Photo by Tom Rivers

ALBION – The Albion Rotary Club awarded $3,000 in scholarships to graduating seniors today. Pictured, from left, include Rotary Club President Alex Krebs, Leah Kania, Sawyer Braley and James Beach.

James Beach won the $1,250 Edward Archbald Memorial Scholarship, given to a senior who shares Archbald’s love of sports, recreational activities, community service and work experience. James has been an honor roll student, who has been active in the music program while playing on the tennis and golf teams. He also is in the chess and robotics clubs. He worked at Tops and volunteered over 100 hours at the Barre Presbyterian Church. He will be majoring in cybersecurity at Rochester Institute of Technology.

Leah Kania won the Dick Eddy “Service Above Self” Scholarship, a $1,250 award that is given to a student committed to community service and leadership, and who displays high potential for future accomplishment. Leah has been very active in the school chorus, band and drama programs. She has been a Student Council officer all four years of high school and is the current president. She is a member of the Rotary Interact Club, Close-Up Club and Multicultural/Diversity Club. Leah is the class valedictorian who gave more than 125 hours of community service. She will major in vocal performance at Baldwin Wallace University in Ohio.

Sawyer Braley was awarded the $500 Rotary Career Advancement Prize for a senior committed to community service, school activities and work experience. Sawyer is an Eagle Scout candidate who has been active on a trapshooting team and on the school’s soccer team. He will be in an advanced welding program at the Kentucky Welding Institute.

Photos by Tom Rivers

ALBION – Firefighters work to put out a fire in a truck on Wednesday outside the Albion Walmart.

The truck was picking up used tires from the Walmart. It had more than 400 tires on it when the vehicle was engulfed in flames. The truck is owned by HTI Recycling of Lockport.

Orleans County Fire Investigator Cole Hardenbrook determined the fire was caused by an electrical issue in the truck box, the Orleans County Emergency Management Agency reported today.

Firefighters were dispatched to the scene at 5:39 p.m. The store was evacuated.

A fire-suppression foam from the Barre Volunteer Fire Company helped to smother the flames and eventually put the fire out.

The store was able to reopen about two hours after the fire at 7:30 p.m.

ALBION – The Albion Police Department will be offering a Civilian Response to Active Shooter Events (CRASE) course to the community.

The course is designed and built on the Avoid, Deny, Defend strategy developed by the Advanced Law Enforcement Rapid Response Training (ALERRT).

Topics include the history and prevalence of active shooter events, the role of professional guardians, civilian response options. There will be examples of things to do in case of an active shooter event.

The Albion Police Department is committed to keeping the community safe and wants to gauge the interest from the community in the class, the department said in an email.

Depending the interest there may be more than one class on different dates. Those interested should send an email to contact@albionpolice.com and mention you are interested in the CRASE training.

The Albion PD would like to offer the trainings within the next month. If a business owner is interested the Police Department would be willing to conduct a training for all of the employees if they cannot attend the training.

Photos by Tom Rivers

ALBION – A fire with a truck holding 400-plus tires is out and the Albion Walmart has reopened to customers. The above photo was taken at about 7:20 p.m. Firefighters pulled out some of the tires that weren’t on fire.

Firefighters and Code Enforcement Officer Dan Strong tested the air quality and deemed it was safe for people to be in the building. The store reopened at about 7:30 p.m.

About two hours earlier a truck full of used tires was on fire. The truck was backed up to the store at the auto center on the west side. Firefighters had the driver of HTI Recycling of Lockport move the truck away from the store. That likely saved the building from significant damage.

Albion Fire Chief Rob Conner said water didn’t help put out the fire. Instead, they used a special firefighting foam to smother the fire. The Barre Volunteer Fire Company used about 110 gallons of the concentrated foam. When mixed with water that is more than 1,000 gallons that were put on the fire.

No one was injured due to the fire, Conner said.

Orleans County Emergency Management also brought its foam trailer to the scene.

The DEC Spill Team and the State Office of Fire Prevention and Control were called to the scene due to runoff from the foam.

Orleans County fire investigators are on the scene to determine a cause of the fire. An excavator from the Orleans County DPW also will be used to take off the side of the box of the truck so the other tires can more easily be removed.

Photos by Tom Rivers

ALBION – Firefighters are trying to put out a fire on a truck that is loaded with more than 400 used tires next to the Albion Walmart.

The fire spewed dark smoke on the west side of Walmart. The store has been evacuated.

Firefighters were dispatched to the scene at 5:39 p.m. Barre firefighters were also called to use a special foam to try to contain the fire.

The truck is from HTI Recycling of Lockport. A Sheriff’s deputy said the driver started the truck and felt a pop and then noticed an electrical fire up high in the truck.

Fire investigators have been called.

No additional information is available.

Barre firefighters, including Doug Bentley (lower left), are on scene, trying to put out the fire.

The fire is on the back side of Albion in a truck by the auto center.

Photos by Tom Rivers

ALBION – Employees from the Iroquois Job Corps in Shelby teamed this morning with staff and volunteers at Community Action of Genesee & Orleans for a pop-up food distribution.

The distribution is at a new location starting today. Instead of the Main Street Thrift Store parking lot on Main Street, the distribution will be at 165 Platt Street in the municipal parking lot that serves CRFS and is next to Dubby’s Tailgate. It is across the street from Dunkin’ Donuts.

Katrina Chaffee, director of Community Services and Reporting, puts packages of dates in a box. About 200 vehicles passed through the distribution with many starting to line up at 6:30 in the morning.

Organizers ask that people not start to line up before 7:30 a.m. to help with traffic issues.

At the Main Street location, the cars and trucks backed up in the side streets and even onto to Main Street, making it difficult for school buses and other vehicles.

At the municipal lot, the vehicles were able to be parked in rows, off the village streets.

Ernest Gursslin unpacks boxes of dates and also a frozen pasta meal. Gursslin is a volunteer with Community Action.

The food is delivered by Foodlink and is available for free to residents.

The dates for the distribution in Albion for the rest of the year include July 25, Aug. 8, Sept.12, Oct. 17, Nov. 14 and Dec. 12.

The Lyndonville Presbyterian Church and Cornell Cooperative Extension of Orleans County also run food distributions.

Cameron Richardson helps organize bags of onions and potatoes.

Photos by Tom Rivers

ALBION – Abby Kipler plays the sousaphone for the Albion Purple Eage Marching Band on Saturday during the Strawberry Festival parade, which returned after being cancelled in 2020 and 2021 due to Covid.

There were nine bands in the parade, which started at the school at 10 a.m. and ended at 11:30 in the downtown.

Alektra Hess plays the saxophone for the Albion marching band. This year the theme for the band’s show is “For Peace, Justice, and Good,” which is a tribute to superheroes.

The Mark Time Marchers were back for the parade in Albion.

Rochester Scottish Pipes & Drums made their presence felt.

The Mighty St. Joe’s Alumni Corps doesn’t shy away from a big drum line.

The Holley-Kendall Marching Band performed in the parade.

The Holley-Kndall band wears the colors from both schools. The band has grown in members this year.

The Hit Man from Rochester brought a big brass sound to the parade.

The White Sabers Drum and Bugle Corps based in Dansville returned to Albion for the parade on Saturday.

The Pembroke Marching Dragons have been a parade mainstay for years.

These four rocked on this float to promote the upcoming Sumer Festival featuring Rock the Park on Aug. 6 at Bullard Park. Several bands will perform that day from Aug. 6. That event is dedicated in memory of Jonathan Doherty, who was an active community volunteer.

Pictured form left include Mike Whiting, Dylan DeSmit, Zack Burgess and Chad DeSmit.

Photos by Tom Rivers

ALBION – Sheryl Watts is a Minion from the Despicable Me movie was a popular character in Albion’s Strawberry Festival parade on Saturday morning. The Minion was made of balloons from Air Raising Events. Watts is the owner and designer for that business.

She was one of 46 floats in the parade that started at 10 a.m. and ended at 11:30 a.m. The parade returned after being cancelled in 2020 and 2021 due to Covid-19 restrictions.

Dancing Derrick Bradley dressed in the Weed Man costume with a caravan of Weed Man trucks.

A big crowd lined Main Street for the parade. The procession started at the school district on Route 31 and then went north on Main Street to the Erie Canal.

Burger King’s mascot, the Burger King, waves to the crowd from a trailer during the parade.

Subway also had a costumed character in the parade.

Jeffrey Brown and Faith Bennett, both Albion High School seniors, wave to the spectators as the fair king and queen.

Colton Chappius tosses while sitting up high on some of his construction equipment.

Christine Nenni is dressed as a friendly bear in this display from Party Tyme Rentals.

The Barre Cubs acknowledge the crowd. The Cubs are back for another season in the Albion Midget League. The Cubs are one of five teams in the league this year. Barre also is an original team from when the league started in 1956.

The Girl Scouts joined the parade and encouraged local youth to be part of the organization.

U.S. veterans Ron Ayrault, left, and Mike Donahue march in the parade as the honor guard which also included Joe Gehl.

Erica Wanecski of Medina promotes the master gardener program at the Cornell Cooperative Extension in Orleans County.

Lori Laine tosses candy from a float for Frontier Heating & A/C Service. She is joined by her son Mike Laine, front left, and son-in-law Rex Harvey.

Kerry Panek gives some of her granddaughters a ride in style in a classic pickup truck.

This dachshund enjoys a breeze and all the action in the parade.

Judith Koehler and her husband Michael Bonafede were the honorary chairs of the parade. They have both volunteered for many years in the annual event.

Photos by Tom Rivers

ALBION – The return of the Albion Strawberry Festival also meant the Amazing Turtle Race is back.

There were 1,000 rubber turtles unleashed (at a very slow speed) into the Erie Canal today just after 2 p.m.

The turtles are dumped from bins into the canal and the first five finishers earn cash prizes for people who hold the tickets to those turtles’ numbers. The turtles are numbered 1 to 1,000. The tickets are $5 each or 5 for $20. Proceeds go towards the Strawberry Festival.

Aubrey Kennedy wore the hot turtle costume during the parade and then at the turtle race. Mickey Edwards, the Albion school district superintendent, stands next to the Turtle. Edwards was picked to dump a bin of turtles into the canal.

Jarred Saj is recognized for being the top turtle ticket seller with 315 tickets sold.

Of the five winning tickets, Saj sold four of them.

Some of the honorary turtle bin dumpers included, from right, County Legislator Skip Draper, Albion Mayor Angel Javier Jr. and Albion Village Trustee Zack Burgess, Jarred Saj, Police Chief David Mogle, and Mickey Edwards, school district superintendent.

Assemblyman Steve Hawley again served as emcee for the race and called the action as the turtles trekked down the canal.

Jay Kovaelski collects the turtles from the chute in the canal.

The top five prizes went to:

• $500 – Donna Moore
• $300 – Jen Watts
• $100 – Maxine Gray
• $50 – Dan Conrad
• $50 – Dan Thurber

Photos by Tom Rivers

ALBION – Jessica Sardina wears the Strawberry costume during today’s Albion Strawberry Festival 5K/8K race.

Sardina lives in California and is visiting family in Medina. She is a third-grade teacher who relished the role as The Strawberry, waving to spectators and encouraging the runners during the race.

About 200 people completed the race this morning, an event organized by Bert Gallman and Wolfpack Multisport.

Adam Grillo and his daughter Lena, 10, of Albion round the corner at Ingersoll Street and East State Street in the home stretch of the race.

Steve LaLonde, center, of Albion ran the race with his daughter Joyce and her fiancé Nate Birnbaun of Washington, D.C.

Jason Smith, the former Lyndonville school superintendent, finishes the 8-kilometer race. Smith is a regular at the local races. He now is superintendent of Batavia schools.

Alden Cayea of Medina, third from right in blue shorts won the 5K.

Photos by Tom Rivers

ALBION – Bill Pileggi and The Triple Play Band performed in the food court this evening at the Albion Strawberry Festival.

There are four different spots for musicians during the festival, which continues on Saturday.

Pileggi and his group perform pop, rock, country and blues music spanning four decades with music from Johnny Cash to Jimmy Buffett to Creedence Clearwater Revival.

The Albion Music Boosters served up strawberry shortcakes and sundaes in a booth outside the First Presbyterian Church of Albion. Pictured form left include Roseanne Allen, Annalise Steier and Audrey Pask.

The Kendall Community Band performed by the courthouse.

The festival returned after being cancelled in 2020 and 2021 due to Covid restrictions and concerns. This is the 34^th time for the festival in Albion.

Train rides are offered down Main Street and around the festival grounds.

The action resumes on Saturday until 8 p.m. The parade will be at 10 a.m.

Simulation of crash at Albion school intended to help students make choices to stay safe

Photos by Tom Rivers

ALBION – Hannah Coolbaugh, an Albion High School senior, portrays an injured student during a crash simulation this morning at the Albion High School parking lot.

The Albion Police Department, Albion Fire Department, COVA Ambulance, County Coroner Scott Schmidt and the District Attorney’s Office worked together to send a message about the dangers of driving drunk or impaired by drugs.

Albion has its prom tonight at Hickory Ridge Country Club with many graduation parties planned this summer.

Albion firefighters removed the top of a car to extricate injured students in the crash. Gallo’s Performance Auto in Brockport donated the cars for the crash simulation.

Myles Miller portrayed the drunk driver. After some field sobriety tests and a breathalyzer, she was led into an Albion patrol car by officers Dillon Black and Nathaniel Staines.

Leah Kania is on a stretcher and led to a COVA Ambulance.

Tracy Ford is overcome after seeing his son Rowan in a body bag. Ford said after that he was “wobbly” trying to walk after seeing his son and hearing the other students screaming.

He said it has been an emotional few days since his son told him he would be portraying the student who dies in the simulation.

The school set up bleachers for members of the senior class to see the simulation in the parking lot this morning.

After the crash simulation, students were in the LGI were the saw a mock arraignment. District Attorney Joe Cardone, center, is joined by Assistant DA Susan Howard and Albion Town Justice Joe Fuller.

Myles Miller is led into the “courtroom” and is wearing jail-issued clothing. She was charged with DWI and aggravated vehicular homicide. Cardone said the vehicular homicide charge carries a maximum of 15 years in prison.

Fuller, the town judge, set bail at $50,000 in cash or $75,000 bond. Fuller also issued orders of protection for the surviving victims.

Cardone said the seniors have worked very hard in their lives to get to the point of being so close to graduation.

“You can often be defined in your life by a bad decision, something that happens over 5 minutes in your life,” he said.

He cautioned the students from using alcohol and marijuana, which is illegal at their age. It can affect their judgement, and could lead to reckless actions out of their character.

Albion Police Chief David Mogle addressed the group and urged them to call 911 if they need a safe ride home.

“We’re not there to get people in trouble,” Mogle said about the police. “We’re there to save a life.”

Mary Wright, a prevention educator for GCASA, holds a Red Watch banner. That encourages the students to watch out for each and help someone who has had too much to drink or if they are incapacitated from drugs or other substances.

Wright said students are entering a season of celebrations – prom, graduation, grad parties – and many people tend to drink too much at those events.

“We want you to have a good time at the prom but we want you to be safe and responsible,” she said.

Students should pay close attention if a friend looks pale, blue-ish or losing consciousness. If that happens, they should get that person help and call 911.

“You need to respect their life and step up for them,” she said.

Jeffrey Brown portrays one of the students today who was injured in the drunken driving crash.

Photos by Tom Rivers

ALBION – Fred Nesbitt cooks hot dogs in a booth run by the Albion Rotary Club and Cobblestone Museum. They are in the food court on East Bank Street. The food court opened at 11 a.m. and continues until 9 p.m. today, and then again on Saturday as part of the 34^th Albion Strawberry Festival.

The festival is back this year after being derailed by Covid-19 in 2020 and 2021.

There are many arts and craft vendors at the courthouse lawn, and service organizations and businesses selling food and beverages in the food court.

There also will be several groups performing live music during the two days at the courthouse, and at the east and west end of the food court.

Today’s music schedule includes Warren Paul from 1 to 3 p.m., Mike McCauley from 3 to 5 p.m., MAC from 5 to 7 p.m., the Kendall Community Band from 5 to 7 p.m., Triple Play from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m., and Ryan and Scott Acoustic Duo from 7 to 9 p.m.

Saturday includes more live music, a 5K/8K at 8 a.m., car cruise-in from 10:30 a.m. to 3 p.m., parade at 10 a.m., basketball tournament beginning at 12:30 p.m., and turtle race at 2 p.m.

Some of the other activities include a “Pie in the Face,” I Got It, bounce houses, trackless train rides, magician, face painting and balloon clown.

Scott Daniels is shown with some of the T-shirts being sold from the Towpath Trading Post, which runs the Ormemes Post on Facebook and Instagram.

Daniels and his friends, Freeman Lattin and Kyle Thaine, have been creating satirical posts about Orleans County and Western New York for five years. He is wearing a shirt for the Lake Alice Bridge Diving Team. They are also selling stickers.

They are many other vendors at the courthouse lawn selling merchandise.

Photos by Tom Rivers

ALBION – About 1,000 rubber turtles will “race” on Saturday in the return of the Albion Strawberry Festival.

Volunteers have been selling tickets, and organizing the turtles, which are numbered from 1 to 1,000, for the big race.

Becky Karls, right, is the chairwoman of the event. She is joined on Thursday evening by volunteers Kathleen Bates and Mike Bonnewell.

They are sorting the turtles in the conference room of the Arnold Gregory Office Building.

The sale of the tickets – $5 each or 5 for $20 – is a fundraiser that goes back to helping pay for the festival.

Jarred Saj is the top turtle ticket seller, setting a new personal record with 315 tickets sold.

Mike Bonnewell, a member of the Albion Rotary Club, checks the turtles. Many of the tickets have already been sold. Those turtles with those ticket numbers are being setting aside in bins.

Other turtles that haven’t had their numbers sold yet will be set aside and still be available to be sold.

Tickets can be purchased from Karls today on the courthouse lawn and also at a spot in the downtown. Karls will be there up until 7 p.m. today. The tickets can still be purchased on Saturday until 12:30 p.m.

The race is at 2 p.m. with the turtles tossed into the Ere Canal from the Main Street lift bridge.

The top five turtles to finish a trek down the canal earn prize money with $500 for first place, $300 for second, $100 for third, and $50 for both fourth and fifth.