Eddy.

She earned a degree in city and regional planning from Cornell University in May 2012. She sees a lot of potential in Albion, especially Main Street and the downtown area, which is named to the National Register of Historic Places.

Photo by Tom Rivers – The Rev. Randy LeBaron sits in one of the pews at the Albion Free Methodist Church. The pews will be moved out after today’s service and replaced with cushioned chairs. The church will meet the next two Sundays at Hoag Library while the sanctuary is remodeled.

ALBION – In 1859, the Rev. Loren Stiles was kicked out of the Methodist Episcopal Church in Albion for his radical preaching. He railed against pew rental fees, the oppression of slavery and other social ills in the late 1850s.

Stiles helped start a new denomination, and it built its first church across the street from where he was ousted. From that first congregation in Albion, the Free Methodist Church has grown to more than 1,000 churches in the United States.

The first church continues to draw a crowd. In fact, the church in Albion is feeling some growing pains. Most of its Sunday services are at near capacity with about 190 people attending on average. That has prompted church leaders to look for ways to add seats so more people can attend services comfortably.

The church has decided to remove the wooden pews and replace them with 240 cushioned seats. The pulpit will also be shifted from the east side of the sanctuary to the north side.

“This is simply cosmetic,” said the Rev. Randy LeBaron, the church pastor the past 10 years. “We’re not changing who we are as a church.”

The pews are not the originals. The congregation bought them about 40 years ago from a church in Greece. One original pew from more than 150 years ago remains in the sanctuary and it will stay in the church. Some of the current pews are being purchased by church members, and other pews will be available for another church to buy.

The pews will be moved out after today’s service. The church will meet at the Hoag Library the following two Sundays while the sanctuary is remodeled. Besides the chairs and pulpit, new carpet is part of the improvements.

“A lot of people have noted that this is a good problem to have,” LeBaron said about the space crunch. “But a good problem still needs a solution.”

The church will have a celebration and dedication service on Nov. 17, its first Sunday back in the church following the sanctuary changes. LeBaron noted other recent upgrades for the building include a new roof and handicapped accessible entrance for the basement.

“We love the fact that we’re in the first building,” he said. “But we want to make it 21st century practical. We don’t want to abandon the building.”

The church has services on Sundays at 9 a.m. with Sunday school at 10:30.

Press release, Albion Merchants Association

ALBION – Children 10 and under are welcome to dress as monsters and other characters and then head to downtown businesses for treats.

Beggar’s Night is returning to Albion after taking a hiatus last year. The event begins at 5:30 p.m. on Friday at the Albion Fire Hall on North Platt Street.

The Village and Town of Albion, along with the Albion Merchants Association, are sponsoring Beggar’s Night. Thanks to the efforts of many individuals and groups, including past organizer June Persia, the Albion Police Department, and Auxiliary Police, we are looking forward to a large turnout for the Oct. 25 event.

During this Trick-Or-Treat event, local businesses will provide candy and other treats throughout the downtown area along Main Street and Bank Street. Parents must accompany children on the walk.

This year the route has been shortened but there will still be plenty of goodies! Businesses that fall outside of the planned route will be provided with space downtown to participate. This was done to make the walk safer for the children. Krantz Furniture had added a large Whoville display straight out of the world of Dr. Seuss.

Hoag Library on Friday is also hosting a Halloween party for teen-agers from 6 to 8 p.m. That event is free and includes dancing, refreshments and a costume contest. To register for that event, call 589-4246.

Photo by Tom Rivers – Tierra Hastings, right, is interning at Hoag Library in Albion with a focus on event planning. She is pictured with Susie Gaylard, an administrative assistant who plans many of the events at Hoag. Hastings has coordinated a first-ever Halloween party on Friday for local teen-agers.

ALBION – Tierra Hastings, a senior at Albion High School, said many of her classmates still like to dress up for Halloween, but they feel like they are too old to go trick-or-treating.

Hastings, 17, is planning a “Spooky Spectacular” party on Friday for teen-agers. They can dress up as their favorite characters and come to what they think may be unlikely place for a party: the local public library.

Hastings is an intern at Hoag Library, working with Susie Gaylard to plan events. Hoag tends to focus its programming on children’s activities or local history that is geared towards adults.

Hastings suggested the party for teens, and Gaylard was quick to back the proposal. Hastings has designed the flyers for the free event, and will work with Gaylard to line up refreshments, door prizes and music.

“There will be Halloween music – Thriller and Monster Mash,” Hastings said.

The library is staying open late on Friday for the party from 6 to 8 p.m. Participants must be ages 13 to 18 and they need to register by calling 589-4246. Hastings and Gaylard need to have a sense of how many people are coming so they can have enough food. That’s one of the tricks to planning events: anticipating the crowd.

Once the Halloween party is over, Hastings has other ideas in mind to welcome the teen-age crowd for the library. She is planning movie nights.

“She is going to get kids to come here who don’t normally come here,” Gaylard said.

Press release, Albion Main Street Alliance

ALBION – Local tales of dastardly deeds and miserable misfortunes will be told by ghostly guides on Saturday during a Haunted History of downtown Albion.

Community members will portray past residents in a candlelight tour of the downtown. The event runs from 5 to 8 p.m. with tours leaving every 15 minutes from 120 North Main St. The event ends with treats and hot apple cider.

Tickets are $5 each. The Albion Main Street Alliance is planning the event. Reservations are required and can be made by calling 589-2502 or by email at albionmainstreet@gmail.com.

(Editor’s note: Tom Rivers will portray George Williams, the tight rope walker from Brockport who was walking over the Erie Canal in Albion when the Main Street bridge collapsed on Sept. 28, 1859, killing 15 people.)

“I owe these guys a huge amount of gratitude. If this had spread it could have been tragic for the community.” – Shawn Malark, owner of Orleans Pallet

Photos by Tom Rivers – Shawn Malark said he is thankful the massive fire at his warehouse last Thursday didn’t cause more damage to neighboring structures. A demolition crew continues to work on taking down two remaining walls in the warehouse.

ALBION – Shawn Malark watched the fire take off on Thursday afternoon, a blaze that destroyed a 16,000-square-foot warehouse and threatened his business, Orleans Pallet.

Malark worried the fire might be unstoppable, and could consume his neighbors, Empire Coating Inc. and a grain storage facility on West Academy Street. He envisioned major disruptions for residents if there was a big explosion.

But about 150 firefighters contained the blaze to the stone warehouse that was built in 1901.

“The firefighters were huge,” Malark said at Orleans Pallet today, where the business continues to make pallets and ship them to customers. “I owe these guys a huge amount of gratitude. If this had spread it could have been tragic for the community.”

Orleans Pallet continues in a manufacturing site, in an adjacent building to the warehouse. The surviving building suffered water and smoke damage, but Malark and his six employees have worked long hours to keep the operation going.

“There have been no service interruptions,” Malark said. “We’ve been trying to assure our customers that we’re fully operational and we have inventory for every customer.”

Malark and Orleans Pallet have a larger site in Rochester on Lee Road. He lost the main warehouse in Albion due to the fire, but the manufacturing site has about 11,000 square feet. His equipment for breaking down old or damaged pallets and rebuilding them with fresh wood all survived the fire.

The office with his computers also was spared, and so were his forklifts and a lineup of about 10 tractor trailer trucks. Most of them were parked by the loading dock of the fire and they all escaped unscathed.

Orleans Pallet employees Andrew Steffen, left, and Robert Morehouse use a saw to break down some pallets that will be rebuilt with fresh pieces.

Malark is thankful so many critical components of the business survived, especially when they were only a few feet away from the fire. A building across the street had its siding melt because of the heat from the fire.

“Not losing any trailers was a huge blessing,” Malark said.

Some of those trailers were full of 500 to 600 pallets. A smaller sandstone building next to the warehouse also was spared from the fire. That building is used for storage.

Malark opened Orleans Pallet in Albion at the corner of Hamilton Street and Route 31 in 2006. He had worked from three buildings at the site and had plans to put a new roof on the big warehouse.

“We had big plans for the building,” Malark said. “It’s just devastating, but it’s one day at a time. It’s nothing you can conquer in one day.”

Demolition crews continue to dismantle two remaining walls from the warehouse. That building could be down this weekend or next week, Malark said.

Once the site is safe, he will work on cleaning it up. He wants to salvage the sandstone from the building. He said many people have already expressed an interest in buying the stone.

On Wednesday morning, he signed off on donating the Albion Cold Storage Company sign to the village. The stone sign from the building’s original owner split in half but survived the fire and demolition.

Malark thanked Albion Fire Chief Rocky Sidari, Police Chief Rollie Nenni, Dale Brooks from the DPW, Ron Vendetti in code enforcement and Mayor Dean Theodorakos. They have all been cooperative in coping with the fire and its aftermath. (Malark had to put up $35,000 for the demolition.)

“We had to take the building down because it was a threat to the community,” Malark said.

He remains very impressed with the teamwork from the firefighters. More than a dozen fire companies from four counties responded to the fire and Sidari, the Albion chief, led the effort.

“Had Rocky not got everyone going where they needed to be the other buildings would not have been saved,” Malark said. “These were volunteer people risking their lives to not only save this business but to look out for the community. The heart and soul of the community was present at this fire.”