ALBION – Two weeks ago the village opened a new farmers market on East Bank Street in downtown Albion. It lasted two Sundays.

The Village Board voted on Friday to shut down the market due to “safety concerns.” Only one vendor, Vendetti Farms of Murray, had been at the site for the first two weeks.

Village Code Enforcement Officer Ron Vendetti, the brother of the farm owner, was managing the market and was there from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Sundays. Vendetti said the market was building a customer base, and he was hopeful more farms would join.

Vendetti has some enemies in the village, including an Albion couple currently in a lawsuit with the village over a certificate of occupancy. That couple has been disruptive at the market, videotaping customers, Vendetti and the farm staff, Mayor Dean Theodorakos said.

“I worry that continuance of the market may result in escalation of bad behaviors, thus the decision to close for safety concerns,” the mayor said this morning. “I still believe the market is a great idea for downtown and hope we can bring it back next year.”

Photos courtesy of Michael Whiting of Whiting’s Village Studio – Dylan DeSmit, left, and Taylor Whittier give an enthusiastic performance during last night’s final concert for Above the Fog, a band that started seven years ago.

Chad DeSmit plays the guitar.

ALBION – Above the Fog played its final concert last night outside Hoag Library in Albion. The band includes lead singer Taylor Whittier and the DeSmit brothers – Dylan, Chad and Alex. The band has been performing together for seven years and has starred at many local venues.

The musicians still expect to make an impact on the local music scene.

Alex DeSmit, the youngest of the DeSmit brothers, plays the drums during Above the Fog’s farewell concert.

Dylan DeSmit plays the guitar and also has been a songwriter and vocalist for the band. Taylor Whittier has been the band’s high-energy lead singer.

Albion native performs cabaret show at Studio B

Photos by Michael Karcz

ALBION – Kailey Winans returned to Albion tonight for a cabaret show with her former choir teacher and musical director Gary Simboli.

They performed “Dare to Dream” at Studio B and Gotta Dance by Miss Amy. Kailey started her cabaret life nearly a year ago. The show she performs, “Dare to Dream,” was put together by Winans using songs and stories to tell about her journey through college with all of its ups and downs.

Winans went to Wagner College in Staten Island, and afterward moved to Manhattan. Simboli not only accompanied Winans, but he added some stories and songs from his own college experience.

Kailey debuted her Dare to Dream cabaret at the prestigious Don’t Tell Mama in New York City in August 2012.

Photo by Tom Rivers – Kyle Heuer is pictured with his father Karl today at a dental practice Karl helped start 38 years ago.

ALBION – In his junior year of college at Notre Dame University, Kyle Heuer knew what he wanted in a dream job.

His fellow accounting majors were relishing careers in Chicago, New York City and other major metros in the country.

But Heuer wanted to come back to Albion and work as a dentist alongside his father, Karl.

The dream came true last month when Kyle started as a dentist in his hometown. He and his father work out of 313 South Main St. Karl has been a dentist in Albion for 38 years. His son joined him in the practice on July 22.

“I definitely wanted to be here,” Kyle said today. “I wanted to be with my family and friends. I still have a lot of close buddies who live in Albion.”

Kyle earned an accounting degree from Notre Dame, and then attended the University at Buffalo Dentistry School. His father is a graduate of both schools. Kyle completed a residency at the VA Medical Center in Buffalo. There he learned the art of pulling teeth, performing root canals and other oral surgery. And this for a kid who fainted at the sight of blood in biology class.

Kyle’s skill at oral surgery has allowed the Heuer dental practice to do more extractions and surgeries. Patients sometimes had to have those procedures done in Lockport, Batavia or Rochester.

“Now we’re doing them all here,” Karl said. “People don’t have to drive out of town anymore.”

Kyle enjoys the science behind dentistry and he said there is an element of art in reshaping a tooth that has a filling. He likes to see patients leave pain-free and often smiling.

It has taken some getting used to, working on the teeth of his former teachers and parents of friends. But Kyle said he is grateful to be home, working in a small town where there is a sense of connectedness.

When his father moved to Albion 38 years ago, Karl said the community was declared an underserved area because there were so few dentists. Karl and his friend A.J. Monacelli worked together at a site on Hazard Parkway. They were there for four years until moving to the site on South Main Street. Monacelli would later start his own practice at the corner on Main Street and Allen Road.

Heuer said the community’s dental health is “drastically better” these days. When he started, he was pulling decayed teeth on people in their 20s. He believes the public is much better educated about dental health, and they brush their teeth and floss, helping to ward off decay. He also credits the vast expansion of public water lines for improving dental health because of the access to fluoridated water.

One other contributor: Sesame Street. Children’s shows often feature kids going to dentists and that has helped children to feel more comfortable sitting in the big dental chairs and having their teeth checked, Heuer said.

Karl has witnessed another major change in his career: dental insurance. Many of his patients used to work at Kodak, Rochester Products and Harrison Radiator, major companies with generous dental insurance coverage.

There are less high-paying jobs for his patients these days, and many companies don’t offer dental insurance, or the insurance only pays a portion of the costs.

Karl and Kyle say there is a shift in dentistry, with more clinics opening where dentists are employees and often the owner of the business is not on site and isn’t known to the public. The clinics often operate multiple sites, given them buying power advantages for equipment and supplies.

“You’ll probably see less and less family dental businesses down the road,” Karl said.

His wife has worked with her husband for years. She is the receptionist. There are four other employees in addition to the Heuers.

Karl six years ago was diagnosed with colon cancer, a disease that kept him out of work for nine months. He praised Sandra Chang, a former dentist at the site, for keeping the practice going during his illness.

Karl said he has no plans to retire anytime soon. Right now the father and son are enjoying work together, and sharing lunch breaks.

“I can’t picture working anywhere else,” Kyle said.

Photo by Tom Rivers – Four new teachers and two principals at Albion Central School were guests today at the Albion Rotary Club. The new staff members are pictured outside the Village Inn. The group includes, front row, from left: Jennifer Lamont, elementary special education teacher; Rachel Curtin, elementary school principal; and Jennifer Ashbery, a former Albion fifth grade teacher who is now the elementary school assistant principal. Back row: Samantha Seaman, kindergarten teacher; Rachel Doberstein, second and third grade special education; and Lisa Kennedy, elementary and sixth grade art teacher.

ALBION – For the past five years, Albion would typically hire one or two teachers a year, who were hired to fill spots created by retirements.

The district could have hired more, because there were more retirements, but cuts in state aid and a shrinking enrollment resulted in net reductions in staff most years.

The district is continuing to reduce positions, but this school year will see more than one or two new faces among the teaching staff. The district has hired four new teachers, and also two new principals in the elementary school.

Rachel Curtin is replacing Jim Wood as elementary school principal. Wood is assuming many of the duties filled by Kim Houserman, who retired in June as Albion’s coordinator of secondary school programs. Wood will be responsible for many of the teacher evaluations, which require two to four observations plus a written report. The district has 180 teachers.

With Wood’s shift in a new administrative position, the principal’s job was open. Albion hired Curtin, who was a principal at Silver Creek. Prior to that she was a music teacher.

Jennifer Ashbery, a long-time fifth grade teacher at Albion, is the new assistant principal of the elementary school. Ashbery has completed her administrative certification and worked the previous two summers in an administrative internship through BOCES.

She fills a position that became vacant when Bridgitte Griffin left to work in administration at the Rush-Henrietta school district.

The new staff members joined the Albion Rotary Club for lunch today at the Village Inn.

Photos by Tom Rivers – Brian Bouchard, an engineer with CHA in Syracuse, talks with the Village of Albion Planning Board about the site plan for a new Dunkin’ Donuts in Albion.

The site plan for the new store shows 46 parking spaces and two driveway entrances for the Dunkin’, which would be 2,000 square feet plus a 230-square-foot freezer.

ALBION – Dunkin’ Donuts could have a warehouse knocked down in October and a new restaurant open in Albion in January, an engineer working on the project told the Village Planning Board on Wednesday.

Dunkin’ has submitted a site plan for a 2,000-square-foot store in Albion at 153 South Main St., between Tim Hortons and the railroad tracks. The new store would have 30 seats inside, 46 parking spaces, a 230-square-foot freezer next to the building, and a drive-through lane that could accommodate 10 vehicles.

The property would have exits on both Main and Platt streets. The project doesn’t need any sign variances from the village. Dunkin’ is seeking one sign on the building and a monument sign out in front by Main Street. There would be small directional arrows on Platt Street. Dunkin’ has tried to follow the village code to ensure the project moves forward without delays, said Brian Bouchard, assistant project engineer for the CHA firm in Syrcause.

Village officials looked at the plan the past two months and they asked CHA and the developer to try to make the store blend in with a historic district that is only a few blocks away to the north. Bouchard presented a rendering of the building last night that would have a red brick façade that will be accentuated with concrete panels and grout lines. That is a change from the initial building that was proposed to be cement board siding.

Village Planning Board members credited Dunkin’ and CHA for being sensitive to the historic fabric of Main Street.

“It fits, and everything works,” Village Code Enforcement Officer Ron Vendetti told the Planning Board. “There are no variances. I don’t see any problems.”

The project will go before the Orleans County Planning Board, which next meets Sept. 26. The Village Planning Board can’t give a final vote on the project until the county reviews it. The village may call a special meeting soon after the county meets so Dunkin’ can work to demolish a warehouse, prepare the site and get up the shell of the building before winter.

The warehouse is owned by Charles Breuilly. The building occupies almost the entire property. The Dunkin’ plan would add green space to the site, improving runoff and water quality, Vendetti said.

Dunkin’ is seeking permission from the state Department of Transportation to tie into the state’s storm drain system that runs along Route 98.

Planning Board Chairman Dan Gleason said the project is good news for Albion.

“It’s always good to see new businesses coming around,” he said. “We’re not dead.”

Gleason did voice concerns about Platt Street with the visibility near the Dunkin’ entrance and some of the fast-moving traffic on Platt.

“On that street people just go nuts,” he said.

The Platt entrance will ease some of the traffic congestion on Main Street and also make it easier for delivery trucks, which won’t have to back onto Main after making a delivery.

Photo by Tom Rivers

ALBION – A motorist drove into the light pole on Main Street next to the Presbyterian Church. The incident happened at about 8:30 p.m.

The driver, who hasn’t been identified, was transported by COVA to Medina Memorial Hospital. Albion firefighters were on the scene, cleaning up a lot of broken glass.

ALBION – I’ve wanted to get a picture of the ice cream truck for years, but never seemed to have time or a camera on me. I was out for a jog this afternoon with my Smart Phone when I heard the truck’s familiar bells.

Bernie Wheater, owner of Scoop’s Ice Cream, pulled right in front of me on Densmore Street and a family soon descended for a frozen treat.

Wheater bought the business from a Holley resident about six years ago. Wheater covers a big territory west of Route 259. He is often in Orleans County, including about three trips a week to Albion.

Congregation expects to stay for several more months while weighing its future

Photos by Tom Rivers – The United Methodist Church in Albion will be abandoned by its congregation and turned over to the conference in the coming months, making the future uncertain for the historic church at the corner of Platt and East State streets.

The church has been using five wooden beams to help support the roof since last December.

ALBION – For several years it has weighed on the minds, wallets and emotions of members of the United Methodist Church in Albion – a roof that was structurally unsound and might take $1 million or more to fix.

Tonight the church congregation voted overwhelmingly to be relieved of a historic building at 19 North Platt St. The building was deemed far too big and costly for a congregation with about 30 active families.

“The way the vote went people want to move forward and this is the only way forward,” said Reid Cole, chairman of the church trustees.

The United Methodists had a special meeting tonight, and members were asked to vote on whether they should abandon the building. There were 47 ballots cast, and 36 supported leaving the site and looking for a different place to worship.

“We are charting a new path,” said Terry Wilbert, administrative council chairman for the church.

The United Methodist Church is part of the Courthouse Square, a district with 35 buildings that are named to the National Register of Historic Places.

Wilbert believes the church is the most beautiful of the eight churches that are part of the Courthouse Square, a district with 35 buildings that is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

The brick building is loaded with ornate stained glass windows and woodwork. It was built about 150 years ago.

In 1914, the 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.

Architects have estimated it could cost $1 million or more to rebuild the roof system. The church last December put in five wooden beams to help support the roof. They have applied for grants to help pay for the costs, and was awarded a $50,000 grant. But that left a big gap to get the project done.

“It’s tough to grow under this burden,” Cole said.

The building will likely be transferred to the Upper New York Annual Conference, which has its main office in Syracuse. Church leaders will meet with the conference within the next month to determine the next steps.

The church has many large stained glass windows and numerous other historical artifacts.

The congregation will remain in the building for a while, but Wilbert said they will be exploring options for the future, perhaps using an existing church, holding services after one of the congregations. Or the United Methodists could use a non-church building, possibly even the library.

The United Methodists will pay to keep the building maintained and covered by insurance in the near future.

Members were asked if the Albion congregation should consider merging with another nearby UM church, but only four out of 47 people supported that.

“We want to stay together as a congregation. That was obvious,” Wilbert said.

The congregation also wants to take as many “usable assets” as possible from the building to wherever the church settles for a meeting place, Wilbert said.

In the meantime, the church plans to keep up with its ministries, including a beef on weck dinner next Thursday from 4:30 to 8 p.m.

Wilbert said the church wants to do more for the community, including possible ministries for camping, youth groups and senior citizens.

“It was a difficult decision,” he said about the vote tonight. “This was built when everyone went to church and they went to the mainline denominational churches. But now there are a lot of large churches with congregations that can no longer support the buildings.”

Village applies for $500,000 grant for Bullard Park

ALBION – Village trustees Eileen Banker and Pete Sidari went door to door on a recent weekend, trying to convince residents to fill out an income survey to see if the village qualified for a federal grant to replace aging sewers.

Banker and Sidari tried to personally get the surveys after mailings to 83 households went mostly unreturned by those residents. The village needed at least 53 income surveys returned to apply for the grant. But Albion fell far short of that through the mailings and door to door outreach.

The two trustees said they heard good feedback from the few residents who were home and answered the door.

The lack of responses prompted the Village Board to withdraw its plan to seek federal funding for new sewers on portions of Crimson Drive, Caroline Street and East State Street. The board expected it would seek a $600,000 federal grant through the state Consolidated Funding Application process.

To qualify for the funds, the village needed to show that the majority of residents in the target area for the new sewers were low to moderate income.

“We’ll have to try harder next year,” said Mayor Dean Theodorakos. “We’ll try it earlier to get people on board.”

The village submitted one grant application this state grant round. The village is seeking $500,000 from the state for Bullard Park, a project that wasn’t approved last year. Theodorakos believes Albion has a better chance this funding round.

The village spent $20,000 last year upgrading playground equipment at the Pee Wee Park section of Bullard and also has $50,000 in a capitol reserve that could be spent at Bullard. He thinks that shows the village is willing to put some of its own money into the park, and not just rely on state funding.

The village wants to reseed two ball fields, add new playground equipment and carve a 6,400-foot-long hiking trail through the park.

ALBION – It seemed easy and cheap enough back in May when Town Councilman Jake Olles first proposed downtown speakers for the village. Olles wanted music piped into Albion’s downtown and he thought the project could be done for about $1,000.

Olles and the Town Board said they would pay for the project with money out of the town’s parks budget. Olles envisioned 10 speakers in the downtown. Wire would run through existing light poles.

The initiative hasn’t proven so easy or so cheap. The light poles are at capacity for wire. There is no room for more wire in the light poles to accommodate the speakers, village officials said.

They have investigated wireless speakers and a music system, and found they would cost about $9,000. The speakers would be loud enough for music to be heard from the courthouse, down Main and Bank streets and to the Erie Canal.

The speakers could also be used to announce parades and other community events.

Village officials want to bring the music to the downtown. They are going to meet with members of the Town Board to discuss how to pay for the system, which will likely include about $300 a year in licensing fees for the music.

The town and village may split the total costs. That will be discussed in an upcoming meeting with representatives from the two municipalities.

“It would be nice to have especially during the holidays and the Strawberry Festival,” said Village Trustee Pete Sidari.

Press release, Albion Police Chief Roland Nenni III

ALBION – The Albion Police Department, using STOP DWI funding, engaged in a focused STOP DWI Check Point Detail in various locations within the village of Albion on Aug. 10.

The checkpoints were done with the assistance and coordination of many law enforcement agencies including the Orleans County Sheriff’s Office, State Police, Holley Police Department, Orleans County Probation Department and New York State Parole.

The combined efforts of those involved resulted in two DWI arrests, one DWI drug arrest, three unlawful possession of marijuana arrests, two aggravated unlicensed operation arrests, two warrant suspects arrested from Genesee and Niagara counties, one person listed as missing located and found to be OK, one Probation violation, along with the issuance of several vehicle and traffic violations.

The arrests show the dedication and commitment set forth by the officers of the Albion Police Department and the other law enforcement personnel, Albion Police Chief Roland Nenni III said.

“Sadly it also shows the rate of persons driving under the influence and disregarding the laws that are in place for everyone’s safety,” Nenni said. “The Albion Police Department is committed to make the streets safe for all that use them and to focus on taking those persons off the street that violate the law.”

With the assistance of funding provided by The Stop DWI Program and the Governor’s Traffic Safety Committee, the Albion Police Department will be engaging in several focused patrol campaigns on a continual basis.

“We will use every tactic and technique available to us to enforce the law and make for a safer community,” Nenni said.

Press release, Hoag Library

ALBION – Hoag Library has been extremely fortunate to get a new legacy gift in memory of Kathryn Mahany Kerrigan. Her husband, Dr. Edward F. Schlenk, has set up a trust in her memory to provide books on women’s health and mysteries for long into the future.

The Kerrigan Trust will provide $1,000 each year to the library for books. This is in addition to the $10,000 for books and $5,000 for the new building pledged by Mrs. Kerrigan during the Capital Campaign in 2010.

Mrs. Kerrigan had a deep interest in this library and its future, dating from her time as a small child, coming to the library every day while her mother was at work (her father died when she was 3 years old), and then walking home at the end of each day with Lucy Fancher, then library director. Kerrigan and Miss Fancher were neighbors, and became friends during these daily visits. Lucy Fancher was library director from 1941 until 1960.

Mrs. Kerrigan died of ovarian cancer on March 17, 2011.

United Methodists face $1 million roof project

Photos by Tom Rivers – Trustees at the Albion United Methodist Church – Cathy Moore, Reid Cole and Marie Follett – are pictured in the choir loft this morning with the sanctuary in the background. The sanctuary roof is supported by fall timber beams that were installed last December as a temporary reprieve for fixing the roof.

ALBION – Reid Cole knows it would be a shock to the community if people passed by the Albion United Methodist Church building and saw a “For Sale” sign.

But it’s not out of question. He fears a demolition of the historic site also isn’t out of the realm of possibility.

The congregation of about 30 families has a difficult decision to make: to spend $1 million or more replacing the roof and rebuilding trusses on the church, or perhaps walking away from the structure at 19 North Platt St.

“We could be looking at anything from fixing the building to demolishing it,” Cole said after church this morning.

He is chairman of the church trustees. Besides the roof project, the church needs brick work and other minor repairs. The membership will meet this Wednesday at 6:30 p.m. to try to reach a consensus on the future of the church building.

The United Methodist church is part of the Courthouse Square, a historic district on the National Register of Historic Places. Eight Albion churches are part of the historic district.

The pipe organ at the United Methodist is one of several historical wonders inside the church that is part of the Courthouse Square, a district on the National Register of Historic Places. Eight churches are part of that district.

The Presbyterian and Pullman Memorial Universalist churches are also weighing significant repair projects. But none is nearly as costly at the situation at the United Methodist Church.

Last December, five tall timber beams went up inside the sanctuary of the church. They are helping to hold up the roof of the historic church at 19 North Platt St.

The temporary support columns got the church through the winter, and provide some time for the church to determine its next steps. But with winter again around the corner, church members believe they need to settle on a plan for the building.

The trusses are not properly supporting the roof, causing walls to shift and threatening the viability of the structure. The church was built in 1861 with an addition at 1914.

When the sanctuary was reoriented in 1914, church members at the time cut out the bottom support beams for the trusses. That has weakened the trusses, now jeopardizing the support system for the roof. Putting on a new roof with trusses would be $825,000, in the cheapest alternative. The mostly costly choice approaches $2 million, Cole said.

The church is seeking a $500,000 matching grant through the state’s Environmental Facilities Corporation, a grant that requires a local match. The church would also have to front the money and wait to be reimbursed.

Cole said the church meeting Wednesday could include discussion about a capital campaign that would seek funds from the community, including people who don’t attend the church.

“We’d like to have a sense of the direction we need to go,” he said about Wednesday’s meeting.

Marie Follett is a silhouette next to the large stained-glass window in the sanctuary at the Albion First United Methodist Church.