Photos by Tom Rivers

ALBION – Randy Hanks and his son Robbie are shown are Oak Orchard Bowl last Thursday when the center had a full house for its men’s league.

The Hanks family is celebrating 20 years of owning the bowling alley, which is also marking its 65^th anniversary this year. The 18-lane bowling center is on Route 98 at 3291 Oak Orchard Rd.

The Hanks family has tackled numerous improvements to the bowling center during their two decades at the helm, including a new oil machine, synthetic lanes, flooring, carpeting and remodeled bath rooms.

Hanks was named “Proprietor of the Year” in New York state in 2014 by the United States Bowling Congress. The family has improved the facility, promoted youth bowling and backed several fundraisers in the community, especially for the PAWS Animal Shelter and a memorial for Scott Whittier. The bowling tournaments for PAWS have raised about $40,000.

Randy Hanks is shown at the check-in counter. He has owned Oak Orchard Bowl for 20 years. The first 13 years he juggled a full-time job with FedEx while managing the bowling center full-time.

“Its been a lot of blood, sweat and tears,” he said.

Hanks said his family – wife Renee, daughter Regina, and sons Robbie and Ryan – have been a big part of Oak Orchard’s success.

Many of the long-time bowlers praise Hanks for the steady improvements at the bowling center. Joe Morlino is part of the Thursday Men’s League.

“Every year he does something to make it  better,” Morlino said. “He’s a great guy who is very fair. He puts money back into the place.”

Since the old wooden lanes were replaced with synthetic lanes, Morlino said there have been many more 300 games and 800 series.

“The most important thing is there are no breakdowns,” Morlino said.

Hanks praised his head mechanic, Marty Clemino, for keeping the pin-setter machines in good working order.

Randy Hanks calls out the winning 50/50 number. That fundraiser supported the Thursday Men’s League which runs from September through April.

Oak Orchard also has a kitchen with a fryer and grill serving pizza, wings, salads, pretzels, nachos and cheese, and other food.

Hanks has rolled some 300 games himself. He said he wanted to be a pro bowler but had to abandon that dream because of bad knees.

He also dreamed of running a bowling center. The Spencerport resident has been able to pursue that passion in Albion for the past two decades.

Oak Orchard Bowl has hosted hundreds of birthday parties, corporate parties, church groups, Albion High School sports teams, band, chorus and other functions during the 20 years of ownership, Hanks said.

To celebrate the Oak Orchard Bowl anniversary, Hanks said the center will be giving away a few 65-inch TVs in a contest that deals with a game/series ending in 65 or 20. There will be drawings for open bowlers, too.

Randy Hanks is shown by a wall leading into the men’s bathroom. He used old wooden lanes to redo the bathrooms about two years. It’s the improvement project that gets the most compliments from the public, he said.

This year’s improvement project was replacing all the pins.

Mike Pettinella, one of the long-time bowlers and retired associate manager of the Genesee Region for the USBC, said Hanks has created a very welcoming environment for bowlers of all skill levels in Albion.

“He is very customer-oriented,” said Pettinella of Batavia. “He will go above and beyond to make people feel comfortable. He’s well respected and people enjoy coming here to bowl.”

Photo by Tom Rivers: The Albion lift bridge is shown last week on Sept. 11. It is expected to reopen this afternoon around 3 p.m. after initially being shut down in November 2022.

ALBION – Nearly three years from when the Albion Main Street lift bridge was closed for a major rehabilitation, the bridge is expected to reopen this afternoon.

The state Department of Transportation said it is eyeing 3 p.m. for the bridge to reopen to traffic.

The 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.

The bridge was closed again to traffic on April 21 to finish up the extensive rehabilitation of a bridge that was originally installed in 1914.

But a “catastrophic event” occurred on May 7 during start-up testing of the control system to operate the lift bridge.

“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, wrote in a letter to village officials.

The fire damaged the system beyond repair, delaying the reopening by about four more months.

Photos courtesy of Tim Archer

GAINES – Jeffrey Echevarría, an Albion eighth-grader, removes a historical marker at the Gaines Baines schoolhouse, which was built in 1832 and served as a school until 1944.

Jeffrey and some students at Albion will be repainting three historical markers – one each from Shelby and Ridgeway, and this one of the cobblestone school on Gaines Basin Road. This school now serves as the base for the Orleans County Historical Association.

For several years Albion students have helped Clarendon Town Historian Melissa Ierlan to restore local historical markers. It is one of many ways Albion students participate in service-learning projects to both support and learn about the community.

Allie and Tux have been adopted through PAWS Animal Shelter

Photos courtesy of Albion Correctional Facility: Allie and Tux are celebrated at their graduation for complete a canine obedience program. They are joined by incarcerated individuals, Albion Correctional officials, PAWS Animal Shelter director Patty Coffee, and Dawn Spencer, owner of Eye of Oden K9 Training.

ALBION – In collaboration with PAWS Animal Shelter, Albion Correctional Facility has graduated another team of dogs, Allie and Tux.

These dogs were under the supervision of staff and two teams of incarcerated individuals. Allie and Tux were cared and guided for approximately 14 weeks.

Dawn Spencer, the community volunteer trainer, trained the handlers and supervised the program. Spencer is also the owner of Eye of Oden K9 Training in Kent and has over 25 years of experience in dog training.

Allie, left, and Tux completed training and have been adopted.

While both dogs have been adopted, Albion Correctional Facility has welcomed our next set of dogs into the program: Aaron and Adrian.

They will be working throughout the program on obedience training and the basics of good manners.

For more information about animals available for adoption at PAWS, visit paws14411.com.

Aaron, left, and Adrian will go through a 14-week obedience training program.

Photos by Tom Rivers

ALBION – Volunteers and employees for Community Action of Orleans & Genesee get food ready to be dispersed on Monday morning during a food distribution in the Albion municipal parking lot at 165 Platt St.

Community Action has been leading these food distributions in Albion since April 2020.

The distributions through Foodlink will continue to at least through the end of this year in the Rochester region.

“As long as we can keep doing it, we will do it,” said Ryan Lasal, director of Community & Family Program Innovation for Community Action. “Right now Foodlink has no plans to stop.”

Tonya Ferris, an M&T Bank employee, helps with Monday’s distribution. Two other M&T staff assisted with the distribution. Ferris, a Kendall resident, has been part of the distributions for over a year.

The schedule in Orleans County for the remainder of the year includes:

Albion at 165 South Platt Street – managed by Community Action

• Monday, Oct. 27 at 9 a.m.
• Monday, Nov. 10 at 9 a.m.
• Monday, Dec. 8 at 9 a.m.

Lyndonville Presbyterian Church at 107 North Main St., Lyndonville

• Friday, Oct. 3 at 9:30 a.m.
• Friday, Oct. 17 at 9:30 a.m.
• Friday, Nov. 7 at 9:30 a.m.
• Friday, Dec. 5 at 9:30 a.m.

Orleans Cornell Cooperative Extension, 12690 State Route 31, Albion

• Monday, Oct. 6 at 10 a.m.
• Monday, Nov. 3 at 10 a.m.
• Monday, Dec. 1 at 10 a.m.

Pre-registration strongly suggested. Those who pre-register will be assigned timeslots for pickup (12-12:30, 12:30-1, 1-1:30. 1:30-2). Pre-register at 585-798-4265. Walk-ins may start at 2 p.m.

Nick Luft and four other Albion High School students in the Interact Club assisted with the distribution for Community Action. Adam Burgio, another high schooler, is in back ready to hand off a big bag of produce.

Photos from Hoag Library

ALBION – A new free art library was been set up outside Hoag Library in a project spearheaded by the Genesee-Orleans Regional Arts Council (GO Art!).

Local residents are encouraged to take an art book or art kit, or leave an art book or art kit and spread creativity.

The art library was architecturally designed by Jeff Pasnik, built and designed by Carpenters Local Union 276, and painted by Jaylah Sherman.

This kit includes yard and other supplies to create a fairy wand.

GO Art! established the art library to make art supplies and resources more accessible to the community, fostering creativity and engagement in the arts. The library includes art kits, coloring books and art books that are freely available for anyone to take and enjoy.

6 local sites to be recognized during Oct. 10 banquet

Provided photos: This is the home of Donald and Linda Prince at 14050 State Route 31, Albion. It is one of six sites being recognized with preservation awards from the Cobblestone Museum.

LYNDONVILLE – The Cobblestone Society and Museum’s historic preservation awards banquet Oct. 10 will be its third annual event.

Scheduled from 6 to 9 p.m. at White Birth Golf Course, the banquet recognizes historic and preserved properties in the Orleans County area.

Nominees for the award were received from the Cobblestone Society board and the general public, said Cobblestone Museum director Doug Farley.

This year’s nominees are:

• Joseph Hart home of Douglas Miller and Susan Starkweather Miller at 323 S. Main St., Albion
• Ebeneezer Rogers house at 352 South Main St., Albion, owned by John and Melissa Gailie
• Greek Revival Tousley-Church house, home to the Orleans Chapter DAR at 249 North Main St., Albion
• Newell Shirt Factory/Hart House at 113 West Center Street, Medina, owned by Andrew Meier
• Donald and Linda Prince’s home at 14050 State Route 31, Albion
• Hank and Sue Beamer’s home at 10181 West Shelby Rd. in the Town of Shelby.

The Joseph Hart home at 323 South Main St., Albion.

The Joseph Hart house was constructed between 1820-23 in the Federal style. It was built to replace a log cabin which Joseph Hart erected in 1911/12 as an early settler. The home is situated on its third site, still on land purchased by Joseph Hart in 1811 from the Holland Land Company. This parcel was originally part of the town of Barre.

Joseph Hart and Ebenezer Rogers both founded the First Congregational Church in Barre. It was organized in Hart’s home in 1816. The Joseph Hart home was originally built across the street from the Ebenezer Rogers’ home located a short distance away.

According to the Pioneer History of Orleans County, Joseph Hart almost always held some town office, and for many of his later years he was an overseer of the poor of the town of Barre, a position the kindness of his nature well qualified him to fill. His fortunate location near the thriving village of Albion, which has been extended over a part of his farm, made him a wealthy man. Through a long life, he maintained a high character for priority and good judgement and was respected by all who knew him.

In 1880, Hart’s son Joseph S. Hart built a brick home for his wife Harriet Cole Hart and moved the Joseph Hart home directly behind his. In 1921, the home was moved to its third and current location at 323 South Main St. The Joseph Hart home has been in the Starkweather family since June 1974, when it was purchased by Sue’s parents, Duane and Rosalind Starkweather.

Highlights of the home include a five-inch key to the original lock possessed by the family; wide board floors in the foyer, dining room and living room; an open, U-shaped staircase with landing and an additional staircase leading downstairs to the crescent-shaped breakfast nook in the back of the house; and glass-enclosed sunporch with a fieldstone floor and a floor-to-ceiling fireplace.

Ebenezer Rogers house at 352 South Main St., Albion, home of John and Melissa Gailie.

John and Melissa Gailie’s Ebenezer Rogers’ house is located at the southern edge of Albion and is the oldest house in the town. Building began in 1816 and was completed in 1820 for Ebenezer Rogers. He was born in 1769 in Norwich, Conn. and moved to Orleans County in 1816. He acquired land through the Holland Land Company. A tanner and shoemaker by trade, he decided to become a farmer and dropped his trade. Rogers opened his home up to many new settlers in the area. He would allow them to stay in his home while they were building their own homes. He also helped start the Barre Center Presbyterian Church, formerly the Congregational Church, as well as the First Presbyterian Church in Albion.

Rogers’ house is appealing through the beautiful brickwork, the welcoming front entrance and front door with its fanlight window, which opens to its original stairway and entry. At each side of the hall and throughout the downstairs, Bible and cross double doors are unpainted originals, revealing the mellow color of the wood and Rogers’ love for his Christianity. In the living room, the early date of the house is displayed in the fireplace mantel and window trim. The delicately-scaled mantel has paired, reeded and columnettes which flank the firebox. Underneath the windows are wood panels with a dainty quarter fan ornament in each corner. The kitchen was remodeled in 2018, and still has the original fireplace and mantel to keep the historic feel of the house. The living room fireplace is duplicated in the master bedroom upstairs.

The two-story rear wing of the house was added on in the early part of the 20th century. The first floor consists of three rooms, and the second floor has two small bedrooms which are believed to have been used for live-in servants.

Greek Revival Tousley-Church house at 249 North Main St., Albion, home to Orleans Chapter of the DAR.

The Orleans Chapter DAR house at 249 North Main St., Albion, was built circa 1845. Sitting on a spacious shaded lawn, the stately red brick Patriots House served as a residence for the Lee, Tousley and Church families until 1929. At that time, it was purchased by Emma Reed Webster for the Orleans Chapter Daughters of the American Revolution. The Orleans Daughters are proud caretakers of the Greek Revival building that serves as their chapter house and has been listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Of note in the front hall are the hand-carved newel post and landing, supported by four Doric columns, a most unusual feature.

Orleans Chapter DAR was organized June 8, 1925 and received its charter on June 11, 1926. By the year 1928, membership had grown and overflowed private homes as meeting places. Realizing the need, Emma Reed Webster offered to buy a substantial house and give it to the Chapter, the maintenance to be controlled by a corporation. On June 14, 1929, this red brick residence was purchased from the Church family. Some remodeling was done to make a large meeting room. The beautiful period woodwork was left intact and the house is graced with period furniture, antiques and a large collection of artifacts.

Hart House/former Newell Shirt Factory at 113 West Center St., Medina.

Andrew Meier, a Medina native and local attorney, had long admired the Robert H. Newell building at 113 West Center St. Established in 1876 by Elizur Kirke Hart, a banker and U.S. Congressman from Albion, for 86 years, it was home to the Robert H. Newell Shirt Factory, which manufactured custom-made shirts, including many for famous customers, including Winston Churchill and Bob Hope. The Newell company left the historic building in 2004 and moved to Maple Ridge Road. The business eventually closed in 2007.

The village of Medina acquired the building after years of unpaid taxes. The three-story site had been neglected and was in disrepair. It was put up for sale in 2005 and Meier bought it. He was 25 at the time.

“It had great bones and potential,” Meier said about the building. “I knew the risks going in, but it was an opportunity that came up that I could not pass up.”

He set about the task of methodically renovating and preserving the 14,000 square-foot building which had opened in 1876, a site that was a hotel for its first 14 years before it became the Newell Building.

The Hart House Hotel onsite includes rooms named for famous Newell shirt customers, including Churchill, the British statesman. There are also rooms named for legendary comedian Hope and Astor, the wealthy industrialist from New York City.

Meier is praised for showing faith in the community when he invested in the Newell site. Many describe Meier as “one of the original risk takers in Medina and a catalyst for the downtown development.”

This historical aerial image depicts the Prince home and farm as it looked in the early 1900s.

The oldest portion of Donald and Linda Prince’s home at 14050 State Route 31, Albion, was built of wood in 1825 and included many full logs in its construction. A brick addition was added in 1850 with full brick floors in the basement. This large home now has more than 5,000 square feet of space. Some of the early residents to call this home include the Hatch family, and later the Ricci and Perrizini families. Don and Linda acquired the home in 1986.

The historical aerial image depicts the Prince home and farm as it looked in the early 1900s, before much of the recent development that has filled in both sides of NYS Route 31, just east of the Villages nursing home.  Massive farm barns were once located directly behind the residence.

Hank and Sue Beamer’s home at 10181 West Shelby Rd., Town of Shelby.

Hank and Sue Beamer are the third family to reside in the Shelp-Beamer House since its construction in 1836, having purchased the property in 1985. This house at 10181 West Shelby Rd. is located just east of the Niagara-Orleans County line, near Dewey Road in the town of Shelby. It was built of field and lake-washed cobbles for John Shelp, and is one of six cobblestone structures in the town of Shelby, sitting on 145 acres. It was built for Shelp, his wife Mary and her father Oliver Cone, a veteran of the Revolutionary War. In 2008, the house, two barns and a milk house on the grounds were listed on the National Register of Historic Places. It is considered one of the finest examples of cobblestone masonry in western New York.

Shelp came from Schoharie County in 1828. In 1836, he moved his family into the new house and remained there until his death in 1868. He and his descendants were prosperous farmers who expanded and improved the property.

The rare three-story cobblestone house contains a huge fireplace, originally used for both heating and cooking. A bake oven is built into the side of it. The house is constructed of both field and lake-washed cobblestones, while the quoins, lintels and sills are local limestone. A wooden addition and first floor remodeling took place in the early 1900s, at which time the first-floor interior woodwork was remodeled in colonial revival style oak. Hank and Sue Beamer have lovingly and painstaking attended to preserving this beautiful historic home for posterity.

In addition to the many interesting attributes of the structure, the owners feel the history of its builders is noteworthy. The home was originally built by John and Mary Shelp in 1836. Mary’s father Oliver Cone was from East Haddam, Conn. and served as a Minute Man in 2nd and 5th Connecticut regiments during the Revolutionary War. He settled in Orleans County in 1817 and was one of many Revolutionary veterans who were early settles in Shelby. He later resided with John and Mary in the cobblestone house and is interred in Mount Pleasant Cemetery on Salt Works Road, West Shelby.

Nominations are reviewed by the Preservation Awards Committee, and each will receive a photo plaque and several citations from various elected officials, according to Farley.

Those who want to attend the banquet or help celebrate the awards should call the museum (585) 589-9013 or register on the website at cobblestonemuseum.org.

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.