Photo courtesy of Albion Central School. Ashleigh Stornelli is the school resource officer at Albion Central School this year. She has worked as an SRO for Kendall.

Press Release, Albion Central School

ALBION – Albion Central School is pleased to introduce Ashleigh Stornelli, an Orleans County deputy sheriff, as the district’s new School Resource Officer. She assumed her role at the beginning of the 2025-26 school year. She has served as an SRO for Kendall Central School.

Deputy Matthew Prawel served in the role for Albion the previous three years.

Stornelli is a graduate of Lyndonville High School. She earned her associate’s degree in criminal justice from Genesee Community College and completed her law enforcement training at the Erie County Police Academy.

Her previous experience includes six years as Military Police in the U.S. Army National Guard, one year with the Holley Police Department and seven years in the Orleans County Sheriff’s Office.

“A safe school environment is imperative for all,” said Mickey Edwards, Albion Superintendent of Schools. “Deputy Stornelli brings a wealth of experience and a passion for serving the community. We are excited to welcome her and support her as she leads safety initiatives in our buildings and establishes strong relationships within our school community.”

An SRO’s presence has a complex impact and benefits the school community in more ways than one.

“I look forward to serving as a trusted and approachable mentor, and educating on all facets of student safety while prioritizing a safe and secure campus,” Stornelli said. “It’s an honor to join the ACSD team and continue my career here. Serving as an SRO is extremely rewarding and I am eager to build relationships, navigate challenges together and make a lasting positive impact.”

Crowd gets smaller but attendees say they’ll never forget

Photos by Tom Rivers

ALBION – Albion police officers, Orleans County sheriff’s deputies and chaplains recite the Pledge of Allegiance on Thursday evening during a Sept. 11 memorial service at the Courthouse Square.

The memorial was on the 24^th anniversary of the terrorists attacks that killed nearly 3,000 people, including 60 police officers in New York City.

A giant American flag is displayed high over Main Street from Murray and Albion ladder trucks.

Firefighters stand during the service, including from right: Scott Buffin, deputy emergency management coordinator for Orleans County; and Steve Cooley, Medina fire chief.

There were 343 firefighters in New York City who died on Sept. 11, 2001.

There were about 75 people at the memorial service on Thursday. That may have been the smallest crowd for the annual service. One of the Albion firefighters said he was disappointed by the turnout, saying people seemed to have forgotten the horrors of Sept. 11, when four airplanes were hijacked.

The terrorists attack killed nearly 3,000 people and injured more than 6,000 others. Terrorists crashed two planes into the World Trade Center towers in New York City, one into the Pentagon in Washington, D.C. and the other into a field in rural Shanksville, Pa.

Brad Nudd, second from left, and other members of the Honor Guard fire during a gun salute and then Taps was played during the service.

Orleans County Legislator John Fitzak spoke at the memorial service. He said Sept. 11, 2001 remains “one of the most tragic and defining days in our nation’s history.”

The country showed its strength, resilience and unity in the days that followed after the attacks.

“In the days and weeks that followed, we saw a nation come together – neighbors helping neighbors, strangers becoming family, communities standing as one. That spirit of unity is the legacy we must carry forward,” Fitzak said.

Doug Egling plays, “America the Beautiful,” on a wind controller AE30 Roland. Trellis Pore also sang the song during the service.

Scott Schmidt, Orleans County chief coroner and a funeral director for Mitchell Family Cremations and Funerals, served as the keynote speaker at the observance. Schmidt spent three weeks with the federal DMORT team and assisted in collecting and identifying remains, and interviewing family members searching for loved ones.

He left for New York City on Sept. 11, 2001. He was there for 20 days, including a week at Ground Zero. Three of his colleagues on DMORT attended the service in Albion on Monday.

Schmidt noted that human remains from Sept. 11, 2001 continue to be positively identified by the New York City Office of the Chief Medical Examiner. As recently as Aug. 13, three more victims were identified, Schmidt said.

And the death toll continues to grow as more people die each year from their exposure to particulates while working at or near Ground Zero or from when then were fleeing the site where two skyscrapers collapsed.

“We mourn all these men and women,” Schmidt said. “We remember their lives equally. We remember their lives equally because in death, men and women of all socio-economic statue, people of all colors and creeds, of all walks of life, all men and women in death are equal.”

Fred Piano, an Albion firefighter, sounds the air horn from an Albion fire truck.

Scott Schmidt noted that an air horn was sounded when human remains were found in the rubble after the World Trade Center towers collapsed.

“That abrasive, harsh, stunning, loud, startling and mournful sound of an air horn is a real-time remembrance of the painful reality of that day,” Schmidt said.

Firefighters take down the giant flag that was displayed on Main Street across from te Courthouse. Fran Gaylord of the Murray Joint Fire District, left, and Jeremy Babcock of the Albion Joint Fire District were among the firefighters putting the flag away.

Photos by Tom Rivers

ALBION – Doris Heydel holds a French frappe coffee at the Serenity Vitality Café, which she opened last week at 438 West Ave.

Heydel also is owner of Serenity Spa & Holistic Center. She opened that business in June 2023. She offers numerous services at the site, from massage, anti-aging treatments with facials and skin care, pain treatments, reflexology, meditation, yoga and holistic life coaching.

The new café fits in with her mission at the spa and holistic center. She wants to help people lead healthier lives.

“Health is 80 percent of what we eat,” she said. “We wanted to bring healthy choices.”

Doris Heydel is shown at the café which has plenty of space for people to relax. The café has a room available for meetings and small parties.

The new café offers smoothie bowls, toasts, smoothies, grab-and-go items (including gluten-free options), healthy soda and health shots.

Heydel’s husband Lionel is a chef and he said soups, including a daily vegan option, should be added soon to the menu.

The café is open from 8 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. on Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday, and 10 a.m. to 3:30 on Saturday and Sunday. It is closed on Wednesday.

The Orleans County Chamber of Commerce on Tuesday morning celebrated a grand opening Serenity Vitality Café. From left include Allison Barkowski from Congresswoman Claudia Tenney’s office, Chamber director Darlene Hartway, Doris and Lionel Heydel, Chamber social media director Courtney Henderson, and David Gagne, board president for the Chamber.

Hartway praised Doris Heydel for adding the café to the site, which already has a very popular spa and other holistic health services.

“It’s great to have more healthy options for the community,” Hartway said about the café. “It fits well with her business. It’s wonderful to have this option.”

Doris Heydel accepts a citation from Congresswoman Claudia Tenney for opening the new café. She was presented the certificate from Allison Barkowski, operations and outreach director for Tenney.

Photos by Tom Rivers: Trey Lewis, a development manager with the Broadway Group in Huntsville, Ala., speaks during a public hearing Tuesday about the company’s request for a variance for parking at a proposed new store in Albion. Behind him are members of the Albion Zoning Board of Appeals, from left: Jeannette Riley, Tony Wynn, Chairman Craig Tuohey and Trellis Pore.

ALBION – The Village of Albion Zoning Board of Appeals approved a variance for a proposed Dollar General that would allow the company to have fewer parking spaces require din the village code.

The Broadway Group wants to build a new 10,640-square-foot Dollar General across from the high school. The building would be required to have at least 53 parking spaces as a retail business.

Broadway is proposing to have 35, which the company said is more than enough parking and would also allow for more green space on the site.

The village code requires one parking spot for every 200 square feet of building space.

The ZBA held a public hearing about the variance request on Tuesday afternoon. Many of the speakers said they didn’t think a Dollar General across from the school was a good fit. They also questioned if there was enough room on the lot for tractor trailers to make deliveries and then turnaround without backing out onto Route 31.

Craig Tuohey, the ZBA chairman, said the Zoning Board of Appeals was only dealing with the variance request for parking. The Village Planning Board will consider the traffic flow issues and truck turnaround as part of the site plan.

Now that the variance has been approved, the Broadway Group can work on detailed drawings for the site plan. That plan could be before the Village Planning Board in October or November.

Fred Piano and his wife Annette live two houses from the proposed location for the Dollar General. They questioned if there is enough space on the lot for tractor trailers to safely turn in and out of the site. Mrs. Piano also said the 4 p.m. public hearing wasn’t an ideal time to have a meeting for public input.

She said the variance sets a precedent for other projects where developers could seek a reduction in parking.

Trey Lewis, a development manager for the Broadway Group, said the state Department of Transportation has approved similar size driveways for Dollar General stores in New York, including some that are smaller than the proposed 36-foot-wide driveway for the Albion store.

The company works with Fagan Engineers in Elmira on many of its New York projects. Brian Grose from Fagan was on the phone for the hearing and noted the DOT approval for similar Dollar General stores. He said the site is big enough to accommodate tractor trailers in turning around on site.

Lewis said there would typically be two deliveries a week to the store.

The Broadway Group wants to knock down this building at 327 East Ave. and build a new 10,640-square-foot Dollar General across from the high school.

Mike Neidert, the Albion highway superintendent and a resident of East Avenue, urged the Broadway Group to consider another site in the village, rather than across from the school.

“Although it’s zoned commercial, this is a more neighborhood setting,” he said. “It might be zoned for it, but I don’t think it’s a good fit for it. The location isn’t the best.”

He suggested the other end of the village where there already are many retail businesses.

Putting a store across from the school spreads out the business district, encroaching on homes, he said.

“We’re losing our village to businesses that have more money than we do,” he said.

He noted Crosby’s knocked down a house recently next to its store at the intersection of routes 98 and 31, saying it would be used to add parking.

Another East Avenue resident, Jan Erakare, also questioned whether the site for a new Dollar General was a good fit for the community. He said there are already similar-type stores in Albion, but at least those are farther away from the school campus.

“It’s very dangerous to put these in front of a school,” he said.

Jason Dragon, an East Avenue resident, said the Dollar General will introduce more traffic delays on an already busy stretch. Allowing the variance for reduced parking will stay with the site long term, and there could be a different use at the site in the future.

“You should stick to the codes because future uses may very well need those parking spaces,” he said.

Tuohey, the ZBA chairman, said the village’s requirement of one space every 200 square feet may be too onerous. He would like the village to evaluate that threshold as part of a review of its comprehensive plan.

Photo by Tom Rivers: Rotary Park in Medina has a memorial for the victims of the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorists attacks in the United States that killed nearly 3,000 people.

ALBION – Orleans County will have a memorial service at 6 p.m. on Thursday for the victims of the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorists attacks. The service on the 24th anniversary of the attacks will again be held at Courthouse Square.

On September 11, 2001, terrorists killed nearly 3,000 people and injured more than 6,000 others when four airplanes were hijacked and crashed – with two into the World Trade Center towers in New York City, one into the Pentagon in Washington, D.C. and the other into a field in rural Shanksville, Pa.

Scheduled speakers for the Thursday service include County Legislator John Fitzak, jail chaplain Don Snyder, Orleans County Emergency Management Director Justin Niederhofer, and Chief Coroner Scott Schmidt.

Schmidt will be keynote speaker at the observance. Schmidt spent three weeks with a federal team – U.S. Disaster Mortuary Operational Response Team (DMORT) – and assisted in collecting and identifying remains, and interviewing family members searching for loved ones.

He left for New York City on Sept. 11, 2001. He was there for 20 days, including a week at Ground Zero.

Doug Egling and Trellis Pore will sing “America The Beautiful” and military honors will be presented by the Honor Guard from the American Legion and VFW.

Photo courtesy of Marlene Seielstad

ALBION – The Albion Rotary Club on Thursday presented a $5,500 check to the Office for the Aging in Orleans County Aging to support a transportation program for senior citizens.

Rotary Club member Becky Karls, left, presents the ceremonial check to Melissa Blanar, director of the OFA. Karls is an aging service specialist with the OFA. She also serves as the co-director of the golf tournament with Cindy Perry.

This year’s tournament was at Shelridge Country Club in Medina on July 17.

The program at the OFA is for seniors needing transportation to a variety of services, including medical appointments, and trips to the bank, hairdresser or to see a loved one in a nursing home. There aren’t public funds or grants for this program.

For more information about the volunteer program, either as a driver or rider, contact the OFA at (585) 589-3191. Drivers can specify if they only want to do trips within Orleans County.

Group gets rare look inside chapel with striking stained-glass windows

Photos by Tom Rivers

ALBION – A group of about 75 people walk by a statue of Joseph on Sunday evening during a tour of St. Joseph’s Cemetery on East Avenue.

This was the fifth and final cemetery tour of August. The Orleans County Historical Association organized the tours that also included Mount Albion, Robinson Cemetery in Clarendon, Millville Cemetery in Shelby and Greenwood Cemetery in Kendall.

Catherine Cooper, Orleans County historian, led the tour with Susan Starkweather Miller, the Village of Albion historian. Cooper is shown by the monument for the Cunneen family, including John Cunneen.

Cunneen, an Irish immigrant, came to the Albion community at age 12 in 1860, traveling by himself from Ireland. He made it to Albion by packet boat along the Erie Canal, joining cousins in Gaines. Cunneen would became a lawyer and served as attorney general for the state in 1903 and 1904. There is a historic marker about Cunneen at his former home on Platt Street, across from the County Jail.

Cunneen died in 1907 at age 58 of pneumonia. He was a lawyer in Buffalo at the time. The Bishop of Buffalo accompanied the body on a funeral train to Albion.

He was buried in the older St. Joseph’s Cemetery on Brown Road. When the new cemetery opened in 1920, Cunneen’s family agreed to have his grave moved to the new cemetery. The parish priest at the time encouraged people to move their relatives from old St. Joseph’s and offered them favorable terms. He secured a coup when the Cunneen family agreed to have John Cunneen’s body reinterred in a prominent place at the new cemetery.

Cunneen’s wife Elizabeth was buried at Mount Albion in 1917. Being a Presbyterian, she wasn’t allowed to be buried at the Catholic cemetery.

The tour on Sunday gave the public a rare opportunity to go inside the chapel at the cemetery. It has four stained-glass windows made by Frohe Stained Glass of Buffalo. Bill Lattin, retired cunty historian, wrote a book about the local stained-glass windows, Luminaries in the Firmanent.

“Truly these are amazing windows,” Lattin said.

They depict the birth of Jesus, the crucifixion, the resurrection and the ascension.

The chapel is 38 feet by 24 feet and is made of local Medina Sandstone. The building was big enough to fit about 50 people comfortably.

This photo shows the chapel in back and a 16-foot-high cross in front that depicts the crucifixion of Jesus. Below Jesus are Mary Magdalene, Saint John the Baptist and Mary, the Blessed Mother.

Sue Starkweather Miller speaks about Joseph A. Dibley Sr., a blacksmith who also created the world’s largest rolling pin in 1929 when a 3-ton apple pie was made, setting a new record at the time. Charles Howard, founder of a Santa School, led the pie-making effort.

The rolling pin is 4 feet long and weighs 60 pounds. Dibley’s great-granddaughter Loraine Dibley brought the rolling pin to the tour on Sunday.

Dibley’s blacksmith shop was on West Bank Street, the site of the current Gotta Dance studio.

Catherine Cooper talks about the Rt. Rev. Msgr. Francis Sullivan, who served as parish priest in Albion for just over 50 years. A native of Hartland in Niagara County, Msgr. Francis Sullivan was pastor of St. Joseph’s Church from May 19, 1897 to Dec. 13, 1946. During his time in Albion, he celebrated more than 26,000 Masses, performed 660 marriages and 2,017 baptisms.

The first Catholic cemetery in Albion was on Brown Road in Gaines. The 3-acre site was purchased by Father Castaldi in 1873 and named Holy Cross Cemetery but was referred to as St. Joseph’s Cemetery, now St. Joseph’s old cemetery.

Msgr. Sullivan felt the old cemetery was too far outside the village. He saw prominent people selecting Mt. Albion for their final resting place and he felt deceased Catholics should also be entitled to a prominent final resting place, Cooper said.

When Msgr. Sullivan arrived in Albion in 1897, he saw a completed new church structure on West Park Street, but a parish that was deeply in debt. Sullivan led the parish in clearing the debt, and then in building the lyceum, convent, rectory and a sexton’s house. In 1920, he purchased the 14 acres for the new cemetery and chapel.

He also served on the Albion Board of Education for 18 years and was on the building committee for construction of grammar school on Academy Street.

During his time in Albion, he celebrated more than 26,000 Masses, performed 660 marriages and 2,017 baptisms. He was able to persuade the local quarrymen to nearly give the sandstone for the new chapel.

David Snell shares about his father, Peter Snell, who was abandoned and left as an orphan in Buffalo. Young Peter was known as “Billy Knight” before he was adopted by an Albion family at age 4. The display shows Peter’s baptismal clothes when he was adopted by his family.

Peter would go on to serve in World War II. He survived abandonment and the Great Depression before starting a real estate business in 1957 that David continues to operate on Main Street in Albion. Peter passed away in 2000.

The tour highlighted Pasquale DiLaura, who was a key owner and proponent of Medina Sandstone after most of the quarries had closed by 1920. DiLaura kept the Medina Sandstone industry alive in Orleans County from the 1920s through the 1960s.

He was a member of the Albion branch of the Journeymen Stone Cutters Association of North America. His ribbon from the union was passed around on Sunday’s tour.

DiLaura bought the O’Brien Quarry on Howard Road in Clarendon. He kept his employees paid during the Great Depression even when there was little work to be done.

The DiLaura Stone Co. did the Medina Sandstone work on the bridges and culverts on the Lake Ontario State Parkway in the 1950s and 1960s, perhaps the last major public works project with local Medina Sandstone.

In the 1920s and ’30s, DiLaura was urged to leave the Albion area and join many of his quarrymen friends who left the area to the work in the auto factories in Detroit and Michigan.

DiLaura decided to stay put. He bought the quarry in Clarendon. DiLaura kept promoting the product and gave it about 40 more years of life.

He wrote letters to U.S. senators and the Works Progress Administration in Washington, D.C., urging them to pick a project with Medina Sandstone for the public benefit. DiLaura led the crews that built the Hamlin Beach State Park. He taught the young men in the Civilian Conservation Corps how to cut stone. Many of those structures endure about 80 years after they were built.

DiLaura was among a large group of quarrymen who came to Orleans County from Alfedena, Italy. DiLaura’s forefathers were stone cutters for 950 years, working on projects in Italy, Starkweather said.

DiLaura also was the first Italian elected to the Albion Board of Education. He served in that role for 30 years.

“He was truly a champion of this area and this community,” Starkweather said.

Albion isn’t alone in waiting for its Main Street lift bridge to open.

Brockport was expecting its bridge to reopen in early August but that has been pushed back to November, Mayor Ben Reed told the community this week.

“Don’t shoot the messenger, but we have some unfortunate news regarding the Main Street Bridge,” he said in a message posted on Brockport village website. “The planned reopening has been pushed back again, and we’re now looking at a new projected opening date in November. Barring no other unforeseen circumstances.”

The mayor said the delay is due bridge clearance issues, positioning sensor replacement (with the sensor due to be delivered in October), and a shortage of iron workers.

“DOT is actively working to see if they can bring in a crew from the New York City area to help speed things along,” Reed said. “We know this is frustrating for everyone! We will provide more updates as we have them.”

Brockport’s bridge has been closed since May 2023. It was bid out for a major rehabilitation with the Albion bridge. The DOT accepted a $28.3 million construction bid for both the Albion and Brockport lift bridges with Crane-Hogan Structural Systems in Spencerport the low bidder.

The Albion bridge was close to reopening a few months ago but a “catastrophic event” on May 7 pushed that back at least another 15 weeks.

Albion’s bridge was initially closed on Nov. 14, 2022 for what was expected to be about 18 months for a major rehabilitation. That project stretched to more than two years when the bridge was reopened just after Christmas on Dec. 27, 2024.

But the bridge wasn’t completely ready. It was left in the down position while the canal was closed for the boating season.

The control system to operate the lift bridge was being tested on May 7 when a failure occurred within the main drive system cabinet located in the control tower. A vendor, with a specialization in control systems and experienced in movable bridge projects, was starting the motor function tests.

“When the system was energized, one of the electric drive controllers arced, producing a fire in the drive cabinet,” Paul Attoma, engineer-in-charge for Region 4 Construction  for the DOT, advised Albion Village Board members. “The arcing drive assembly was severely damaged, and the heat from the fire damaged the second controller. Both drive controllers are beyond salvage and other components in the cabinet were damaged.”

Significant lead time is needed to procure and test replacement control drive units, he said then.

Crews have been working on the Albion bridge recently, often at night. No official date has been released on when it will reopen.

Business wants to have 35 parking spaces instead of required 53 under village code

Photo by Tom Rivers: The Broadway Group wants to demolish this building at 327 East Ave. in Albion and build a new 10,640-square-foot Dollar General with 35 parking spaces. This site is across the street from Charles D’ Amico High School.

 ALBION – The Orleans County Planning Board this evening voted to recommend the Village of Albion approve a variance for a new Dollar General store at 327 East Ave.

The Broadway Group, which is seeking to build the new store, is requesting the site have 35 parking spaces instead of the 53 required under the village code.

The store is proposed at 10,640 square feet. The village code requires a parking space for every 200 square feet of gross floor area.

The Broadway Group from Huntsville, Ala. has built many of the Dollar General stores around the country. Broadway said similar-size Dollar General stores need 32 parking spaces.

Allowing the variance for the 35 parking spaces would allow the site to keep more green space which would help with stormwater runoff and with a buffer to residential areas abutting the property.

“The proposed retail store is not necessarily a destination location for most people,” Brian Gross, staff engineer at Fagan Engineers & Land Surveyors, said in the application to the County Planning Board. “Therefore, customers will only be at the location for 20 minutes or less, meaning there will be a higher turnover rate in parking.”

The Village of Albion Planning Board will have a public hearing about the variance at 4 p.m. on Sept. 9 at the Village Office.

If the variance is approved, Broadway will then work on a site plan to be submitted the village and county.

County Planning Board members said they have some concerns about the tight parking lot and how will accommodate larger delivery trucks. Planners want adequate turnaround on the site so the truck doesn’t back out onto Route 31.

One possibility could be getting an easement from Cone Zone next door where trucks could enter Dollar General and exit from Cone Zone. Both properties are owned by Chris Kinter, the village’s code officer. He is recusing himself from the Dollar General project. Dan Strong, the code officer for the Town of Albion, and handling the code enforcement duties with the Dollar General variance and if there is a site plan and building permit.

Mecate serving food, alcohol in former KFC location

Photos by Tom Rivers

ALBION – A new Mexican restaurant, mecate, has opened in Albion at the former KFC location, 172 South Main St. The top shows two of the owners, Fabricio Palma, left, and Omar Garcia. Abigail Ramirez also is a co-owner.

The group also owns Mecate restaurants in Henrietta, Webster and Macedon. They opened their first Mecate in 2022.

“We feel like it will be a great addition,” Garcia said. “We are bringing something new to Albion.”

The Mecate is managed by Lucy Ramirez of Albion. She had been working out of the Mecate in Henrietta. About a dozen people work at the Albion location.

Mecate is open daily from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. The restaurant had a soft opening on Thursday.

The owners worked about three months remodeling the restaurant. They installed a new bar, booths and kitchen equipment.

The wide-ranging menu of Mexican food also includes lunch specials and soups. The most popular items are birrias, which are slow-simmered beef.

“You’ll find a little bit of every style,” Garcia said about the menu of Mexican food.

The Mecate is at the former KFC, which was open in Albion from 2012 to 2019.

From left include Fabricio Palma, Ofelia Ramirez, Lucy Ramirez, Omar Garcia and Abigail Ramirez. Abigail, Lucy and Ofelia are sisters, and Fabricio Palma and Ofelia Ramirez are married.

Ofelia Ramirez gets ready to serve a drink made by Mekhi Rivera, the bartender. Rivera, 21, of Albion said he enjoys the fast pace in the restaurant business. He said Mecate has brought in people from other locations to help train him as a bartender.

Mekhi Rivera, left, and Mayner Rodriguez are working as bartenders today at Mecate. Rodriguez works at another Mecate and has been training Rivera.

The bar includes televisions, and Mecate has the package for showing NFL games.

The owners picked “Mecate” as a name because they said it sounded catchy. The term mecate means a rope made of hair or maguey fibre commonly used for tying horses.

Business started as Bayex and has grown significantly in half century to over 200 employees

Photos by Tom Rivers

ALBION – It was a day of celebration and reconnecting at Saint-Gobain ADFORS on Wednesday. The company marked 50 years in the Albion community.

The top photo shows long-time employees who are now retired. They started when the Albion site was Bayex. From left include Ted Grimes, 41 years of service; Gary Narburgh, 44 years; Keith Sabo, 42 years; John Tower, 30 years; Darryl Szklany, 29 years; Francis Dibley, 35 years; and Gary Bloom, 39 years.

“It was a good company,” Grimes said. “No one wanted to leave.”

This group said there was strong camaraderie among the employees which made they want to go to work. They credited Joel Allen, the plant manager for many years of their tenure, for being a great boss and leader.

Saint-Gobain ADFORS has done multiple expansions over the years, from the initial 45,000-square-foot plant and 13 employees to 181,000 square feet and 222 employees.

Saint-Gobain ADFORS expanded the plant at 14770 East Ave. with new space added in 1985, 1995 and 2008. The company also uses a building a Route 98, the former Remley Printing site, as a warehouse.

Gary Narburgh holds a photo from when the company opened a new manufacturing plant in Albion in July 1976. Narburgh started working there a month later and stayed for 44 years.

“It was local and they were always good to you,” he said.

Saint-Gobain ADFORS opened the doors for the public to tour the plant on Route 31. The company makes many building and construction products.

Provided photo: State Assemblyman Steve Hawley presented a citation to the company for its 50 years of commitment in Albion. Accepting the citation are Tyler Lombard, an HR recruiting and staffing specialist at Saint-Gobain ADFORS; and Constance Wadsworth, human resources manager.

“Achieving 50 years of business is easy feat,” Hawley stated in the citation. “Saint-Gobain ADFORS has served the Orleans County community and beyond with economic growth and stable employment and has initiated excellence through five decades of hardworking and dedicated individuals producing materials that make businesses and governments alike more efficient and lives more sustainable.”

This self-adhesive drywall tape is among the products made at Saint-Gobain ADFORS in Albion.

The company manufactures technical textiles for the construction industry, manufacturing the consumer drywall tape product FibaTape, along with reinforcement materials sold to other manufacturing companies for the production of cement board, carpet backing, and road reinforcement.

Community members were able to tour the manufacturing space. Here they see a large machine that cuts dry wall tape into smaller sizes.

This photo shows many spools of polyester.

Dinosaur Bar-B-Que in Rochester served lunch to about 475 people. Saint-Gobain ADFORS invited employees, retirees and their families for the celebration. They also were treated to LuGia’s Ice Cream and live music by the Who Dats.

The company wanted a big celebration to thank their employees for their hard work over the years.

“It’s a big milestone, especially for this community,” said Constance Wadsworth, human resources manager. “A lot of places have been shutting down or moving south.”

This display shows some of the Saint-Gobain ADFORS products in a typical home.

High-energy Highway 31 drew a crowd to Bullard last week

Photos by Tom Rivers

ALBION – Highway 31 had Bullard Park rocking on last Wednesday evening during the Village of Albion’s summer concert series.

The series started on June 4 and included 15 different musical groups. The series closes on Wednesday with the Sky Cats. They were originally scheduled for Aug. 6 but some stormy weather cancelled that concert.

Highway 31 performed on the amphitheater, and played ’90s music, contemporary country and some rock.

The band members include Rich Nolan of Gasport as lead singer, and the guitar trio of Aaron Clark of Holley, Clinton LaPorte of Le Roy, and Clinton’s dad Tim LaPorte Sr. of Batavia. Timmy LaPorte of Elba, Tim’s son and Clinton’s brother, is the drummer for the band.

About 400 people attended the concert with the majority bringing their own lawn chairs. Several food vendors also have been at the concerts.

Tim LaPorte Sr., right, performs with his sons, Clinton LaPorte (left) and Timmy LaPorte on drums.

Provided photo: The Yohe Family Farm in Albion will be offering wagon rides on Wednesday at Hoag Library.

Press Release, Hoag Library

ALBION – Hoag Library’s 2025 Summer Reading Program is winding down, but the fun isn’t over yet! We have a week full of activities for all ages as we celebrate the end of another great summer of reading.

There is an ongoing Story Walk at Mount Albion Cemetery. Take a stroll and enjoy a children’s story displayed page-by-page along the path.

Upcoming Events:

• Today at noon – Free concert with Andrew Flory, a Lutenist, Classical guitarist, educator
• Monday, Aug. 18 at 11:30 a.m. – Wildlife Rockstars, an educational program using birds, amphibians, and reptile animal ambassadors.
• Tuesday, Aug. 19 at 3 p.m. – Teen Faux Stained Glass
• Wednesday, Aug. 20 at 2 p.m. – Summer Reading Finale with Yohe Wagon Rides & Serenity Acres Farm. Celebrate with horses, wagon rides, and farm animals.
• Saturday, Aug. 23, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. – Red Cross Blood Drive

Join us to close out summer with music, art, animals, and community fun. All events are free.

Hoag Library is proud to support literacy, creativity, and community connection year-round. For more information, visit us at 134 S. Main St., Albion, call (585) 589-4246, or follow us on Facebook.

Photos by Tom Rivers: Walmart officials and leaders of the store in Albion, including store manager Cherry Hodge with scissors, cut the ribbon to mark the completion of a store remodeling.

ALBION – The employees at the Albion Walmart were in a  celebratory mood this morning as the store completed a remodeling that began in March.

The store has completed its first major revamping since it opened in June 2006 at 13858 State Route 31.

The Walmart put in new freezers and coolers, replaced every shelf, put in new registers, fixture and did a new layout for the store. Walmart also expanded with a new building dedicated to its online shoppers. That side of the business has grown since the Covid pandemic hit about five years ago.

The store also was repainted and rebranded. Most of the work happened at night.

“It’s beautiful,” said Cherry Hodge, the store manager since 2010. “It needed it. The customers deserve it.”

Cherry Hodge, store manager, is pleased with the bright new look inside the Albion Walmart.

The Albion Walmart has 180 employees. Hodge and Walmart leaders recognized 16 of those employees who have been with the store since it opened more than 19 years ago.

“This is a good store with good associates,” Hodge said. “We work together as a team. Walmart is a great company to work for. They’re good to their people.”

John Emery, market manager for Walmart, praised the employees and customers for their patience during the remodeling.

He presented a certificate of appreciation to Hodge, who he said was often at the store at 3 or 4 a.m. during the remodeling process.

Nicole Wilson, a coach at the Albion Walmart, highlighted many of the employees for their extra efforts during the remodeling.

Walmart presented a $5,000 check to the Orleans County Sheriff’s Office. Cherry Hodge and John Emery, right, of Walmart present a ceremonial check to Don Draper, the undersheriff.

Walmart also is giving $1,500 to the Albion Fire Department. The AFD was represented by, from left: Dawn Marciszewski, Robert Toman, Allyson Irwin and Catrina Bias.

Chis Lazarou, store manager of the Lockport Walmart, attended the celebration today and led the group in the Walmart cheer, which puts customers first. Lazarou said some of the Lockport employees helped in Albion during the remodel.

“We all support each other,” he said about the Walmart stores and employees.

Many of the Albion Walmart employees gathered for a group photo after the ceremony this morning inside the store.