By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 6 January 2025 at 4:06 pm
Provided photo: Pete Stritzinger (left), president of the Albion Exempts Club, and Mercy Flight EMS BLS Crew Chief David Bertsch are shown on Jan. 1 when the Exempts dropped off a brunch at the Mercy Flight base at 239 South Main St.
ALBION – Mercy Flight has started providing ambulance services for seven Orleans County towns.
The seven towns accepted Mercy Flight’s bid to be the primary ambulance provider for Albion, Barre, Carlton, Gaines, Clarendon, Murray and Kendall. Mercy Flight takes over from Monroe Ambulance which had the contract in 2023 and 2024.
Mercy Flight has two 24/7 BLS ambulances and one 24/7 paramedic fly car. One of the ambulances is posted at the former Fancher-Hulberton-Murray fire hall with the other vehicles at the former COVA base in Albion. Many of the former COVA staff are back working in Orleans with Mercy Flight.
“We’ve got a crew of 5 EMS professionals dedicated to central and eastern Orleans around the clock,” said Scott Wooton, vice president and treasurer for Mercy Flight.
Mercy Flight has 20 “full-time equivalents” working that schedule. With part-timers and vacation coverages, Mercy Flight has about two dozen employees working in Orleans County.
“It’s been quite a busy start, but our employees are very excited to be back,” Wooton said.
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 3 January 2025 at 12:46 pm
There are new owners of the Orleans Hub and Lake Country Pennysaver following the retirement of Karen Sawicz.
The Pennysaver has been in her family since 1960. Her parents, Vincent and Gwen St. John, were the owners until Sawicz took over in 1989. She has worked at the business for more than 60 years.
The Pennysaver will now be owned and run by Featured Media and Genesee Valley Publications, which owns about a dozen weekly pennysavers. The Lake Country Pennysaver will be delivered by mail beginning with this weekend’s edition.
Sawicz also has been owner and publisher of the Orleans Hub. The online news site is focused on Orleans County and started in April 2013.
“The community has been my life,” Sawicz said today. “That has been my focus.”
She has strived to serve the community through the businesses and her civic efforts. She is past president of the Albion Chamber of Commerce and was the first president of the merged Orleans County Chamber of Commerce. She also was a long-time member of the Albion Rotary Club.
Sawicz pushed to start the Orleans Hub to give the community “hyperlocal” news coverage that was focused on Orleans County. She resisted charging subscriptions or having paywalls to access the news.
“The Orleans Hub is something the community needed,” she said today.
The Orleans Hub is now owned by Brad London, who has been with the site selling advertising since it launched on April 1, 2013.
London began working for the Pennysaver in January 2010 after running Wiggly & Jiggly’s, an English pub in Albion. He also has owned Brad London Productions, a DJ business, for more than 30 years and runs the karaoke contest at the Orleans County 4-H Fair.
In recent years he has been the sales manager and general manager for the Pennysaver and Lake Country Media, which includes the Orleans Hub and a printing division based at the Pennysaver building, 170 North Main St. in Albion.
The Pennysaver site will continue to offer printing services for the community and serve as the office for the Orleans Hub.
“The Orleans Hub is a great product and it’s important to our community and I want to see it continue,” London said. “We have great relationships with our advertisers.”
Many of the advertisers have been with the Hub since it started. The news site last year topped more than 7 million pageviews.
Photo by Tom Rivers: Albion village trustee Tim McMurray and Jami Allport, executive director of the Genesee-Orleans Ministry of Concern, on Jan. 25 walk along the railroad tracks in Albion between Main Street and West Academy Street. They were among several agency and government leaders out that day trying the measure the homeless population in the community. Allport offered gift cards to Tops, as well as snacks, blankets and gloves.
By Ginny Kropf, correspondent Posted 1 January 2025 at 8:36 am
ALBION – As 2024 comes to a close, Genesee-Orleans Ministry of Concern’s director Jami Allport is reflecting on the impact they have made, with support from the community.
“This year, thanks to your unwavering support, we’ve been able to provide services for 403 families and 1048 individuals,” Allport said. “In 2024, we have had many changes. We moved our office space in April (for which we are so happy and thankful), rebranded and relaunched our youth program, started our homeless outreach program and worked to increase our presence in the community.
“We have had some great times with our Mental Health Walk, the county-wide Recreation Day, pop-up play dates and parades. We loved being able to play games with kids and families before football games, and providing brand new school clothes for more than 80 children, Christmas gifts for more than 60 children and prom tickets for seniors. The outpouring of donations to help support our un-homed friends in the warming center has been nothing short of amazing. None of the would have been possible without the dedication and generosity of our community.”
As the agency looks to the future, key areas of focus for GOMOC are:
The issue of homelessness, how it looks in our communities and how we can work together to begin to make a positive impact on this community.
Providing long-term solutions to the people we serve. We do not want to just be a temporary “band aid,” but rather facilitate real change for the community.
Continuing to partner with others in the community to identify gaps in care and work to fill those gaps.
Providing much-needed support to the schools in Genesee and Orleans counties and to the youth they serve.
Continuing to support the community members in need with rental assistance, furniture, prescription co-pays, personal care items, gas vouchers, bus passes and advocacy.
To their volunteers, donors, partners and supporters, Allport said their time, energy and contributions have made a real difference, and they are so grateful for each and every one of them.
“Your commitment has helped us create positive change, and for that, we are truly thankful,” Allport said. “As we look ahead to 2025, we are filled with hope and excitement for the work we will continue to do together. Our journey isn’t over – we can’t wait to see what we will achieve in the coming year.”
Allport concluded with a “thank you” to everyone for being part of their mission and pushing to make the community a better place.
Photos by Tom Rivers: Beth Miller, owner of Wild Flour Deli & Bakery, is shown in February 2022 holding a turkey Reuben sandwich which she calls Daffodil. Miller named her sandwiches after flowers. She opened Wild Flour in November 2021.
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 28 December 2024 at 7:50 pm
ALBION – The owner of Wild Flour Deli and Bakery announced today the business will be closing at its Albion location on Route 31 and moving to Brockport.
Beth Miller of Holley posted on Facebook she is “devastated” to make the decision. She had posted in recent months that business was often slow in Albion.
She opened Wild Flour in November 2021 at 438 West Ave., making sandwiches, soups, salads and baked goods. She promoted the business as a healthier option than fast food and pizza.
“We are sorry and truly heartbroken by this decision, but there was truly no other choice,” Miller posted on Facebook.
She attended many local concerts and events, selling sandwiches, pie and other food to help promote the business.
Wild Flour will close in Albion on Feb. 27. Miller doesn’t have a date on when she will open in Brockport. She said she will rent a local food kitchen and will still cater events and parties and do shows during the summer. She is considering a food truck as well.
“We have loved our time here and value all of our customers so much,” Miller said on Facebook. “But it is time for us to move on.”
Wild Flour Deli and Bakery won first place in Albion’s Christmas Parade in December 2023. This photo shows Wild Flour owner Beth Miller walking by the float that created a baking scene. There was a baking fight in front of the judges with some dough being tossed around. Wild Flour won third in the most recent parade on Dec. 14.
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 27 December 2024 at 5:09 pm
Photos by Tom Rivers
ALBION – An Albion police vehicle driven by officer Chris Glogowski was the first to cross the Main Street lift bridge after it reopened to traffic today at about 4:30 p.m.
Many of the cars and trucks that followed beeped their horns in delight that the bridge was back open after being closed since Nov. 14, 2022. When it closed, the state Department of Transportation estimated it would reopen in 18 months or the spring of 2024.
But there have been delays in getting materials for the project, pushing the completion back.
The bridge rails on the inside of the bridge, for example, didn’t arrive until a week ago. Those rails are critical to protecting the bridge’s beams.
A happy construction worker from Crane-Hogan Structural Systems in Spencerport removes a sign about the bridge being out.
Crane-Hogan served as general contractor for the project. The company said there is more work today below the bridge with the lifting mechanism. The bridge may need to close briefly in the spring before the project is entirely complete.
A construction worker takes photos of a 40,000-pound crane going over the bridge as part of a final inspection to make sure the bridge didn’t shift from the weight.
The community started to get excited when the concrete barriers were removed about 2:30 this afternoon on the southside of the bridge. Several people posted on social media, hopeful today would be the day for the bridge to reopen.
The barriers on the north side were removed about 3:30 p.m. DOT staff also took down the detour signs late this afternoon.
Liz Groat, one of the vendors at Downtown Browsery, said the closed bridge has been difficult on the downtown merchants, who first endured the misery and restrictions of Covid-19 in 2020, and then saw a big reduction in traffic since the bridge closed in late 2022.
Jim Theodorakos, owner of Morrison Realty, is thrilled to have the bridge back open. He said the detour, even just a block away on Ingersoll Street, has been inconvenient for the community. His business office is two buildings from the bridge on the south side.
He is thankful people can get to the office without “going around, and around, and around.”
He was able to cross the bridge just a few minutes after it reopened today.
The project is about six months late, with still more work to be done. The east side sidewalk remains closed to pedestrians so contractors can get in and out of the north pit below ground. The stairs will go in when the work is done in the pit. That deadline is just before the reopening of the Erie Canal for the navigation season in May.
The sidewalk on the west side is open to pedestrians.
Some of the steel fabricated was off by a tiny amount, but the lift bridge has a very low tolerance for imperfections with steel, one of the contractors said. Even being off by a thickness of a hair is unacceptable for some of the parts, he said.
About 80 percent of the bridge has new steel. The top steel beams and some of the diagonal pieces remain from the original 1914 bridge.
Crane-Hogan employees remove a “Road Closed” sign. The company and other construction workers cheered after the final inspection and the bridge was reopened. Some of the workers have been driving 1 ½ hours each way to work on the project.
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 26 December 2024 at 7:37 pm
File photo by Tom Rivers: This photo from October 2021 shows a farm scene looking down from Presbyterian Road on the Erie Canal in Albion, looking north. The bridge was close to traffic on Dec. 30.
ALBION – The canal bridge on Presbyterian Road will close to traffic Dec. 30 and is expected to be closed for a repair until May 1, the Orleans County Emergency Management Office announced today.
The bridge is the last canal bridge on the west side of the Town of Albion, located between the Allens Bridge Road bridge and Knowlesville lift bridge.
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 25 December 2024 at 5:14 pm
Provided photo
ALBION – This group of vendors at the Downtown Browsery dressed up as Misfit Toys on Dec. 14 during Albion’s Hometown Holiday celebration.
The group includes, from left: Liz Groat, Kim Heiler, Paula Brooks, Linda Hollenbeck, Connie Ferris, Gladys Lotta, Dar Krull, Donna John and Diane Wight.
The Browsery celebrated its 20th anniversary this past year.
Many people in the Orleans County community contributed making a memorable Christmas and holiday season, organizing and participating in parades, festivals, church services and community decorations, and by donating many gifts to others, including strangers.
We thank all of you who gave of yourselves to help make the season merrier and bright.
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 25 December 2024 at 9:39 am
Money will come from cemetery funds, but not from perpetual care
File photo by Tom Rivers: Mount Albion started the Deerfield section in 2001 with space for about 1,200 grave sites. It was the last expansion at the cemetery. There are only about 300 to 400 spots left at Deerfield.
ALBION – The sale has been finalized for the Village of Albion to acquire 35.2 acres of vacant land for future expansion of Mount Albion Cemetery.
The village is paying $250,874.58 to Patricia Nelson for the land that is next to Mount Albion’s southwest corner.
The sale was finalized on Nov. 8 and the Albion Village Board on Dec. 11 stipulated the payment comes from the cemetery, but not the perpetual care fund.
The village clerk and independent auditors reviewed the cemetery funds and determined the sale price will be paid from perpetual care funds, and instead will come from “accumulation of monies over time from donations for purchase of flowers for established grave sites or from the sale of burial sites at the cemetery,” according to a Dec. 11 board resolution.
Albion could run out of grave sites at the existing cemetery in the next five to 10 years, board members said.
Mount Albion opened in 1843 and has about 20,000 gravesites on about 80 acres. The cemetery does about 75 burials a year and sells about 50 to 60 gravesites annually, cemetery superintendent Jason Zicari said in a May interview.
The village acquired the land at $7,000 per acre plus the cost of the abstract of title and a survey.
Zicari expects the 35.2 acres will be developed in phases, and may not be needed for a decade.
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 24 December 2024 at 10:54 am
File photo by Tom Rivers: The Phipps Road culvert over Otter Creek has been closed to traffic since Sept. 9, 2022.
ALBION – A bridge that has been closed to traffic in Albion since Sept. 9, 2022 is expected to reopen as a new bridge next summer.
The Phipps Road bridge was closed after an inspection showed the steel high-beam supports were rotted.
The Albion Town Board and Highway Superintendent Michael Neidert successfully secured a state grant to replace the bridge, which is technically a culvert at 19.5 feet.
The new bridge will be 25 feet, which technically makes it a bridge, Neidert said. Bridges are classified as spans that are at least 20 feet.
Gov. Kathy Hochul announced on July 5, 2023 that the new bridge was awarded $1.038 million in Bridge NY funds. The bridge is over a tributary to Otter Creek.
Neidert said the replacement bridge is currently in design phase by Ravi Engineering and Land Surveying in Rochester. He expects the project to go out to bid in the spring with construction in the summer of 2025.
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 23 December 2024 at 6:17 pm
Derek Reiner
ALBION – After 30 years at the Albion Town Hall, including the past 25 years as town clerk, Sarah Basinait is retiring on Dec. 31.
Basinait worked as a deputy town clerk to Nancy Miles from 1994 to 1999, before Basinait was elected to the position starting Jan. 1, 2000.
She has been town clerk during an expansion of water lines in the town and push to online databases and technology.
Basinait was at the her final Town Board meeting as clerk today, the year-end meeting at 5 p.m. The clerk’s office will be closed the rest of this week and next week due to the holidays and the transition to a new town clerk, Derek Reiner. He was serving as a deputy treasurer at the Village of Albion. He is resigning from that position effective Dec. 30 after being appointed by the Town Board to succeed Basinait.
Before working the Village Office, Reiner was a human resource/marketing/development specialist for Hospice of Orleans.
Reiner’s appointment as town clerk is for 2025, with town voters to fill the position after that during an election in November.
Basinait said she looks forward to relaxing and the next chapter in her life.
“The residents, I’m going to miss them,” she said after this evening’s board meeting.
Besides serving as clerk and keeping the minutes at board meetings, Basinait has processed dog licenses, hunting and fishing licenses, sent out 675 quarterly water bills, and responded to other needs of the residents for town business.
Basinait will be working the next week to close out the town books for 2024.
North Point Chapel becoming Canalside Community Church
File photo by Tom Rivers: Ben Curfman is shown in July 2022 when he started as the new pastor of North Point Chapel at 19 North Platt St., Albion. Curfman and his wife Rebekah have six children. They moved to Albion from North Carolina.
Press Release, Canalside Community Church
ALBION – After approving a series of changes at a meeting of the members of North Point Chapel in February of this year, the church voted to replant entirely under a new name, Canalside Community Church.
Beginning Jan. 1, the church will officially begin displaying the new name to the community. “As we worked to make the church healthier over the last two years, several members suggested that we pursue a fresh start as a church in light of the many changes,” said Pastor Ben Curfman. “The church agreed, and Canalside Community Church was born.”
The church meets in the building formerly owned by the Albion First United Methodist Church at the intersection of North Platt Street and East State Street in Albion, across from the Orleans County Courthouse.
“We decided on the name Canalside because it says something about where we are located, one block from the Erie Canal in Albion,” Curfman said. “We discovered that people in the village did not know the former name of the church or did not realize it was located so close to them.”
In 2025, Canalside plans to address this with better outdoor signage and more interaction with the community.
“We chose to include ‘community’ in the church name because we want our neighbors to know that anyone is welcome to worship with us, whether they have a particular church background or no religious background at all,” Curfman explained.
The church’s beliefs are associated with the Baptist tradition, and it is supported by other churches and networks from across the United States including SEND Network and The Pillar Network.
“When you visit, you can expect a very simple and authentic service that includes singing, a lesson for children, and verse-by-verse Bible teaching,” he said. “We are currently going through the book of Exodus, and we cover everything – even the hard parts!”
The church pastor invites those interested to contact him with spiritual questions, thoughts, or to share their personal story. He can be reached at pastor@canalside.cc or (585) 283-4114.
Canalside Community Church is located at 19 N Platt St. Albion, NY 14411. For more information, go to their website (canalside.cc) or look up the church on Facebook.
Photos by Ginny Kropf: Trellis Pore, pastor of Shiloh Church on Crandall Road in Albion, poses with Santa and Mrs. Claus at the Albion Elks Lodge, where his church had its first Family Gift Giveaway Saturday afternoon, at which an estimated 400 people attended.
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 22 December 2024 at 7:57 am
ALBION – Christmas came early for hundreds of individuals who visited the Albion Elks Lodge Saturday afternoon, at the invitation of Shiloh Church.
In what promises to be an annual event, Shiloh Church presented its first Family Gift Giveaway, in which thousands of dollars of toys and gifts were given to anyone who showed up.
The event was the idea of Shiloh Church’s pastor Trellis Pore, who grew up in Albion and is now pastor of Shiloh Church on Crandall Road.
“After the response to this initial event, this will be an annual event,” Pore said. “We want to bring the community together and show the people Jesus loves them. My vision is this community needs a greater influence of true disciples. They need to know Jesus still has saving powers. I want the community back to how it used to be when I was a kid.”
Saturday’s event was posted on Facebook and people came from all over the area, including Batavia and Lockport. The event began at 3 p.m. and by 3:30 p.m., 300 people had come through the doors, bringing with them children of all ages.
Bobby Washington of Batavia brought his three children to the Family Gift Giveaway sponsored by Shiloh Church on Saturday afternoon. From left are Josiah and Serenity with their Grinch-painted faces, and sister Scarlet playing with her gift set.
Shiloh Church could not bear to see anyone, especially a child, go without a present on Christmas, and when the pastor announced what he wanted to do, the majority of church members went out and bought gifts of all kinds, Pore said.
A table stretching the length of the Elks Hall was filled with gifts and toys – from dolls, stuffed animals and action toys to toy vehicles, basketballs and games.
But the highlight of the event was a row of 25 new bicycles, to which the first children to arrive ran to. It was “first come, first served,” Pore said, and the early birds got their pick of a new bike.
When families entered the door, they registered their name, phone number and e-mail. The children got a ticket to go pick out one toy. The adults got a key chain with a Biblical verse and a sheet of basket raffle tickets. Items included in the raffle were large posters of Josh Allen, a larger-than-life smart TV, two smaller TVS, a vacuum cleaner, Keurig coffee maker, blender, several heated foot massagers, several air fryers, a crock pot, portable heater, lawn chairs and more.
(Left) Some of the 25 new bikes that were given away by Shiloh Church on Saturday are lined up in the Elks Lodge after being claimed by the first children to arrive. (Right) Jamie Bowers of Lockport helps her son, Colby Bair, 3, assemble part of the shark play set he chose as his free gift.
In addition to the giveaways, there was face painting and ornament making. Santa and Mrs. Claus were there to welcome the children.
A big supporter of Shiloh Church is Mike Ognibene, an automobile dealer and businessman from Oakfield who is also pastor of Overcome Christian Ministries.
“We met years ago when Trellis came to my gym in Oakfield and we’ve been friends ever since,” Ognibene said.
He praised Shiloh Church, saying he’d never seen a church like it. He began attending there shortly after they opened, and has been attending ever since.
“We’re here to make a difference,” Pore said. “A lasting difference.”
He also shared that Ognibene will be preaching the sermon at 11 a.m. next week at Shiloh Church and welcomes everyone to come and hear him.
Pore happily boasted Shiloh Church now has 50 active youth ages 5 to 17 in his church. In fact, his church has grown so much in the three years since he started it, they need to expand where they are or find bigger quarters, he said.
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 21 December 2024 at 7:25 pm
Photos by Tom Rivers
ALBION – Susan Thaine, pastor of the First presbyterian Church of Albion, lights a candle symbolizes love during last week’s “Community Service of Remembrance, Comfort and Hope.”
The Presbyterian Church hosted the service that was led by the Albion Area Ministerium with assistance from Mitchell Family Cremations & Funerals, Hospice of Orleans and the Suicide Prevention Coalition of Orleans County.
Other candles were lit to symbolize hope, peace and joy.
The Rev. Dr. Don Algeo, pastor of the Gaines Congregational Church, shares a message about peace. “So often we allow the burdens of life to get in the way of experiencing true peace with God,” Algeo said. “Take some time this Christmas season to be still and to know the peace of God.”
Other participating clergy included: Rev. Susan Thaine of Albion Presbyterian Church, Rev. Marsha Rivers of Albion First Baptist Church, Rev. Susan Boring of Eagle Harbor Methodist Church, Father Mark Noonan of ONE Catholic Church and Sister Dolores O’Dowd.
Erin Moody sings “Christmas in Heaven.”
Josh Mitchell of Mitchell Family Cremations & Funerals joins a candle lighting.
Other participating leaders from organizations include Rev. Randy LeBaron, director of Spiritual Care for Hospice of Orleans, and Nola Goodrich-Kresse of the Suicide Prevention Coalition.
Myrna Martin was among the singers during the service. About 50 people attended the event.
Gary Simboli also performed, singing, “I Heard the Bells.”
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 19 December 2024 at 9:13 pm
Photo by Tom Rivers
ALBION – Statewide Aquastore Inc. from East Syracuse is nearly done with construction of a new 750,000-gallon water tank on Route 98 in the Town of Gaines.
Aquastore submitted the low bid of $1,369,000 for the project. The new tank is a glass-fused steel tank. Aquastore employees said they expect the new tank will be complete in January.
It will mostly serve the Town of Carlton. Water is kept in the tank and backflows into the Carlton waterlines.
The new system replaces the previous 1-million-gallon tank that was built in 1962.
The former tank was torn down a $1,527,000 bid from STC Construction of Springville. That bid also included installation of new piping, valves and a meter pit.
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 19 December 2024 at 8:26 pm
ALBION – A day after announcing the Albion Main Street lift bridge was on target to reopen on Dec. 26, the reopening has been pushed back slightly.
Village Trustee Joyce Riley said she was notified today by the state Department of Transportation the bridge won’t be ready Dec. 26, but should open very soon.
The DOT and village will wait until the reopening is certain before putting out a date.
The bridge has been closed to traffic since Nov. 14, 2022. When it closed, the DOT estimated it would reopen in 18 months or the spring of 2024.
But there have been delays in getting materials for the project, pushing the completion back.
The bridge was originally built in 1914. It is one of 16 lift bridges on the Erie Canal, and one of seven in Orleans County.
The church meets in the building formerly owned by the Albion First United Methodist Church at the intersection of North Platt Street and East State Street in Albion, across from the Orleans County Courthouse.
