Photos by Tom Rivers

A Wednesday afternoon fire in Albion left 10 people homeless. The fire at 112 Beaver St. started in an upstairs bedroom, Albion Police Chief Roland Nenni said. An investigation is continuing. There are no injuries. The Red Cross is assisting people in finding temporary shelter. The house is owned by Loretta Lewandowski. Albion, Carlton and Holley firefighters responded to the call.

ALBION – Two years as the leader of the town government in Albion is enough for Dennis Stirk. The former town justice isn’t planning to run for another two-year term as town supervisor.

“I’m 62 and I want to enjoy life,” Stirk said Monday after the Town Board meeting.

He wants to free up his schedule so he can go camping more often and spend his winters in Florida.

Stirk was elected in November 2011. He beat the incumbent, Judith Koehler, who at that point stopped campaigning. Koehler had moved to cut the pay for Highway Superintendent Jed Standish and Town Clerk Sarah Basinait. When the two won Republican primaries and were then cross-endorsed by Democrats, Koehler asked voters not to support her in the election.

Stirk and two Town Board members, Dan Poprawski and Jake Olles, have backed Standish and Basinait, giving them raises. Two holdovers from the previous board, Tim Neilans and Matt Passarell, are often at odds with the Stirk-led board.

Passarell is seeking the Republican endorsement for town supervisor. The Republican Committee is interviewing candidates today. Olles also is interested in the job.

Passarell said the town needs a strong leader. An Iraq War veteran and VFW commander, Passarell works as quality supervisor for Baxter in Medina. Olles works as a correctional officer.

Dawn Allen, the Albion GOP committee chairwoman, said the group expects to endorse candidates on April 16.

Stirk said the town has moved along several projects since he took office. He noted the construction of Water District No. 9 as a significant accomplishment.

Stirk retired in August 2010 after 22 years as an Albion judge. He also worked 31 years as a gas fitter with New York State Electric and Gas.

District also plans to cut 5 positions

ALBION – The school district is planning to raise taxes by 1.5 percent in a proposed $33.3 million budget that also would cut five jobs.

The Board of Education on Monday approved the spending plan that will go before district voters on May 21. Voting is from noon to 8 p.m. at the elementary school’s conference room A.

Albion hasn’t raised taxes since the 2006-07 budget. The proposed tax levy, at $8,446,946, is up $124,484. It remains down compared to the $9,094,194 levy in 2006-07.

The district is budgeting for a $226,080 increase in state aid.  The board intends to continue “right-sizing” the staff, making cuts as the student enrollment drops. The student enrollment has shrunk from 2,750 in 2000 to a projected 1,971 next year. Albion forecasts 1,864 students in five years.

The district, with the five cuts planned for next school year, will have eliminated 21.5 jobs since the 2011-12 school year. Three of the cuts next school year will come from attrition with two layoffs planned.

The budget preserves all school programs, without exceeding a property tax cap of about 2 percent. The state Legislature established that cap on local governments about two years ago.

“We recognize the constant obligationto balance the programmatic needs of our students with the ability of our taxpayers to pay for the programs that we offer,” said Michael Bonnewell, the district superintendent.

The budget increases overall spending by 0.6 percent or $202,799 to $33,349,049.

When residents vote May 21, they will also be asked to approve a school bus reserve proposition that would create a reserve for buses not to exceed $4,821,000. The district would like to take $440,000 from the reserve to go towards new buses. The state pays 94 percent of the bus costs.

Residents will also vote on whether $654,000 can be collected to support operations at Hoag Library.

There also will be a Board of Education election. Residents have until April 22 to submit petitions to the district office to run for the volunteer position.

Olson will stay on as volunteer interim director

ALBION – The executive director of the Albion Main Street Alliance resigned from the paid position because the organization faces too much funding uncertainty.

Katelin Olson submitted her letter of resignation on April 1. She agreed to stay on in an unpaid role and complete administration of a $477,000 Main Street grant approved by the state in December 2011. That grant gave AMSA and the town of Albion two years to implement building improvements and $50,000 worth of street-scape enhancements.

Olson wrote the grant that was awarded state funding, and provided leadership to teams of volunteers with several community projects. Maarit Vaga, the AMSA board president, said the organization welcomes volunteers to keep working towards a mission of a more vibrant community.

She said Olson deserves “profound thanks for her hard work, perseverance, dedication and outstanding achievements.”

Albion Mayor Dean Theodorakos commended Olson for making an impact on the village and the historic downtown.

“They did a lot of good things,” Theodorakos said on Sunday. “The Main Street grant is a huge and tangible accomplishment and they can point to it as a success.”

Theodorakos served on AMSA’s board in the first two years after the group started in 2009. He supports National Trust’s “four-point” approach for revitalizing Main Street – organization, promotion, design and economic restructuring.

“I’m all for that model,” Theodorakos said. “But how can we make it work?”

He wants to see AMSA continue, and draw in more merchants, building owners and other community volunteers.

AMSA has several initiatives in the works for 2013, including the completion of the building and street-scape projects. The organization will be highlighted at two national conferences – in San Francsico and New Orleans – this month for its partnership with Albion Central School.

Olson is in a doctoral program Cornell University. Many of her fellow students, learning about historic preservation and community development, will be in Albion April 18-21 working on local projects.

The organization started four years ago and received $30,000 in municipal funding each of the first three years with $10,000 each coming from the village, town and the local development corporation of the Orleans Economic Development Agency. The EDA pledged $10,000 for the first three years as part of Albion’s application to become a Main Street community that would adopt principles by the National Trust for Historic Preservation.

The EDA stated from the start it planned to make a three-year commitment to the program. The Town Board last year in a 3-2 vote eliminated its funding to AMSA, with some town officials saying the organization was too focused on the downtown and not the overall community.

The Village Board continued its $10,000 commitment for a fourth year, but hasn’t included money for AMSA in the 2013-14 budget. The board is looking at all expenses in a tight budget, Theodorakos said. The board also wasn’t sure about AMSA’s direction for the coming year.

Vaga said AMSA is at a “crossroads,” but she sees momentum with several downtown projects. She urged more community members to join AMSA to help advance projects, including waterfront development, more downtown work and other community events that bring visitors to Albion.

“The possibility of a vibrant and thriving Albion still lies before us but that promise can only be achieved through cooperation, committed support and shared vision,” Vaga said.

Editor’s note: Tom Rivers is the Design chairman for AMSA.

Photo by Tom Rivers – William Grimble plays the Beast in the musical that includes pyrotechnics and some flying performers, including a Beast who is transformed back into a prince.

ALBION – Nine years ago Albion High School was one of the first schools to perform Disney’s “Beauty and the Beast.”

Albion put the show on again March 22-23, but this time it deployed an array of pyrotechnics and “flying people,” performers who sailed above stage on strings. The cast of 34 also had 24 performers with individual microphones, far more than the show in 2004.

“The technology has really advanced,” said Gary Simboli, the musical director. “There are flying sequences and pyrotechnics.”

Photo by Tom Rivers – Nathanial Trembley, left, plays the role of Gaston, who is preparing to go fight the Beast. Elijah Martin, right, plays Monsieur D’Arque.

Simboli tries to pick shows that are suited to the strengths of his cast. This year’s spring musical has several soloists.

“We were looking for an ensemble show,” he said. “It has many wonderful featured characters.”

Mary Martin plays Belle, a bookworm who is constantly fending off the affections of the conceited Gaston, played by Nathaniel Trembley. When Belle’s father Maurice (Michael Karcz) gets lost in the woods, he seeks shelter at the Beast’s castle.

Photo by Tom Rivers – Mary Martin stars as Belle in “Beauty in the Beast,” performed by Albion students on March 22-23.

The Beast refuses to let him go until Belle agrees to stay in his place. She, at first, is repulsed by the Beast with his hideous appearance and foul temper.

But a gentler Beast emerges, winning Belle over with a library and acts of kindness.

“The main moral of the story is to look at the beauty within a person,” Martin said. “Belle saw with her heart and not her eyes.”

Martin, a senior, sees other powerful story lines in the show as well. She likes how Belle is an independent spirit, relishing reading despite scorn from Gaston and other townspeople. Her father also is an eccentric inventor who follows that passion.

Belle commits the ultimate sacrifice, offering her life in exchange for her father’s freedom, Martin noted.

Grimble wears a long wig, horns, a prosthetic on his face, lots of makeup and claw feet to look the part of the Beast. The greatest challenge: the strain on his voice.

“You go from speaking in a gruff voice to switching for singing,” he said. “You’re constantly assaulting your voice.”

Grimble, a senior, was able to preserve his voice by drinking green tea, taking herbal throat drops and gargling a mix of water, apple cider vinegar and lemon juice, which he called “an incredibly revolting concoction.”

About 80 students were part of the show in either the cast, stage crew, set design or orchestra.

“Everyone works so hard to make the show the best it can be,” Grimble said.

Ingredients: layers of makeup, a prosthetic and a wig

Photos by Tom Rivers
ALBION – When Melinda Grimble saw her son for the first time in full costume as the Beast, she couldn’t tell who was under the layers of makeup.

William Grimble, one of the stars in Albion High School’s production of “Beauty and the Beast” on March 22-23, was transformed into the menacing character. He wore claw feet, a long wig, horns, and a prosthetic on his face.

“When he was in full makeup and hair, I didn’t recognize him,” Mrs. Grimble said.

William Grimble smiles before undergoing a makeover to become the Beast. He has some facial glue on his nose.

William’s costume was months in the making. Gary Simboli, the musical director, fused two wigs together, using hot glue to join a blond haired wig with a black one. The blond wig matched the color of the Ben Kirby’s hair. He plays the prince before William was turned into the hideous creature.

“With the black wig, I needed to darken up his hair,” Simboli said.

The long black tresses add to sinister mood with the Beast.

Albion performed Beauty and the Beast nine years ago. Back then, the Beast had a simpler costume. Simboli added a prosthetic with horns and a nose to the costume this time. Instead of having William do a quick costume change near the end of the show, when he is transformed back into the prince, Simboli had Kirby reappear as the prince.

That meant Simboli could develop a better costume for William, who wouldn’t have to wipe off the makeup and beast-wear for the musical’s final act.

Simboli and Grimble agreed to let a photographer show the process of turning the high school senior into the Beast.

It was a Saturday morning, the second day of the show, on March 23. William arrived in the chorus room at about 10 a.m., two hours before the curtains opened at noon. He was freshly showered after the previous night’s performance.

Step 1: Apply spirit gum, a facial glue on William’s nose. That will help hold down the rubber mask that includes the nose, wrinkled forehead, horns and hair.

Step 2: Apply a cream base makeup. It “even outs the skin tone,” Simboli said.

By the end of the show, many of the students are tired, and would otherwise have dark circles under their eyes. “The makeup makes them look fresh and vibrant,” Simboli said.

Step 3: Apply the mask and wig. William presses the mask to his nose, trying to get it to stick to his skin.

“Suddenly it’s quite warmer in here,” he said once the mask is on his head.

Step 4: Simboli uses several bobby pins to secure the mask and wig to William’s hair. They forgot the bobby pins the previous night, and were relieved the mask and wig stayed on during the fighting scene with Gaston.

Step 5: Simboli uses liner pencils to “enhance the natural features in a distorted way” on William’s face. The students that play older characters have lines drawn on their faces. Simboli wants them to look older. He tries to follow the natural contours on the students’ faces. That’s tricky with teen-agers.

“They’re so young they don’t have wrinkles,” Simboli said.

He has an image of William as the Beast from the previous night. It’s on a cell phone. Simboli liked how the Beast turned out, and he uses that image as a guide on March 23.

Gary Simboli, the high school musical director, helps William Grimble with his makeup before a performance of Beauty and the Beast on March 23.

William Grimble, in full costume, performs as the Beast in Albion’s production of Beauty and the Beast.

Simboli adds reddish-orange and yellow lines to William’s face, in addition to brown and white. The reddish-orange and yellow match the prosthetic. The brown shows recesses and shadows. The white: “It pops on stage.”

Simboli took a makeup class at Geneseo State College, where he was a music major three decades ago. He has a makeup book opened in the chorus room. He refers to the book while working on the Beast and some of the other characters.

It takes Simboli about 20 minutes to turn William into the Beast. Simboli’s last touch: a dark flesh-tone of lipstick. That will make the Beast’s lips more distinctive on stage.

Simboli is pleased with the makeover.

“It’s Disney,” he declared. “It has to be larger than life.”

William isn’t quite done. He is sent to Val Pettit, the choreographer who is helping with makeup. She puts powder on William’s face to help the makeup set and not be so shiny. Then she shoots his face with Barrier Spray, which seals the makeup and helps prevent it from running. The school rents many of the costumes. The spray helps protect the costumes from running makeup.

Pettit said there is bound to be some drips.

“These kids sweat a lot,” she said. “They work hard on stage.”

Photo by Tom Rivers – Jeremiah Knight of Albion opened Knight’s Pride, a custom carpentry shop with fine arts, last month at 120 North Main Street. Knight is pictured with a “hall tree,” a bench with hooks to hang coats.

ALBION – Six years ago Jeremiah Knight spotted some cedar in a house that had been demolished. The wood and the pile of debris were headed to a landfill.

But Knight wondered if he could make something from the cedar. He fished the wood from the pile of ruins, took it home and made a toy box. He tried more projects, always using wood that was doomed for either a landfill or a burn pile.

Knight in six years has made cabinets, benches, chests, beds, wine racks, rustic shelves, tables and lots of toy boxes – all from discarded wood, sometimes more than a century old.

“It was all headed to the dump,” he said Thursday about the old wood.

Knight, 31, gave up a good-paying construction job in Rochester to open Knight’s Pride, a custom cabinetry business, on March 20 on 120 North Main St. The site also sells and displays fine arts from local artists. Knight’s mother, Kim Muscarella, runs an art gallery in Albion. Many of her paintings and creations are on display in her son’s shop.

Photo by Tom Rivers – Jeremiah Knight sits on a one of the hall trees he made from reclaimed wood from an Albion home that was knocked down. Knight left a construction job to open his custom cabinetry business on Main Street.

“I’m building a customer base and I know more good things are going to happen,” he said. “I want to be part of the optimism in Albion. I want to support my community.”

Knight doesn’t like to see good material go to waste. He feels the same about gasoline and time. He didn’t like expending those resources in the long drives for his construction job.

He touts the benefits of his business. “Number one, it’s American made,” said the Army veteran. “It’s custom-made, and it’s made from reclaimed materials. It’s becoming highly sought after with the whole green movement.”

Photos by Tom Rivers – William Grimble, in full costume, performs as the Beast in Albion’s production of Beauty and the Beast.

ALBION – When Melinda Grimble saw her son for the first time in full costume as the Beast, she couldn’t tell who was under the layers of makeup.

William Grimble, one of the stars in Albion High School’s production of “Beauty and the Beast” on March 22-23, was transformed into the menacing character. He wore claw feet, a long wig, horns, and a prosthetic on his face.

“When he was in full makeup and hair, I didn’t recognize him,” Mrs. Grimble said.

William’s costume was months in the making. Gary Simboli, the musical director, fused two wigs together, using hot glue to join a blond haired wig with a black one. The blond wig matched the color of the Ben Kirby’s hair. He plays the prince before William was turned into the hideous creature.

“With the black wig, I needed to darken up his hair,” Simboli said.

The long black tresses add to sinister mood with the Beast.

Albion performed Beauty and the Beast nine years ago. Back then, the Beast had a simpler costume. Simboli added a prosthetic with horns and a nose to the costume this time. Instead of having William do a quick costume change near the end of the show, when he is transformed back into the prince, Simboli had Kirby reappear as the prince.

That meant Simboli could develop a better costume for William, who wouldn’t have to wipe off the makeup and beast-wear for the musical’s final act.

Simboli and Grimble agreed to let a photographer show the process of turning the high school senior into the Beast.

It was a Saturday morning, the second day of the show, on March 23. William arrived in the chorus room at about 10 a.m., two hours before the curtains opened at noon. He was freshly showered after the previous night’s performance.

Step 1: Apply spirit gum, a facial glue on William’s nose. That will help hold down the rubber mask that includes the nose, wrinkled forehead, horns and hair.

Step 2: Apply a cream base makeup. It “even outs the skin tone,” Simboli said.

By the end of the show, many of the students are tired, and would otherwise have dark circles under their eyes. “The makeup makes them look fresh and vibrant,” Simboli said.

Step 3: Apply the mask and wig. William presses the mask to his nose, trying to get it to stick to his skin.

“Suddenly it’s quite warmer in here,” he said once the mask is on his head.

Step 4: Simboli uses several bobby pins to secure the mask and wig to William’s hair. They forgot the bobby pins the previous night, and were relieved the mask and wig stayed on during the fighting scene with Gaston.

Step 5: Simboli uses liner pencils to “enhance the natural features in a distorted way” on William’s face. The students that play older characters have lines drawn on their faces. Simboli wants them to look older. He tries to follow the natural contours on the students’ faces. That’s tricky with teen-agers.

“They’re so young they don’t have wrinkles,” Simboli said.

He has an image of William as the Beast from the previous night. It’s on a cell phone. Simboli liked how the Beast turned out, and he uses that image as a guide on March 23.

Gary Simboli, the high school musical director, helps William Grimble with his makeup before a performance of Beauty and the Beast on March 23.

Simboli adds reddish-orange and yellow lines to William’s face, in addition to brown and white. The reddish-orange and yellow match the prosthetic. The brown shows recesses and shadows. The white: “It pops on stage.”

Simboli took a makeup class at Geneseo State College, where he was a music major three decades ago. He has a makeup book opened in the chorus room. He refers to the book while working on the Beast and some of the other characters.

It takes Simboli about 20 minutes to turn William into the Beast. Simboli’s last touch: a dark flesh-tone of lipstick. That will make the Beast’s lips more distinctive on stage.
Simboli is pleased with the makeover.

“It’s Disney,” he declared. “It has to be larger than life.”

William isn’t quite done. He is sent to Val Pettit, the choreographer who is helping with makeup. She puts powder on William’s face to help the makeup set and not be so shiny. Then she shoots his face with Barrier Spray, which seals the makeup and helps prevent it from running. The school rents many of the costumes. The spray helps protect the costumes from running makeup.

Pettit said there is bound to be some drips.

“These kids sweat a lot,” she said. “They work hard on stage.”

ALBION – When the Albion Main Street Alliance needs help with a community project, whether its crunching numbers from a survey of residents or fixing planter boxes for downtown flowers, the organization can count on Albion high schoolers.AMSA often turns to students to help with projects, a partnership that is drawing national attention among “Main Street” designated communities. Albion in 2008 adopted the Main Street program through the National Trust for Historic Preservation.

Students have worked on several initiatives, including building and fixing planters through a technology class, using a CAD program to design a sign along the canal directing visitors to local services, and completing a parking study in the downtown. Many of the drama students each fall also portray famous Albionites in Mount Albion Cemetery as part of annual “Ghost Walk.” Proceeds from that event have been used for some AMSA projects.

AMSA director Katelin Olson and Sue Starkweather Miller, Albion’s grants manager, will discuss the AMSA-school partnership in New Orleans as part of a national “Main Street” conference on April 14. They shared the Albion successes in October 2011, during a national preservation conference in Buffalo.

Starkweather Miller said students are enthused about the Albion projects. They don’t want to just be asked to clean up after an event.

“One of things that is helpful when you are looking to connect students to their community is to make it meaningful service,” she said.

The Ghost Walks and other heritage projects have taught students about local history, including some of the prominent Albion residents from more than a century ago who shaped the town. Starkweather Miller said those residents, and their ambitions and service, inspire the teen-agers today.

“It is very meaningful history to them,” she said. “It builds pride and a sense of place.”
Olson and Starkweather Miller both said it’s unusual from a school district to connect so well with a community organization. Other districts and “Main Street” groups want to hear about the success in Albion.

Olson said the key is for the adults to trust the students with work “that is important and engaging.”

Her main advice: “Don’t just ask them to clean up after an event.”

Olson also will be presenting at the Urban Affairs Conference in San Francisco on April 6. She will be sharing the benefits of the “Main Street” program compared to a Business Improvement District. Olson said a Main Street program spreads into the whole community, focusing on more than a downtown. She sees a BID as very business-focused.

“We’re a civic-engagement organization,” she said.

Photos courtesy of Jesse Colmenero

ALBION – Residents attended Friday’s open house at the Central Orleans Volunteer Ambulance. They toured fire trucks and ambulances, ate hot dogs and hamburgers, and even did the chicken dance in the parking lot at 239 South Main St., Albion.

Mercy Flight landed a helicopter by COVA to help the agency celebrate its service to the community.

Photo by Tom Rivers

Barre firefighters stood near the intersection of routes 98 and 31A this morning, collecting money for the fire company. Jesse Babcock, left, and Brad Driesel worked together on Route 98, just south of 31A. Babcock said the funds will help firefighters upgrade their equipment. “Every little bit helps,” Babcock said.

Photo by Tom Rivers – Haylee Wright, 2, of Lyndonville fills a basket with Easter eggs. Her mother Barb Wright joined her on the egg hunt.

About 200 children went hunting for Easter eggs on Saturday on the Courthouse lawn in Albion. The event included a visit from the Easter Bunny, a story hour, a coloring contest and other games inside the First Presbyterian Church. The event was organized by Community Action of Orleans & Genesee, Albion Main Street Alliance and the Presbyterian Church with sponsorship from Digital Ink Arts, Della’s Chocolates, Oliver’s Candies and the Salvation Army.

Photo by Tom Rivers

Andrew Niederhofer, left, and Jerry Bentley were part of a 10-person team that cooked 416 chickens on March 24 for the 8th annual Palm Sunday Chicken Barbecue. The event at St. Mary’s Athletic Club in Albion is organized by the Knights of Columbus with the proceeds benefitting Boy Scouts in Troop 164.

Photos by Tom Rivers

About two dozen Scouts in Pack 164 in Albion competed in the annual Pinewood Derby on March 16 at St. Joseph’s Lyceum. Sawyer Braley took third, Austin Narburgh placed second and Pom Seibert won the event.