Photo by Tom Rivers – A group of Albion students pose for a photo after a golf tournament Sunday to help them raise money to go on a trip to Italy this spring. About 25 students in the Latin program at Albion are planning to attend the trip. Some of the group includes, from left: Katie Rustay, Bella Prest, Jacob Squicciarini, Drake Arnold, Savanah Wirth, Shelby Restivo and Skyler Smith.

ALBION – When Albion Latin teacher Irene Henion announced last school year she was working on a trip for Latin students to go see Italy, many students and their parents saw the trip as a rare chance for the students to see another side of the world.

Henion tries to take students to Italy once every four years. The trips, including spending money, total about $4,000 per student.

A team of Albion parents and their children have formed a fund-raising group, which has planned several events in recent months. On Sunday, they organized a golf tournament at Hickory Ridge Country Club in Holley.

“It’s the chance of a lifetime for our kids,” said Steve Smith, father of Skyler.

The group has had a yard sale and a booth at the Strawberry Festival. Students also have been serving as hosts at the Cabaret at Studio B at Gotta Dance by Miss Amy. More fund-raisers are in the works.

Currently 27 students are planning on attending the trip, which will feature Florence, Rome, Pompeii, Sorrento, Venice and other spots in Italy and ancient Rome.

“It’s the opportunity of a lifetime,” said Stephanie Rustay, whose daughter Katie is Italy-bound. “Every opportunity she can have I want her to take it.”

Photo by Tom Rivers

ALBION – Eileen Banker and her husband Dale spent about an hour Sunday morning watering flowers in downtown Albion, as well as planters at Bullard Park and the canal bank. The Department of Public Works waters the flowers on weekdays, but a team of volunteers handles the job on weekends.

Photos by Tom Rivers – Mary Ann Tillman, vice chairwoman of the Ladies of Charity, holds Polish bread, part of the display of baked goods for sale at today’s Lawn Fete in Albion.

Linda Chrzan practices the wine toss, one of the games at today’s Lawn Fete. Chrzan will be serving beef on weck from noon to 5 p.m.

ALBION – The Polish bread is baked, an array of 50 themed baskets packaged, and an assortment of children’s games await.

It’s the annual Holy Family Parish Lawn Fete. The event begins at noon today and runs until 5 p.m. at the Elks Club grounds at 428 West State St.

“It’s a way to get your parish and the community together for fun,” said Sue Starkweather-Miller, the themed basket coordinator.

She thought an autographed team jersey signed by all of the players on the Western New York Flash soccer team may prove to be the most popular item. That jersey includes the signature of Rochester star Abby Wambach.

The Ladies of Charity and other parish members have been busy preparing ethnic foods for today’s event, including beef on weck, Italian sausage, hots, goulash, pasta fagioli and fried dough.

Ulises Mendoza, 17, of Albion is pictured with a themed basket from the Western New York Flash, a professional women’s soccer team.

Previous sign was smashed by a motorist in December

Photos by Tom Rivers – Neal Muscarella carries a shovel of mortar to help build a new base for the sign at Mount Albion Cemtery. Muscarella located the big piece of stone for the sign and has built the base using stone from the old sign as well as old curbs in the village.

The previous sign at Mount Albion Cemetery as it looked last October. The new sign is a bigger than the old one.

ALBION – After about eight months with no sign leading to Albion’s historic cemetery on Route 31, Mount Albion now has a stone sign matching the sandstone character of the site.

Neal Muscarella, an Albion mason, located the stone for the village, and he has worked to build a sandstone base for the sign. Brigden Memorial in Gaines put the lettering the sign.

It’s been an eight-month ordeal for the village, haggling with a motorist’s insurance company and trying to find enough of the old stone to rebuild the sign.

A driver smashed the sandstone sign outside Mount Albion last December. Village officials didn’t want to put up a wooden sign. They made the extra effort to find a big piece of stone for the gateway into Mount Albion, which is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

Muscarella was able to reuse some of the pieces from the old sign for the base. But many of the pieces were broken. The village Department of Public Works had a pile of old sandstone curbs, and Muscarella was able to cut and face some of those pieces to build a new base for the sign.

The new sign will be bigger than the old one. I give the village a lot of credit for utilizing sandstone for the sign, and not taking the easy way out with a wooden sign. We’re also lucky we still have a guy around like Muscarella, who knows how to cut the stone like the quarrymen from more than a century ago.

Neal Muscarella of Albion builds a wall of sandstone for the base of the new sign at Mount Albion Cemetery. It took the village several months to find the stone to create the sign.

Photos by Tom Rivers – Jake Hayes of Albion performs “Make Them Hear You,” a song from Ragtime, during “A Night of Broadway” at St. Mary’s Athletic Club tonight in Albion.

Matt Mayne sings “Purpose” from Avenue Q during tonight’s debut show from JMS Productions, an event directed by Nick Russo and Shellene Bailey, both of Albion.

ALBION – St. Mary’s Athletic Club has long been a host for Little League baseball games and volleyball matches. Tonight, the Moore Street site was filled with the sounds of Broadway.

Albion resident Nick Russo, who has 12 years experience working in professional theater in Western New York, directed his debut production tonight for the newly formed JMS Productions. He planned the show with Shellene Bailey of Albion. She was one of six performers who sang popular songs from several Broadway shows.

“We wanted to bring the arts here,” Russo said before tonight’s show. “We’re talking about doing more in the future.”

Russo grew up in Albion as “a Simboli kid.” He was part of the high school musicals led by Gary Simboli, the long-time musical director.

Russo knew there was a lot of talent in the community. “We put out a call and we got an absolutely stellar response,” he said.

Jake Hayes auditioned and landed one of the spots in the cast. Hayes has been performing for Albion audiences since he was in the middle and high school musicals. The 23-year-old earned a marketing degree from Pace University in Manhattan.

He is happy to be home and have a venue to perform. He said the middle and high school musical program has developed many performers in the community who would welcome a chance to return to the stage.

“I love singing and performing,” he said. “And this is a way to give back to the community.”

The group will be back at St. Mary’s for another performance of “A Night On Broadway” at 1 p.m. on Saturday. Tickets are $10 and are available at the door.

Victoria Barbis, left, and Shellene Bailey were part of a group that sang “21 Guns” from American Idiot during a show at St. Mary’s Athletic Club tonight. The group will return 1 p.m. Saturday for another performance.

11 people baptized in Lake Ontario

Photos by Tom Rivers

Eleven people from the Albion Free Methodist Church were baptized this evening in Lake Ontario.

The group included Sue Kissel, shown in this silhouette. She is pictured with pastors John Keller, back right, of the Northgate Free Methodist Church in Batavia and Kevin Eccles, a pastor at the Albion Free Methodist Church.

The baptismal service was at Lighthouse Christian Camp next to the Golden Hill State Park in Barker.

Kyle Holz, 26, of Kent walks out of the lake after being baptized with Keller and Eccles in the water. Holz’s fiancée Jessy Woolston, 26, also was baptized. Kyle’s brother Cory, 21, also made the public act of faith.

Photo by Tom Rivers – Dave Conlon sits on a historic carriage step that he said he was pressured to move out of the right of way by state Department of Transportation officials. State Assemblyman Steve Hawley says historic carriage steps and hitching posts can stay as long as homeowners sign off on taking liability for them.

ALBION – The state Department of Transportation isn’t forcing homeowners with historic hitching posts and carriage steps to remove the horse-and-buggy artifacts from the public right of way, State Assemblyman Steve Hawley said today after speaking with DOT officials.

The DOT, however, wants property owners to sign off on liability in case the hitching posts’ damage someone’s property or injure a person.

Hawley checked with the DOT about the issue after an article on the Orleans Hub on Sunday detailed the Conlon family’s experience with the DOT. Dave and Grace Conlon of Albion said the DOT forced them to move a carriage step and hitching post from near the corner of Linwood Avenue and North Main Street.

Mr. Conlon, 84, said the DOT told him he needed to move it or the DOT would have the pieces moved and then bill him.

Other property owners in Medina and Le Roy have told The Orleans Hub that the DOT has pressured them to take out hitching posts and carriage steps by the road in the right of way.

Hawley said DOT officials assured him they aren’t targeting the artifacts.

“They are not being told they have to remove them nor does the DOT plan to remove them,” Hawley said.

However, the DOT wants it in writing that property owners will assume liability for the artifacts in case there is an accident or incident, Hawley said.

The assemblyman said he wants the posts and steps to stay put. He said they are part of the historical fabric of the communities.

“It is obvious from my point of view and everyone else’s that they are a historic marking from years past,” he said.

ALBION – Two departures in the school administration team – one a retirement and the other a vacancy created when an assistant principal took a job in a different district – has resulted in several changes among the Albion’s building and academic leaders.

Kim Houserman retired at the end of June. The former middle school principal was serving as Albion’s coordinator of secondary school programs. He handled some of the mandated teacher evaluations and was also a liasion between the district and the county court system for students classified through Probation as Persons In Need of Supervision.

Jim Wood, the veteran elementary school principal, is leaving that position to assume some of Houserman’s duties. 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. Building principals and vice principals will also be part of the teacher evaluation process.

Most of the PINS work that was part of Houserman’s job will be assumed by Brad Pritchard, who has been promoted from dean of students at the high school to assistant principal of that building.

Wood’s shift in administration created a vacancy in the elementary school. The Board of Education has hired an administrator from Silver Creek in Chautauqua County to lead the school. Rachel Curtin worked 18 years as a teacher and administrator at Silver Creek. She will have a veteran of the elementary school as her assistant principal.

The Board of Education on Monday named Jennifer Ashbery, the long-time fifth grade teacher at Albion, to be the assistant principal of the elementary school. Ashbery has completed her administrative certification and has worked the previous two summers in an administrative internship through BOCES, said Michael Bonnewell, the district superintendent.

The elementary assistant principal position was available because Bridgitte Griffin left to work in administration at the Rush-Henrietta school district.

There’s another impending change in administration: Maura Pierce will retire in September as the district’s chairwoman of the Committee on Special Education. The district will fill the CSE position with Jessica Beal, who has been working as a special education teacher in kindergarten.

Photo by Tom Rivers

ALBION – A row of trees on Washington Street at the corner of the property for the Albion Correctional Facility were recently removed so the prison could install new underground water lines, a state Department of Corrections spokesman said.

“Upon completion of the water line, the trees that were removed are to be replaced with hardwood trees,” said Tom Mailey, DOC director of public information.

‘We were very hurt about it. We still are.’ – Grace Conlon

Photos by Tom Rivers – The state Department of Transportation forced Dave and Grace Conlon to remove this carriage step and hitching post, which survived for more than a century at the corner of North Main Street and Linwood Avenue in Albion. The community has many hitching posts and carriage steps on village side streets, but the Conlons had two of the few on a public right-of-way on a state road in Albion. This photo was taken late last year.

Dave Conlon sits on a carriage step that he had to remove from near Main Street last Wednesday. Conlon and his son used a tractor to move the historic step back by a tree in his front yard.

ALBION – For 45 years, Dave and Grace Conlon enjoyed looking out their window facing Main Street and watching children sit or stand on a carriage step by the road.

The Conlons planted flowers by it. They carefully mowed the grass around a companion hitching post.

“They were a showpiece for our property,” said Mr. Conlon, 84.

Last year the Conlons received a letter from the state Department of Transportation, telling them the carriage step and hitching post were a hazard to motorists. The historical artifacts from the horse-and-buggy era would need to be moved off the public right of way, the DOT advised.

The Conlons called the DOT. They didn’t understand why they had to move it, given that the public right of way on North Main Street is lined with trees and telephone poles – other “hazards.”

“This doesn’t make any sense,” said Conlon, a Kodak retiree who still works part-time as a custodian for Five Star Bank.

The Conlons received the first letter in the spring 2012. Another letter followed, advising them that the DOT could remove the pieces for a fee.

The Conlons fretted the DOT might show up one day and remove the carriage step and hitching post, and haul them away. Two weeks ago the DOT called, again pressing the issue.

On Wednesday, Conlon and his son Randy dug up the hitching post and used a tractor to haul it back by the house. They put it near a garden. It’s not very visible from the road, but the Conlons can see it looking out of their kitchen window.

The carriage step was a bear to move. Conlon cracked sidewalk panels leading to his house from the weight of the tractor. He tore up part of his lawn, but he was able to move it by a maple tree in his front yard.

The Conlons are angry and sad about the whole situation.

Dave and Grace Conlon also had to move this hitching post, which stood by Main Street for about a century. They put it back in their garden.

A mounting block sits by the side of the road on West Center Street in Medina. Hopefully its days aren’t numbered.

“We were very hurt about it,” Mrs. Conlon said. “We still are.”

I think it’s crummy that the DOT has launched an attack on the few hitching posts, carriage steps and mounting blocks that remain in the public right of way on state roads. Medina and Le Roy residents also have been sent warning letters from the DOT, advising the historical pieces need to be moved.

There are a lot of these artifacts in old quarrying towns, where residents had access to great building materials – sandstone in Orleans County and limestone in Le Roy.

They few that have endured – a century after horse-and-buggies were replaced by the automobile – should be considered treasures, part of the historical fabric of the community.

I have counted about 40 of the hitching posts in Albion and Gaines, which may be more survivors than anywhere in the world. (Until proven wrong, I’ll make the claim that 14411 is the historic hitching post capitol of the world.)

There are a lot of hitching posts but only a few carriage steps around. Most of these artifacts are on side streets. They were stripped from along the state roads long ago.

In Albion, the Albion Main Street Alliance has been working with the village to put four hitching posts back on Main Street in the downtown. They would be set back far enough to be off the state right of way, although we are asking the DOT to let us put one back in a downtown sidewalk. We hope to have these installed in the next month.

Some of us see the hitching posts and carriage steps as an attraction. We wanted to make a map of them. Most of them are in front of the finest historic homes in the community.

I think it’s shabby that the DOT pressured the Conlons to move their artifacts. They clearly valued and cared for the pieces.

It also hurts the Albion effort to promote these as part of the historical character of the community. We want some on Main Street, where they are more prominent. We’d like they to be by the road so they are more historically accurate, rather than moved back as lawn ornaments.

Our state legislators – Steve Hawley and George Maziarz – should intervene and make the DOT call off the dogs on the old hitching posts. These historic structures have survived every possible threat – from Mother nature, development pressure to wayward motorists. Can they now survive a government bureaucrat?

Cabaret at Studio B in Albion full of ‘great excitement’

Photo by Tom Rivers – The Reverend Mother kept a crowd in stitches last night at the Cabaret at Studio B in Albion.

ALBION – Phyl Contestable passed out buttons that said, “JESUS LOVES YOU, but I’m his favorite.” Contestable is the comedian, “Reverend Mother,” and she kept a packed house laughing last night at the Cabaret at Studio B in Albion.

Amy Sidari opened the venue last weekend with a concert by Marcy Downey. Sidari wants to bring professional entertainment to the community.

“People are excited to have this is their hometown,” said Sidari, owner of Gotta Dance by Miss Amy at 28 West Bank St. “I have great excitement for this.”

She has transformed one of the studios into a cabaret with professional-quality lighting and sound. Sidari has about 20 tables inside the studio that seats nearly 100 people.

Contestable of Hilton once joined the convent. As the Reverend Mother she is dressed as a nun. She is also friends with Downey, who urged her to come to Albion for a show.

“I love Amy’s energy and what she is trying to do out here, bringing the arts out here at this level,” Contestable said.

ALBION – Albion firefighters arrived on scene not long after 5 a.m. on June 21 to see a heavily damaged vehicle on Eagle Harbor-Waterport Road.

A driver, Jillian Troy, was badly injured and trapped inside the 1993 Suburu four-door sedan. The vehicle struck a concrete bridge structure that carries the roadway over Otter Creek.

Albion firefighters used the Hurst Jaws of Life to tear off the roof of the vehicle and free Troy, 18, of Holley. She was then taken by Mercy Flight to Strong Memorial Hospital.

This evening Albion firefighters will be awarded the “Green Cross,” an honor from the Hurst Jaws of Life company for using the equipment to save lives. Kevin Sheehan, Albion’s deputy mayor, will present the awards at 6:30 p.m. at the fire hall on North Platt Street.

The following will be recognized: Dale Banker, Albert Cheverie, Andrew Cheverie, Rob Connor, Mike Dalle, Matt Francis, Will Francis, Jeremy Graham, James Herdendorf, Charlie Monacelli, Steven Papponetti, Chuck Prentice and Rocky Sidari.

13 members of AFD receive ‘Green Cross’ awards

Photos by Tom Rivers – Jillian Troy, 18, stands by the Jaws of Life and Albion firefighters Jeremy Graham and Al Cheverie, right. Chuck Prentice is in back.

Jillian Troy has made a remarkable recovery from life-threatening injuries sustained in a June 21 car crash. Her family credits the quick and effective work by firefighters for saving her life and helping to minimize the lasting impact of her injuries. She is pictured with Albion firefighters, from left: Will Francis, Matt Francis, Dale Banker, Andrew Cheverie, Mike Dalle, Jeremy Graham, Chuck Prentice, Al Cheverie and Steven Papponetti. Four other firefighters responded to the rescue call on June 21: Rob Connor, James Herdendorf, Charlie Monacelli and Rocky Sidari.

ALBION – Jillian Troy doesn’t remember the accident. She woke up five days after June 21, when she nearly died in an early morning crash on Eagle Harbor-Waterport Road.

Jillian, 18, had extensive injuries, including swelling on the brain, a lacerated liver, a collapsed and punctured lung, a broken left ankle and wrist, and several knocked out teeth. She only had a faint breath.

Her family credits a quick and perfectly executed extrication by Albion firefighters with saving her life and helping to prevent more serious lasting injuries.

“I’m very grateful to the firefighters,” Jillian said this evening. “They did a really good job.”

Jillian and her family met the Albion firefighters tonight who helped save her. Deputy Mayor Kevin Sheehan also presented 13 firefighters with “Green Cross” awards from the Hurst Jaws of Life company for using the tool in a life-saving emergency.

“I’m very grateful that I made out so well,” Jillian said this evening. “I had a lot of injuries.”

Her family was told she would be recovering in a hospital for months. She was able to leave after 18 days. Her body has bounced back remarkably, said her mother Lauren Rayner.

“She was in very bad shape,” Rayner said.

Rayner’s mother Cindy Troy handed each firefighter a flower in appreciation for their work on that early morning.

Firefighters heard their ring tones go off soon after 5 a.m. Mike Dalle thought it was his alarm clock. He reached for the snooze button, but realized it was a fire call. He lives on Route 104 and was on scene within minutes. So were several other firefighters.

They saw a heavily damaged 1993 Suburu four-door sedan on Eagle Harbor-Waterport Road. Jillian had fallen asleep and drove into a concrete bridge structure that carries the roadway over Otter Creek.

Albion firefighters Steven Papponetti, right, and Jeremy Graham show the Jaws of Life to Jillian Troy and her father Harvey outside the Albion fire hall.

Albion Deputy Mayor Kevin Sheehan, left, presents a “Green Cross” award to Jeremy Graham, assistant fire chief, for the fire department’s life-saving efforts on June 21 for Jillian Troy.

Firefighters arrived in Albion’s rescue truck with the Jaws of Life. They used the tools to carefully tear off the roof and remove posts inside the vehicle. They removed Jillian who was then transported by Mercy Flight to Strong Memorial Hospital.

Dalle said firefighters had Jillian out and on Mercy Flight within 15 minutes of the call.

“I remember walking away from that call and thinking I’m so proud of this department,” Dalle said. “Everything went picture perfect.”

Because the call came so early in the morning, before the firefighters went to work, many of them were on the scene within minutes.

The following firefighters received “Green Cross” awards: Rob Connor, James Herdendorf, Charlie Monacelli, Rocky Sidari, Will Francis, Matt Francis, Dale Banker, Andrew Cheverie, Mike Dalle, Jeremy Graham, Chuck Prentice, Al Cheverie and Steven Papponetti.

Jillian grew up in Britain in Suffolk, north of London. She moved to Albion about 18 months ago and lived with her grandparents until her mother and father joined her in Orleans County in November. Jillian worked at Claims Recovery Financial Services in Albion.

Her family is well-known in the Albion area. Her great-grandfather is Frenchy Downey, owner of Frenchy’s TV and Appliances on Ridge Road.

“She almost died,” Jillian’s mother said. “It was very traumatic. We just wanted to thank the firemen.”