ALBION – The Village of Albion has heard from residents on Allen Road for many years who complain about low water pressure and volume.

The village has tried to improve the situation, but Allen Road residents, and some who live on the side streets, continue to say there is a problem.

Village Trustee Mattea Navarra met with several residents on Allen Road recently and they told her they feel like the village has given up on the problem.

The water pressure often falls below 42 pounds per square inch, and some residents see their water slow to a trickle if they try to wash their car outside.

The village Department of Public Works isolated valves along the line to check for pressure and that wasn’t the problem, said Todd Sargent, DPW superintendent.

The village would like some expertise from John Papponetti, an engineer with Labella Associates. Papponetti is a former village resident and Village Board member.

His father, Harry Papponetti, has endured low water pressure or volume for 27 years. Harry Papponetti said the pressure and volume were better when Albion had standpipes at the corner of Route 98 and Allen Road. They were removed in the early-1990s and the Allen Road neighborhood now gets its water from a 3-million-gallon tank at the corner of Route 31A and 98 in Barre.

That tank has higher elevation, and engineers expected it would boost pressure and volume for Allen Road, but Harry Papponetti said that hasn’t been the case since the new storage tank went on line more than 20 years ago.

When the tank is full, there is stronger water pressure, village officials said.

“We’ve been talking about this for months,” said Trustee Stan Farone. “We need to come up with a game plan.”

Village officials, including Sargent, said they would meet next week to focus on resolving the issue.

“We need to communicate with the residents to let them know we’re working on it,” Navarra said.

Return to top

Photos by Tom Rivers

ALBION – Larry Gaylord, a member of the Building and Grounds Department for Albion Central School, changes the sign this morning for the school, advertising a March 3 basketball game between faculty and state troopers. That game starts at 6:30 and is a benefit for the Middle School FFA.

Albion, Holley, Kendall, Lyndonville and Medina school districts are all closed for classes this week for mid-winter break.

Next week, the districts begin a busy stretch of the school year. Gaylord said March will require many updates for the sign.

The other side of the sign promotes a March 1 district-wide concert.

Return to top

Photos by Tom Rivers

ALBION – Christmas trees are burned in a bonfire at Bullard Park this evening in an event put on by Energize Albion.

The Albion DPW collected the trees that were discarded at the curb after the holidays.

The bonfire was part of what was intended to be a winter celebration at Bullard today, with snow-related challenges, such as a sledding distance and snowboarding contest. The snow didn’t last long when the temperatures hit 60.

Energize Albion was able to switch to spring-weather events, with basketball, kite-flying and other challenges.

Isaac Sugar, 8, tries to throw a tennis ball through one of the holes in the snowman. Skip Stratton made the snowman cut-outs.

Isaac Sugar, left, and his cousin Aaron Sugar had fun trying to throw the tennis balls through the snowman targets.

Crystal Hand, left, and Jessica Downey serve hot cocoa, which proved popular even on a warm day.

A food truck served hot dogs, hamburgers, fries and other food.

Return to top

Photos by Tom Rivers

ALBION – This ballet quartet – Michayla Kovaleski, front left, and Lauren Thomas, and Laiken Ricker, back left, and Rylie Lear – perform Landslide during a community concert this afternoon at the First Baptist Church in Albion. The dancers are part of Gotta Dance by Miss Amy.

The concert is a benefit for Elaina Webb’s family. Elaina, 2 ½, passed away from cancer on Feb. 7. Her mother, Beth Webb, worked several years as a dance instructor at Gotta Dance.

Aleka Schmidt, pastor at First Baptist, welcomes about 150 people for the concert, “Hope and Love are in the Air.”

Amy Sidari, the Gotta Dance owner, shares an inspirational message she called, “Greatness.”

Zachary Neal played three solos on the piano.

The High School Men’s Select Chorus sang two songs, “Blue Skies” and “Catch a Falling Star.”

Gary Simboli directs the Men’s Select Chorus. Simboli also sang two solos, “You’ll Never Walk Alone” and “Make You Feel My Love.” He also directed at the High School Women’s Select Choir.

Albion High School senior Angela Tarricone sang, “Let It Be” and “My Heart Will Go On.”

There were 18 different performing acts altogether in the concert.

Return to top

Photos by Tom Rivers

ALBION – Sydney Mulka plays Glinda the Good Witch in the Albion Middle School production of The Wizard of Oz. Aubrey Boyer, front right, is playing Dorothy.

The cast gave a preview of the show tonight during a benefit at The Pillars. The show is more expensive than most middle school shows and tonight’s basket auction will help cover the costs for costumes, backdrops, sets, licensing, etc.

Carrie Kozody, the middle school musical director, addresses about 175 people at the event. The show will be March 17-18 at the Middle School Auditorium.

Community members and businesses donated 80 baskets for the raffle. The event was organized by parents of students in the middle school cast and crew.

Aubrey Boyer sings as Dorothy in the Wizard of Oz.

Return to top

Photo by Tom Rivers: Lisa Stratton, owner of the Hazy Jade Gift Shop in Albion, is pictured with two of the wine bottle cutouts that will promote a wine-tasting event next month.

ALBION – The Albion Merchants Association has a new leader for 2017 and an expanded lineup of events to promote the downtown and community.

Lisa Stratton last month was elected by the membership to serve as president. She succeeds Adam Johnson, who led the group in 2016. Sarah Brigham also was elected as the vice president.

Brigham is the owner of S-n-L Sweet Escapes. She doesn’t have a storefront. She has a commercial kitchen at her home in Knowlesville.

Brigham has been active in the Merchants, and is taking the lead in planning the upcoming wine-tasting event on March 11. The “Sip and Stroll” wine-tasting had been in August but was moved up to better accommodate wineries.

“I don’t have a storefront but I want to see Albion grow,” Brigham said. “There is a lot of stuff going on in Albion. We just need people to come down and support it.”

Brigham and Stratton worked together to make two 8-foot-high cutouts of wine bottles to promote the wine-tasting event. Those signs will be placed on Main Street, with one planned for the routes 98 and 31 intersection and another a few blocks north of the canal. Stratton will keep an existing one by her store, the Hazy Jade Gift Shop.

Stratton will be celebrating the five-year anniversary of her store next month. She has been active with the Merchants Association for five years, but this is her first time leading the group as president.

“I just want to see our community thrive and our businesses succeed,” she said.

She has spearheaded the downtown flower effort, making sure there are flowers in planters and hanging baskets. She also organizes a group of volunteers who water them on weekends over the summer.

Photo courtesy of Lisa Stratton: Sarah Brigham, owner of S-n-L Sweet Escapes in Albion, paints a sign promoting the March 11 wine-tasting event in Albion.

Stratton is a regular at Village Board meetings and she has pressed the Village Board to establish a downtown rental subsidy for businesses that move into the downtown. Those funds could be combined with a rental subsidy through the Orleans Economic Development Agency to help a business cover the rent while the merchant gets established.

The more businesses in the downtown, the bigger a shopping destination Albion could become, with the businesses drawing traffic for each other, Stratton said.

She would like to see more specialty shops. She said the U-Need-O Burrito store, which opened last year on July 1, has been a welcome addition to Main Street.

Brigham said Stratton has strong support of the AMA’s 32 members.

“She promotes everywhere she goes and she gets things done,” Brigham said.

Some upcoming events for 2017 include: a 14411 Doors Tour on April 22, led by Tom Rivers and highlighting Albion architecture; May 20, community yard sale; flower planting in May; June 9-10, Strawberry Festival; July 10, Cycling the Erie Canal welcome booth; Aug. 12, community yard sale and sidewalk sales; Oct. 7, scarecrow contest and shopping tour; Oct. 27, Beggars’ Night; Nov. 25, Small Business Saturday; and Dec. 9, Hometown Holiday.

“The events bring people in the shops and see what we have to offer,” Stratton said.

The Merchants welcome more members and volunteers for the events. Check the group’s Facebook page for more information.

Return to top

Photos courtesy of Elliott Neidert

ALBION – The Orleans County Courthouse has been a striking landmark in Albion since 1858. The domed structure stands out, even when looking down from the sky.

On Tuesday evening, Elliott Neidert, an Albion student, sent up a drone to get some aerial photos of the Courthouse Square and Main Street.

The Albion Rotary Club is working on a Santa Claus-themed mural. (I am the current president of the Rotary Club. I asked Elliott to get some photos from the drone. We waited until there was some snow on the ground and wanted to show the community at dusk, so there was enough light to see the buildings during a night-time scene. I was also hoping for a dramatic sunset and last evening it all worked out.)

Charlie Howard is shown as Santa during a Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade in New York City. Howard served as the Macy’s Santa for 18 years.

Our idea for the mural is to show Charlie Howard as Santa in a sleigh, looking down on Albion. We want to show Albion landmarks, such as the Courthouse, the churches and the downtown buildings. I’m also hoping we can include the former Santa School and Christmas Park in the mural.

The Rotary Club is waiting to hear if we’ve received a grant to help pay for the project. We also will likely need some community donations to cover the entire cost.

For now, I wanted to share these stunning images. Thank you, Elliott, for helping with this project.

Return to top

Provided photo, Albion Central School

An Albion student placed first on Saturday at the Zone 5 American Legion Oratorical Competition at Mount Morris. After winning that competition, Melissa Barnosky, a sophomore, has qualified for the state event on March 11 at Sand Creek Middle School in Albany.

Melissa, third from left, is pictured with Emily Blanchard of Albion who came in second on Saturday. They were escorted by local members of the American Legion including Commander Wally Skrypnik, left, and Adjutant Gary Beefus.

Melissa’s prepared speech was entitled, “Constitutional Rights and Responsibilities of American Citizens.” Emily’s speech was entitled, “The Future of Our Nation.”

Return to top

ALBION – The Albion Town Board praised Highway Superintendent Michael Neidert for securing two grants, one that will replace a small bridge on Clarendon Road and the other will pay most of the cost for a new single-axle truck.

Neidert and the board discussed the grants during the Town Board meeting on Monday.

A $174,000 grant will pay 100 percent of the cost to replace a small bridge on Clarendon Road over West Branch Sandy Creek. The bridge is about 14 feet long, Neidert said.

He applied for the funding through a $200 million bridge rehabilitation program announced last July by Gov. Andrew Cuomo. Last month, Cuomo announced the money was approved for the bridge.

“I just want to congratulate you for applying and following through for something that is of no real cost to the town,” Town Supervisor Matt Passarell told Neidert.

The other board members gave the highway superintendent a round of applause.

The board also approved hiring Chatfield Engineers in Rochester to do the engineering work on the project, including preparing bid specifications, at a cost of $27,936. That cost is also covered by the grant.

Neidert had hoped the project could be completed this summer. He wants to do it while school is out of session because Clarendon Road is a busy road leading to the school.

It doesn’t look like the project will be ready to go in time for this summer, so Neidert said construction will likely be in the summer 2018. It is estimated to take 4 to 6 weeks to replace the bridge.

The town has also been approved for a $50,000 grant from State Sen. Robert Ortt through the State & Municipal Facilities Capital Program (SAM). Those funds will go towards the $80,000 cost to replace a single-axle truck

That truck won’t have plow equipment but will be useful for many projects, Neidert said.

It replaces a truck from 1993. That truck has been sold for $6,900, and proceeds from the sale will go towards the new truck’s cost.

• In other highway department issues, the board approved allowing the county and Rick Stacey, owner of the former Apollo Restaurant site in Albion, to tap into the town sewer line on Route 31. The county and Stacey are paying to bore under Route 31 and tap into the line.

• The board also approved a five-year shared service agreement with the county where both entities will document how they share equipment and manpower. Neidert said the highway departments have been sharing resources for at least 20 years, but haven’t necessarily been writing it all down. Having the documentation will allow the local municipalities to prove to Gov. Cuomo just how much the municipalities do share equipment and manpower for projects. Cuomo has said there are too many local governments in the state, and that they don’t share pavers, and other costly highway equipment.

Neidert said there has long been a spirit of cooperation locally among the highway departments at the village, town and county levels.

• The board also set 7 p.m. on March 13 for a public hearing on a local law allowing games of chance by permitted organizations within the town.

The local law is needed for the American Legion to do pull-tabs. The Legion used to get the annual permit through the village, but the organization has moved outside the village to the former Pap Pap’s Par 3 golf course on Gaines Basin Road.

• The board also agreed to a four-year lease with Toshiba where the town will pay $93.57 monthly for use of a new copier.

Photo by Tom Rivers: A marching band heads down Main Street during the Strawberry Festival last June. This year’s festival will be June 9-10.

ALBION – The Albion Town Board, which for the first time in 2015 started setting aside town funds to support the Strawberry Festival, agreed on Monday to contribute $4,000 to the two-day event in June.

That $4,000 is a boost from the $3,000 from the town the past two years. The town funds will go towards the cost of bringing in some of the marching bands for the parade on June 10.

“We’re very grateful,” Michael Bonafede, the festival committee chairman, told the Town Board when it approved the funding on Monday. “That would be so helpful.”

The volunteer-run festival operates on a $22,000 budget, which mostly goes to bringing in entertainment, including the marching bands.

The town funds will cover most of the $4,450 expense for bringing in five popular marching bands: The Hitmen, Mighty St. Joe’s, the Buffalo Stampede, Pembroke Dragons and the Scottish Pipes.

Bonafede said the festival is focused on showcasing Albion, and providing wholesome family entertainment.

This year’s festival will have a Santa theme in honor of Charles Howard, the Albion resident who ran a Santa School in Albion from 1937 to 1966. Howard also served as the Santa in the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade for 18 years. He remains revered among people who portray Santa for establishing standards in how to act and dress as Santa.

Bonafede said he is hopeful there will be many local floats in the parade with a Santa theme, as well as other activities celebrating Howard. Bonafede said the festival committee also wanted to highlight the effort by the Albion Betterment Committee to have a bronze statue on Main Street in honor of Howard.

The festival has many activities, from a food court, craft vendors, a classic car show, turtle race, trout pond, 5k and 8k race, and a record number of business booths in 2016. Last year a chalk art festival also debuted. Bonafede said the committee is working to add a wooden boat fleet this year.

The committee welcomes more volunteers to help put on the event. For more information, check the festival’s website by clicking here.

Return to top