File photo by Tom Rivers: Dawn Spencer of the Eye of Oden gives an enthusiastic greeting on Main Street in Albion on Dec. 9, 2023 during Albion’s Christmas parade. She and the other dog trainers led dogs which wore blue light-up sweaters. Eye of Oden had a “Blue Christmas” theme to express their sadness on the death of a beloved dog, George’s Legend.
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 3 December 2024 at 9:03 am
ALBION – There are 21 entries registered for the Dec. 14 Christmas parade in Albion, and one of the organizers welcomes more.
Susan Oschmann would like to have 30 lighted floats for the parade on Dec. 14 at 6 p.m. The parade was called Santa’s Hometown Parade but has been changed to the Charles W. Howard Hometown Parade.
The parade committee is paying tribute to Howard, who ran a Santa School in Albion from 1937 to 1966. He also operated Christmas Park beginning in the mid-1950s. That site attracted about 80,000 people a year.
The parade will culminate with a float carrying Santa. The route starts on Route 31 at CRFS and heads to Route 98, goes down Main Street to State Street and then goes to Platt Street and concludes at Dubby’s, where there will be a party after the parade.
There are prizes for the top floats: $600 for first $400 for second, and $200 for third.
Click here for more information on registering for the parade.
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 3 December 2024 at 8:26 am
Photos by Tom Rivers
ALBION – Alec Sherman leads the crowds in a Christmas sing-along to “Sleigh Ride” on Sunday during the “Christmas in the Neighborhood” concert at the First Presbyterian Church of Albion.
He was accompanied by Gary Simboli at left. Albion alumni and current students performed more than 20 songs for the annual concert at the First Presbyterian Church.
The church has been hosting the concerts since 2009, first as part of the Eastman at Albion series and then since 2015 as part of an Albion alumni concert event.
Charlie Nesbitt read “The Night Before Christmas” sharing segments of the story after musical performances throughout the concert.
Albion Alumni Association leaders welcome the crowd to the concert. Susan Starkweather Miller is at the microphone. Charlie Nesbitt is at left next to Susan Thaine, the church’s pastor, and Tony Wynn, one of the board members for the Alumni Foundation.
Ethan Ferchen sings, “It Feels Like Christmas.”
Kae Wilbert on bassoon and Susan Walders on flute perform “Deck the Halls.”
Jennifer Trupo sings, “A Baby Changes Everything.”
The concert had a theme of “Believe.”
Other performers included Gary Simboli, Shannon Vanderlaan, Janet Miller, Mike Thaine, Albion High School Select Choir, Evan Steer, Susan Thaine, Matthew Mooney Galantowicz and Keith Galantowicz, Albion High School Percussion Ensemble, AHS Clarinet Choir, Albion Presbyterian Choir, Shannon Broda, Trellis Pore, Zyann Pore, and the Community Christmas Choir.
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 2 December 2024 at 9:45 am
ALBION – The Albion school district was notified of a potential threat targeting a school bus this morning and that threat has been deemed unfounded.
“The Orleans County Sheriff’s Office responded immediately and acted before any of our students or drivers could potentially be placed in harm’s way,” district superintendent Mickey Edwards stated on the district website. “The Sheriff’s Office has deemed there is no threat to ACS transportation or the District itself.”
The safety of students and staff are the district’s “number one priority,” Edwrads said.
“We would like to thank our greater Albion community for being diligent in helping to keep our Purple Eagles safe,” he said.
Provided photo: More than 50 volunteers helped prepare and serve a Thanksgiving meal on Thursday at the Orleans Koinonia Kitchen at Harvest Christian Fellowship. From left include Scott Barbato, Dee Huntington, Pastor Jovannie Canales and Rick Huntington.
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 30 November 2024 at 7:34 am
ALBION – The Orleans Koinonia Kitchen set a new record by serving 716 Thanksgiving meals on Thursday.
That topped the 630 served last year for free to the community. The kitchen also had 79 dinners left on Thursday and those have been frozen to be used in the future.
“We saw a lot of new faces we’d never seen before,” said Faith Smith, director of the OK Kitchen at Harvest Christian Fellowship.
Many of the people who came to the church for a meal are feeling a financial pinch and others welcomed the chance to eat Thanksgiving with friends and family at the church or with take-outs or deliveries, Smith said.
More than 50 people volunteered to prepare the meal, serve and deliver it. Smith said volunteers delivered meals 439 meals to nine out of the 10 towns in Orleans County – everyone except Barre.
Many churches and businesses in the community donated to effort on Thursday.
“Everything went smoothly,” she said.
Smith and her husband Mike started the day early and were able to get home at 9 p.m.
The meals were served at the church from 3:30 to 5:30 p.m.
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 29 November 2024 at 2:17 pm
Provided photo
ALBION – Two more dogs have completed a 12-week obedience training program working with incarcerated women at the Albion Correctional Facility.
The two dogs, Bob and Lola, were celebrated during a Nov. 4 canine graduation at Albion Correctional. The handlers also were praised for their dedication and patience assisting the dogs in learning their skills.
Bob has already been adopted and Lola is waiting for her forever home. She is available through the PAWS Animal Shelter in Albion. Click here for more information.
Dawn Spencer of Eye of Oden K9 Training in Kent leads the 12-week program. Spencer has over 25 years of experience in dog training.
Throughout the 12 weeks, the teams of incarcerated individuals serve as handlers for the dogs. Spencer visits the facility once a week to put the dogs through the AKC Canine Good Citizen Program.
This training program consists of 10 skills that the dogs must be able to master and aims to train dogs the basics of good manners and obedience. Spencer instructed the incarcerated individuals on what skills to work on each week.
The program is in collaboration with PAWS Animal Shelter and Albion Correctional Facility. The facility has allowed dogs and trainers since 2019.
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 28 November 2024 at 12:43 pm
Photos by Tom Rivers
ALBION – Lee Tisdale, owner of Romyn’s Smoked BBQ at 26 East Bank St. in Albion, has 100 Thanksgiving dinners ready. This is the fourth Thanksgiving he has prepared the meals and is giving them away for free beginning at 1 p.m.
They are available until he runs out of food.
Tisdale has been preparing the meal since Tuesday.
“It’s a blessing for me to connect with people,” Tisdale said.
He has prepared turkey, stuffing, potatoes, corn, collard greens, cabbage, macaroni and cheese, ham, beans, pulled pork and brownies.
Tisdale gave away 40 of the meals last year and he expects a bigger crowd today. Many of the people are homeless, or living in low-income housing without family nearby or the means to prepare a full-course Thanksgiving meal, Tisdale said.
Many of the people are happy to have a place to come on Thanksgivign where they can talk with other people, Tisdale said.
He also prepares a meal on Christmas that he gives away.
OK Kitchen has 600-plus dinners ready
The Orleans Koinonia Kitchen at Harvest Christian Fellowship in Albion has 600 to 800 Thanksgiving meals ready for people. They will be served for free from 3:30 to 5:30 at Harvest Christian Fellowship, 560 East Ave., Albion.
People can eat in, do take-outs, or OK Kitchen volunteers will make deliveries.
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 28 November 2024 at 9:04 am
Photo by Tom Rivers
ALBION – The Albion Rotary Club recently presented a $2,300 check to the Job Development Agency with the funds to be used to help people prepare for job interviews and employment, going towards new clothes and other supplies.
Pictured form left include Becky Karls, golf tournament committee member; Kiebala, Job Development director; and Cindy Perry, golf tournament committee chair.
The tournament was held on July 18, and some of the proceeds also went to the Office for the Aging to support a transportation program for senior citizens.
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 26 November 2024 at 5:32 pm
Photo by Tom Rivers
ALBION – Faith Smith, center, today accepted a $500 gift card from Save A Lot that will be used to purchase meat for the Orleans Koinonia Kitchen, which Smith has directed since it opened in June 2022 at Harvest Christian Fellowship.
Smith was nominated for the “Hometown Hero” award through Save A Lot by Dee Huntington, left, one of the OK Kitchen volunteers. They are joined at the Albion store by manager Dora Leader-Shuler.
Smith is one of six Hometown Heroes recognized by Save A Lot in the country. They nominees were listed on the Save A Lot social media and the top six with the most likes are receiving $500 gift cards.
Smith has served as volunteer director of the OK Kitchen since it opened in June 2022. She also led the community kitchen for more than a decade when it was based at Christ Episcopal Church.
The OK Kitchen serves several hundred meals every Thursday, and has expanded to frozen soups for people to take home.
The kitchen is gearing up to serve 600 to 800 Thanksgiving meals on Thursday from 3:30 to 5:30 p.m. with many of those meals to be delivered to senior citizens and shut-ins, including more than 100 meals to Medina.
Huntington and her husband Rick volunteer almost every Thursday at the kitchen. They see how Smith and her husband Mike build up a team of volunteers and donors, and treat people with compassion.
The OK Kitchen has grown from serving about 100 meals a week in June 2022 to more than 600 now.
“Businesses, churches, civic organizations and individuals all come together to ‘love thy neighbor’ in so many tangible ways,” Mrs. Huntington said. “Resources arrive in many shapes and forms. The hours, the smiles, the kind words spoken, the resources shared bring a warm feeling of being cared for.”
Save A Lot also is frequent donor to the kitchen, bringing two car loads of food each month. Those food items are on a table for people to take with them after having a meal at Harvest Christian Fellowship.
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 24 November 2024 at 9:47 pm
Photos by Tom Rivers
ALBION – The lamp post on Main Street, right in front of the Courthouse Square, is decorated with a glowing Christmas tree.
About 40 of the lamp posts will be decorated for Christmas and the holiday season.
Maureen Bennett is coordinating the effort for the second year. It’s part of the “Bring Christmas Back to Albion” initiative that started last year to pump up the holiday spirit in Albion.
The group also will soon have Christmas trees decorated on the Courthouse lawn.
This angel is at the corner of Main and West Park streets near the Bethlehem scene for the Holy Family Parish.
This lamp posts has lots of Santas on Main Street next to Gurney’s.
This lamp post in on East Bank Street near the Roots Hair Salon. Many businesses, families and organizations have adopted the posts.
Hearth & Home Real Estate Professionals decorated this lamp post with the courthouse and First Presbyterian Church in the backyard.
By Ginny Kropf, correspondent Posted 22 November 2024 at 12:24 pm
Growing congregation on Crandall Road eyes expansion
Photo by Ginny Kropf: Trellis Pore, pastor of Shiloh Church on Crandall Road, Albion, and his wife Caleia are shown with some of the more than 50 blankets they recently collected and donated for the homeless.
ALBION – When Trellis Pore started to lead the Shiloh Church, only a few people showed up for his first sermons. That was Nov. 17, 2021, and last Sunday Pastor Pore celebrated his third anniversary with guest speaker the Rev. Wayne Lewis and a full congregation.
Pore has a full-time job as weapons trainer with the New York State Department of Corrections, but his passion is preaching. He first became licensed to speak at the age of 19 at Shiloh Church and was ordained at 21.
Since that time, he and his wife Caleia have seen Shiloh grow, along with their desire to make a difference in their community.
They are aware of rising number of homeless in Orleans County.
“Growing up here, I didn’t see that as a kid,” the Rev. Pore said. “We saw that was where we could make a difference.”
They put the word out for donations of blankets for the homeless, and the support was absolutely amazing, the pastor said. Just recently, they delivered more than 50 blankets to warming shelters at Hoag Library in Albion, Lee-Whedon Memorial Library in Medina and Community Action’s Eastern Orleans Community Center in Holley.
They plan to continue collecting blankets for the homeless, and then branch out to see what else they can do to help out in their community.
Going forward, the Rev. Pore knows they are going to have to expand at the church on Crandall Road. Their congregation averages 130 people and continues to grow. The building is outgrowing their needs and they need more space to accommodate the things they want to do, such as mentoring, tutoring and youth activities.
They have formed Shiloh Angels, which is compiling a prayer book filled with prayers from youth. Artist Pat Standish is doing the illustrations and the book will be handed out to anyone in need, especially kids who are facing tough times.
“We want them to know their prayers will be answered,” the Rev. Pore said. “When we come together in unity, all things are possible.”
Shiloh Church is also planning a Shiloh family Christmas giveaway at 3 p.m. Dec. 21 at Albion Elks Lodge.
A Christmas Eve service is scheduled at 6:30 p.m., with a New Year’s Eve service, also at 6:30 p.m.
The Pores welcome anyone to join them in Bible study at 6:30 p.m. Wednesdays and worship at 11 a.m. Sundays.
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 21 November 2024 at 10:00 am
Faith Smith, shown in top row in center photo with her husband Michael Smith, has been named one of six “Hometown Heroes” by Save A Lot.
ALBION – The director of the Orleans Koinonia Kitchen has been named one of six “Hometown Heroes” by Save A Lot.
Faith Smith has served as volunteer director of the OK Kitchen since it opened in June 2022 at Harvest Christian Fellowship. She also led the community kitchen for more than a decade when it was based at Christ Episcopal Church.
The OK Kitchen serves several hundred meals every Thursday, and has expanded to frozen soups for people to take home.
“Faith’s contributions go far beyond providing a hot meal,” Save A Lot stated. “She is deeply compassionate, offering birthday goodie bags, distributing gifts to needy children at Christmas, and delivering meals to shut-ins while performing wellness checks. She supports other community organizations, provides free items to those in need when there is a surplus, and assembles essential items like blankets, hats, and toiletries for the homeless. Tirelessly, she recruits volunteers to help with OKK’s mission.
“Her work is entirely unpaid, driven solely by her passion for helping others. Faith Smith is selfless, hardworking, compassionate, resourceful, and deeply committed to her cause. Her efforts ensure that no one in her community goes hungry, and she makes the most of every resource and donation she receives.”
Save A Lot, a large discount grocery chain with about 800 stores in 32 states, accepted nominations for Hometown Heroes and to showcase the people and organizations making a difference in the communities Save A Lot stores serve.
The six winners will receive $500 gift cards for Save A Lot. The Hometown Heroes include:
Tammy Amburgey, President, Middle Creek Community Development & Food Pantry, Prestonsburg, KY
Doug Ducheney, Owner, Children Without A Gift Ministry, Bronston, KY
Grant & Gina Hasty, Founders, Lord’s Café, Whitley City, KY
Jessica Lee, Founder, Help the Homeless, Somerset, KY
Faith Smith, Director, Orleans Koinonia Kitchen, Albion, NY
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 20 November 2024 at 8:54 pm
Photos by Tom Rivers
ALBION – Construction crews gave a worn-down section of Ingersoll Street new pavement today, after the old pavement was removed on Tuesday.
Ingersoll has faced much more traffic than usual in the past two years with the Main Street lift bridge closed for major repairs and an overhaul. That lift bridge could reopen next month.
The state Department of Transportation had a section of Ingersoll milled and repaved between Bank and Caroline streets, the sections closest to the lift bridge.
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 20 November 2024 at 10:37 am
‘It won’t be perfect this year, but it’s going to be pretty cool’
Photos by Tom Rivers: Michael Bonafede, right, and a team of volunteers work on a float last week at Bonafede’s property. Mick Tower, in back, worked for the late Charles Howard with many of the floats and attractions he had at Christmas Park in Albion and also at the State Fair. Howard was founder and director of a Santa School in Albion from 1937 to 1966. The committee organizing the lighted Christmas parade on Dec. 14 has named the parade in his honor. It is now the Charles W. Howard Hometown Parade.
ALBION – A committee working on Albion’s Christmas parade on Dec. 14 has changed the name from Santa’s Hometown Parade to the Charles W. Howard Hometown Parade.
The committee wants to pay tribute to Howard, who ran a Santa School in Albion from 1937 to 1966. He also operated Christmas Park beginning in the mid-1950s. That site attracted about 80,000 people a year.
Howard turned part of his farm on Phipps Road into Christmas Park with amusement park rides, a petting zoo and other attractions.
The parade on Dec. 14 already has 20 floats committed as well as bands. It will honor Howard with more than the parade name.
A group of volunteers is building a float in Howard’s style. They are putting Santa in an older sleigh, and it will appear to be ready to take flight with a group of reindeer.
“New generations of people don’t know Charles Howard,” said Michael Bonafede, one of the volunteers building the float. “He is an excellent role and a unique asset for this area. His character and integrity were the keys to his success.”
The float design team includes, in front from left: Ron, Mick and Mike Tower. In back, Michael Bonafede, Frank Jenks and David Valente.
The volunteers last week made a 20-by-10 foot deck for the float. It has room for an 8-piece band on the back of the float with the sleigh in the middle and the reindeer up front.
Michael Bonafede said the sleigh was acquired in Connecticut and the sleigh will usher in Santa for the parade. The sleigh has a classic look. Its curved in the front which matches some of the photos from when Charles Howard portrayed Santa in the Macy’s Thanksgiving parades in the 1950s and early 1960s.
The group wants to build an iconic float to cap the parade. Howard was known for his creative mind in building floats. The Albion group building the new float will create a display where it will look like nine reindeer are taking off.
Bonafede found two long pieces of metal that used to be part of a soccer goal on his property. For many years, Bonafede hosted the youth soccer program in Albion.
Frank Jenks and Ron Tower brainstorm how to best position the sleigh on steel railings that used to be the top of a soccer goal. Mick Tower, in back, offers some insights. He urged the group to not “bite off more than they can chew” with the first float.
Howard, too, would repurpose pieces of wood and other materials to make his displays. One of his employees, Mick Tower, is helping with the new float. Tower, 89, was tasked by Howard to turn his visions into reality. (Tower will serve as grand marshal of the upcoming parade.)
Tower was part of a team that built the track for a train at Christmas Park, a tunnel, wooden snowflakes, wooden icicles hanging down from the roof, the fire place, and many other projects. There was never a slow moment. Howard had short- and long-term projects. Tower recalled the effort in turning a pond on the property into Snowflake Lake.
Bonafede said the volunteers eventually would like to have the reindeer in motion and some other special effects. For this year, the reindeer may just be lawn ornaments.
“It won’t be perfect this year, but it’s going to be pretty cool,” Bonafede said.
Tower’s son, Ron and Mike, also are part of the team building the new float. Like their father they work in construction.
Frank Jenks also is part of the team, and so is David Valente who has put in a steel railing on the float and is working on other touches to give it strength and some seasonal flare.
David Valente of Hamlin has repurposed steel for railings on the float. Bonafede secured the steel and Valente said he is pleased to lend his talents to the project.
The group is seeking donated artificial Christmas trees to fill out the float this year. Anyone willing to donate can contact the parade chairwoman, Susan Oschmann, at (585) 202-0594 or susanoschmann@gmail.com.
She welcomes more entries for the fourth annual parade. Participants can sign up by Dec. 13. Click here for more information about registering to be in the parade.
Oschmann said several sponsors are backing the parade, which is allowing the committee to double the prize money. First place gets $600, with $400 for second and $200 for third.
The group working on the Santa float also said they would welcome a spot to store it in the offseason if someone has space in a barn, Quonset hut or garage. For more information, contact Bonafede at (585) 749-1413.
Photos by Ginny Kropf: Warren Harding, homeless outreach coordinator of Genesee-Orleans Ministry of Concern, and director Jami Allport display some of the backpacks available to the homeless. They were purchased with a grant Allport applied for from Greater Rochester Health Foundation.
By Ginny Kropf, correspondent Posted 20 November 2024 at 10:03 am
ALBION – When Jami Allport accepted the position as director of Genesee-Orleans Ministry of Concern in August 2023, one problem soon caught her attention – the homeless population in Orleans County.
“People say homelessness is not a problem in rural counties like Orleans, it is a city problem,” Allport said. “It’s not. And we have to educate the public that homelessness is here and it’s not going anywhere.”
The mission of Ministry of Concern has always been to help those in need, and Allport wanted to further that mission any way she could.
“I jumped in with both feet, and started attending any meeting I could,” she said.
When she heard about Point in Time count by the Homeless Alliance of Western New York, she knew that was something Ministry of Concern had to be involved with. When she met Aeddon Cayea, grant writer at United Way of Orleans County, he offered and was successful in applying for a grant from the Greater Rochester Health Foundation.
“The grant is for two years and allowed us to hire Warren Harding, a retired cop, as Homeless Outreach coordinator,” Allport said. “Our goal is to seek out and interact with the homeless community.”
Jami Allport, director of Genesee-Orleans Ministry of Concern, shows what is in the new backpacks being given to the homeless.
Harding was looking for something to do which was more fulfilling than the odd jobs he had been doing. His first day was spent walking through woods, along railroad tracks, around abandoned buildings and even under tractor trailers to seek out the homeless.
“I came back to the office and started to digest what I’d seen,” Harding said.
Point in Time had devised a survey which homeless are asked to complete, asking very simple questions as to why they are homeless and where they have been sleeping. The surveys were only being conducted by Point in Time once a year, and Allport wondered why they couldn’t do it more often.
“I realized we weren’t going to get answers if we only sought them once a year,” she said. “With the grant we received the end of August, we can conduct the surveys all year.”
Allport met with Nyla Gaylord, director of United Way of Orleans County, who urged her into the warming center in Albion. Independent Living reached out and said they were getting ready to do the annual Point in Time count.
Information acquired goes into the system for New York state.
“The more we show great need, the more money we can get for Orleans County,” Allport said.
In order to seek out the homeless and encourage them to make out a survey, they need volunteers 18 or older. Allport will arrange training. She is also planning a series of informational workshops for the community to share what homelessness looks like in Orleans County.
One big benefit from the grant is allowing Ministry of Concern to purchase waterproof backpacks filled with essentials for a homeless person to survive, if only for a short time. One room at GOMOC’s new headquarters in the First Presbyterian Church in Albion is filled with the backpacks, which contain a blanket, two bottles of water, two MREs with a fork, a hat, scarf, gloves, two pair of socks, a shower cap treated with shampoo that doesn’t need to be rinsed out, baby wipes, sunscreen, waterless toothbrush, sunscreen and a self-inflating air mattress.
At the turn of a dial, the air mattress rolls back up. Also included is a $10 gift card to McDonalds or Burger King and pamphlets with information on services a homeless person might need.
Since implementing their mission a week ago to serve the homeless, Ministry of Concern has seen an average of one person per day.
“Unfortunately, this won’t end their homelessness,” Allport said. “There is no place to put them right now with the severe housing crisis in Orleans County. We want them to know this is a safe place for them to come to. We will not advocate for them, but with them. We will walk alongside them in their journey.”
Allport also announced her office has funds available for rental assistance and is ready for children to be signed up for free Christmas gifts.
For more information or to sign up as a volunteer, call (585) 589-9210.
