By Ginny Kropf, correspondent Posted 13 March 2022 at 9:44 am
Photos by Ginny Kropf: Pastor Albert Wilson and his wife Ykeeta stand by the refrigerator and food cupboard their church provided for the community outside Arnold’s Auto Parts.
ALBION – A new church which recently started offering services in Albion is showing its community support by helping to feed the hungry.
Greater Royal Body Shop Church, started by Pastor Albert Wilson and his wife Ykeeta, meets at 7 p.m. Fridays in the conference room at the Arnold Gregory Hospital Complex.
With support from Dan and Lisa DeCarlo of Arnold’s Auto Parts, Royal Body Shop Ministries has placed a refrigerator and cupboard full of food outside Arnold’s at 116 North Liberty St. Pastor Wilson dedicated the site at 1 p.m. Saturday, with Jack Burris from Hands 4 Hope, village trustee Stan Farone, local chef Jeff Holler, church members and other community supporters.
“While we worship God inside of four walls, he also wants us to be out in the community,” Pastor Wilson said.
While food in the refrigerator and cupboard is available to anyone in the community, it is hoped people will only take what they need.
Lisa DeCarlo, a member of Greater Royal Body Shop Church, shows a refrigerator stocked with food in front of Arnold’s Auto Parts at 116 N. Liberty St. The refrigerator and a cupboard will be kept stocked by the church and volunteers and will be available to anyone in the community who needs food 24/7.
Burris said his volunteers go to Rochester to get surplus food and sometimes they have a hard time getting rid of perishable items.
“It will be a blessing to have a refrigerator to put perishable food in,” Burris said.
The refrigerator and cupboard will be kept stocked by Royal Body Shop Ministries and volunteers from Hands 4 Hope when they have food available.
Local chef Jeff Holler will periodically prepare meals and have them in the refrigerator for families to take home and heat up.
Farone said this is a great thing the church is doing, and he is very happy about it. He said there is no doubt there is a need for such a service in Albion.
Village trustee Stan Farone, left, participates in the ribbon cutting with Pastor Albert Wilson and his wife Ykeeta, center, Dan DeCarlo from Arnold’s Auto Parts and other volunteers including Kevin Lemcke and Jack Burris of Hands 4 Hope.
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 12 March 2022 at 10:05 pm
Photos by Tom Rivers
ALBION – Connie Rodas serves a tasting of wine from Schwenk Wine Cellars to Lisa Girvins, who attended today’s Sip N’ Stroll in Albion with her friends Libby Bentley and Amanda Clemens.
About 300 people attended the event which included tastings from about a dozen wineries, distilleries and breweries.
Paul Swchenk, left, is the owner of Schwenk Wine Cellars in Kent. They were serving out of the Coffee Joint.
Today’s event was expanded up Main Street from the downtown to include Bloom’s Flower Shop, the Main Street Thrift Store, Dubby’s Tailgate and the Arnold Gregory Complex. A limo bus was available to shuttle people to the different locations.
Souvenir wine glasses were available at The Lockstone, one of two registration sites with the other at Dubby’s.
The event is a fundraiser for the Albion Merchants Association, a chance to highlight participating businesses, as well as offering a fun outing for the community.
Julia Fleming, right, serves for Yoga Pants Vodka which was hosted by Snell Realtors with a Mardi Gras theme. Karen Burke is joined by friends Halle Deuil and Krista Jurs.
This grape balloon display signified that the Downtown Browsery was one of the stops on the Sip N’ Stroll.
Stephanie Balk made these frosted cookies for the Sip N- Stroll. They were available at the Downtown Browsery.
Carrie Riley, second from left, and her friend Beth Stanley of Albion sample wine from Thousand Islands Winery, which was served by David and Nancy Mantle from The Parlour in the former Swan Library.
Lead singer Lonnie Froman and The Who Dats performed for a big crowd at the after-party at Dubby’s Tailgate.
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 10 March 2022 at 11:29 am
ALBION – There are five trustee positions up for election on May 2 for Hoag Library. Voting is from noon to 7 p.m. at the library.
Candidates can pick up petitions starting today at the library. Petitions are due by 7 p.m. on April 4 at the library’s circulation desk. The petitions need to be signed by at least 25 residents 18 and older in the library’s service area (towns of Barre, Albion, Gaines and Carlton).
The positions up for election include a spot recently vacated with the resignation of Anitrice Bennett. The other four positions are currently filled by Linda Weller, Jim Babcock, Kevin Doherty and Debbie DiBacco.
The top three vote-getters get four-year terms, and next two get three-year terms.
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 9 March 2022 at 10:19 pm
Couple have now given $1 million to Hoag Library – Library taxes drop 10%
Photos by Tom Rivers: Hoag Library, which opened in July 2012, is shown tonight. The original $1.69 million mortgage has now been paid off, 10 years ahead of schedule.
ALBION – The mortgage for Hoag Library has been paid off after the latest big donation from Maurice “Mo” Hoag and his wife Courtenay. The couple sent in a check for $200,000 in October to be applied to the mortgage.
That donation puts the Hoags total giving to the library at $1 million.
The Hoags are recognized inside the library for their contributions to Albion’s public library.
The latest donation also pays off a $1.69 million mortgage from 2012. The mortgage is paid off a decade early, eliminating a $75,000 annual payment.
The reduces what the library will be seeking from taxpayers in the May budget vote by 10.3 percent, a drop from $724,260 in 2021-22 to $648,964 in 2022-23.
Linda Weller, the library board president, thanked the Hoags for generous contributions to the library.
The Hoags initially gave $25,000 in the capital campaign for the new library about a decade ago. They then gave another $225,000, bringing it to $250,000 for the naming rights to the building that opened in July 2012.
In July 2015, they sent another $100,000 check and then another $100,000 arrived on April 14, 2017. In 2018, they sent a check for $250,000, then gave another $100,000.
The Hoags have never requested a photo opportunity or press release. They send in the checks unannounced with a note from Mr. Hoag to use it to pay down the mortgage.
“Mo” Hoag said in a previous interview that a vibrantpublic library can be an equalizer for children in his hometown, a community that he said has endured too many business closings.
Hoag grew up in Albion and graduated in 1961 as valedictorian. He lived in big cities throughout the country, as well as Geneva, Switzerland during a successful 30-year career in chemical manufacturing.
Linda Weller, president of the Hoag Library Board of Trustees, cuts a cake during this evening’s board meeting to celebrate the mortgage being paid off.
Hoag would return often from his retirement home near Baltimore, Md., to see his family and his classmates. He helps plan the Class of 1961’s annual get-togethers.
Hoag spent his early years in Waterport before moving to the village of Albion during his elementary school years. His father, a farmer, was hired to manage Albion Produce on Washington Street. The job came with a house on the same street.
Hoag said Albion was an “ideal place” to grow up in the 1950s. It was “a thriving little town” with industry and small businesses. But many of the food processors, including Hunt’s and Lipton’s, left town decades ago.
After graduating from Albion, Hoag earned a degree in chemical engineering from Cornell University. He worked 30 years with Stauffer Chemical in New York City, Houston, Kansas City, North Carolina and Switzerland, before settling near Baltimore, his wife’s home town.
“The key to moving forward is education and the library is a good start for all of the kids,” Hoag said in a previous interview. “I thought it would help my hometown.”
Kevin Doherty, a library trustee and past board president, said the Hoags don’t want recognition for their donations. They did however encourage the board to have some cake to celebrate the mortgage being paid off.
The cake includes an image of the library and a note thanking Mo and Courtenay Hoag for their donations that allowed the mortgage to be paid off well ahead of schedule.
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 8 March 2022 at 10:16 pm
Candle lighting at Maison Albion pays tribute to young woman
Photos courtesy of Faye Conley
ALBION – People light candles outside Maison Albion this evening in a tribute to Theresa Karlak on what would have been her 19th birthday.
Theresa was tragically killed after being struck by a vehicle while she was walking on New Year’s Day in Eagle Harbor.
Theresa was home-schooled and one of 10 children in her family.
Her mother, Janece Karlak, said the community’s response since the accident has been overwhelming. Her daughter was a popular employee at Tim Hortons and that restaurant sold 3,500 as a fundraiser for Theresa’s family on Jan. 4-5.
“We didn’t realize how much everyone loved her,” Janece said this evening during the benefit at Maison Albion. “Having so many people say such nice things about her has helped make it a little better.”
People join together during a ceremonial candle lighting in memory of Theresa Karlak.
Janece said Theresa loved going to work at Tim Hortons, even the very early morning shift at 3:30 a.m.
Sarah Karlak, Theresa’s sister, said the family appreciates that “people care so much.”
She said her sister is deeply missed.
“She was a hard worker and a very friendly person,” Sarah said.
Theresa loved cats and wanted to be a veterinarian, her sister said. Theresa also loved the Japanese culture and its emphasis on kindness. She wanted to travel to Japan to experience the culture up close.
The family thanked Cole and Kerri Glover, owners of Maison Albion, for putting on the event on Tuesday.
“It was definitely a blessing and hugely comforting to know she hasn’t been forgotten and she had such a positive impact on the community,” Sarah said. “We were definitely overwhelmed by the amount of people who showed up throughout the day and businesses who donated baskets.”
Theresa was remembered as a high-energy person who was very friendly to others.
“It brought tears in our eyes when everyone went out in the cold for the candle-lighting ceremony at the end of the day,” Sarah Karlak said. “It means so much to know that everyone came out to help us remember Theresa in this way.”
Photos by Tom Rivers
Nick Russo (left), a Maison Albion employee, helps serve food and beverages during the benefit.
There were 27 gift baskets up for raffle.
The benefit raised nearly $3,000 for the Karlak family with 19 percent of those proceeds to be donated to a local animal shelter on Theresa’s behalf.
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 8 March 2022 at 7:24 am
ALBION – The Albion Boys Basketball Boosters is organizing a 3-on-3 tournament on Saturday open to boys and girls in grades 5 through 12.
Tip-off in the double-elimination tourney begins at 10 a.m. in the high school gym. There will be 10-minute games. Teams can have a maximum of four players on the roster. The cost is $20 per player.
“Since the high school basketball season just concluded, the 3-on-3 tournament is a fun and exciting way to wrap up the season and keep the players in Albion and surrounding schools to keep playing basketball,” said Jeff Radder, one of the organizers and the JV boys basketball coach at Albion. “Plus, with the excitement of the upcoming NCAA Basketball tournament, we decided to host our own version of ‘March Mania.’”
The Boys Basketball Boosters are planning to use the proceeds to pay for Albion players to be in basketball leagues this spring and summer as well as purchase gear for the teams next season, Radder said.
The registration deadline is Wednesday. Awards will be given to teams in grades 5/6, 7/8, 9/10 and 11/12.
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 7 March 2022 at 4:31 pm
The deadline to apply for an absentee ballot in the March 15 village elections in Albion and Medina is 4 p.m. on Tuesday.
Those ballots need to be turned in to the village offices at Albion and Medina by March 14, either by in-person or mail.
Updated on March 8 at 10:39 a.m.: Albion has already received requests for 150 absentee ballots while Medina hasn’t had any requests for absentees.
Albion has seven candidates seeking three positions on the Village Board, including three candidates for mayor. Medina has three candidates who are all unopposed.
People seeking an absentee ballot can stop by the village offices in either Albion at 35 East Bank St. or Medina at 119 Park Ave. Call Albion at (585) 589-9176 or Medina at (585) 798-0710 for more information.
The Albion candidates include three people for mayor: Angel Javier Jr., running on the Republican and independent “Better Together Albion Strong” lines; Vickie Elsenheimer on the Democratic and independent “Move Albion Forward” lines; and Kevin Graham on the independent “Albion Pride, Working Together.”
Four people are seeking two trustee positions on the Village Board. Tim McMurray and Dan Conrad are on the Republican line. Sandra Walter and Joyce Riley are under the Democratic line and the independent “Move Albion Forward.”
In Medina, Mayor Mike Sidari and incumbent trustees Marguerite Sherman and Tim Elliott are running under the independent “The Village Party” for the March 15 election.
Voting the day of the election will be from noon to 9 p.m. at the village office on Bank Street in Albion and the senior center on West Avenue in Medina.
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 3 March 2022 at 9:00 pm
ALBION – There will be a benefit on Tuesday at Maison Albion in honor of Theresa Karlak, who was tragically killed after being struck by a vehicle while she was walking on New Year’s Day in Eagle Harbor.
Theresa Karlak
A vehicle struck her and also caused minor injuries to her younger sister.
The “Tribute to Theresa” benefit on Tuesday from 5 to 8 p.m. will include a ceremonial candle lighting by the pond at 7 p.m. There will be light refreshments catered by Wild Flour Bakery, as well as appetizers and a basket raffle.
The gathering is free to attend but guests are encouraged to donate $19 in honor of Theresa’s 19th birthday, which is March 8.
Proceeds raised from the event will be given directly to the Karlak family and 19 percent of those proceeds will be donated to a local animal shelter on behalf of Theresa Karlak who had dreams of being a veterinarian.
Theresa’s brother Joseph Karlak works at Maison Albion, 13800 West County House Rd.
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 3 March 2022 at 1:21 pm
Photos by Tom Rivers: This photo from March 7, 2020 is from the last Albion Sip N’ Stroll. About 350 people attended the event, about a week before the Covid-19 lockdown. The photo shows Jennifer Mateo and her husband Erik Mateo trying wines from Leonard Oakes Estate Winery in Medina. Sarah Geer served the wine at Red Check Rustic in the Pratt Opera House building. Geer was joined by her husband Peter in serving the wine for Leonard Oakes.
ALBION – The Albion Merchants Association is looking forward to the return of the Sip N’ Stroll wine walk. The event will be March 12 and has an expanded route from the downtown to include Dubby’s Tailgate on Platt Street and the Arnold Gregory Office Complex on South Main Street.
There will also be a limo bus taking people to the locations. That is sponsored by The Drink Shoppe and Susie’s Boat-tique.
The Sip N’ Stroll will include wineries, distilleries and breweries. The Merchants had the biggest Sip N’ Stroll two years ago with 350 participants. They have 500 souvenir wine glasses made for the March 12 event from 4 to 7 p.m.
The tickets are available on line (click here) or at The Coffee Joint, Arnold’s Auto Parts/NAPA Auto Parts, Bloom’s Flower Shop, Dubby’s Tailgate and The Downtown Browsery.
The Merchants are also working on doing another mural. They did one in 2020 showcasing Albion as the home of the Santa Claus School. That mural is on the north side of the Lake Country Pennysaver building.
Justin Suarez of “Aerosol Kingdom” made the Santa School mural and the Merchants want to have him paint a Purple Eagle themed mural on the side of Arnold’s Auto Parts on West Bank Street. There is a GoFundMe (click here) set up to raise money for the project.
The Merchants also are planning a return of the food truck rodeo. It will be in July instead of June. Last year about 400 people attended the food truck rodeo which helped the void of the Starwberry Festival which was cancelled. That event will be back June 10-11.
The group also is expecting a return of the fall festival and Hometown Christmas.
The group’s officers this year include President Natasha Wasuck of The Lockstone and Tinsel, Vice President Rebecca Alexander of Dubby’s Wood Fired and Dubby’s Tailgate, Secretary Tara Thom of Town and Country Quilter, and Treasurer Anita Finley of Oak Orchard Canoe Kayak Experts.
Wasuck also has reached out to the Canal Corp. about having a retired tugboat set up on display near the canal.
This photo from June 2018 shows the Tugboat DeWitt Clinton in Albion. The vessel hasn’t been operational for about three years. The Albion Merchants Association would like to have a retired tugboat on display on land in Albion.
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 3 March 2022 at 8:04 am
This screenshot from a video of the candidate forum on Tuesday evening shows moderator Michael Bonafede welcoming the crowd of about 60 people and going over rules for the 2-hour forum.
ALBION – The YouTube video of the Albion candidate forum on Tuesday evening is now available. Click here to see the video on the Orleans Hub YouTube channel.
The video includes the seven candidates running for the Village Board in the March 15 election.
The forum was hosted by The Lockstone and sponsored by Lake Country Media, which includes the Lake Country Pennysaver and Orleans Hub.
The candidates include three people running for mayor: Angel Javier Jr., running on the Republican and independent “Better Together Albion Strong” lines; Vickie Elsenheimer on the Democratic and independent “Move Albion Forward” lines; and Kevin Graham on the independent “Albion Pride, Working Together.”
Four people are seeking two trustee positions on the Village Board. Tim McMurray and Dan Conrad are on the Republican line. Sandra Walter and Joyce Riley are under the Democratic line and the independent “Move Albion Forward.”
Photos by Tom Rivers: Michael Bonafede, moderator for a candidate forum, goes over the rules of the forum on Tuesday evening at The Lockstone. Behind him are the candidates, from left: Vickie Elsenheimer, Kevin Graham, Angel Javier Jr., Joyce Riley, Dan Conrad, Sandra Walter and Tim McMurray. About 60 people attended the forum.
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 2 March 2022 at 10:24 am
ALBION – The seven candidates for the Albion Village Board shared their goals for the village and why voters should consider them when they go to the polls on March 15. The candidates spoke for two hours during a forum on Tuesday evening at The Lockstone on North Main Street. About 60 people attended the forum.
The candidates all see a strength in Albion’s people. All seven support maintaining the police department and not “defunding” it.
The candidates say more residents need to be an active part of a community revitalization in the business districts and in the neighborhoods.
Vickie Elsenheimer
Vickie Elsenheimer is the Democratic Party candidate for mayor, and Joyce Riley and Sandra Walter are the Democrats running for trustee. All three also are running together on the independent “Move Albion Forward” line.
Elsenheimer retired in March 2021 as an executive assistant to the vice president in the Division of Advancement at Brockport State College. She worked 22 years at Brockport, and 13 years prior to that at Albion Correctional Facility. She also served 17 years in the U.S. Army Reserves, retiring as a sergeant.
She said she has the time to be a full-time mayor and give the village government the attention it needs. She said Albion is struggling and she would make the downtown business district a focus by filling empty buildings. The downtown will need even more consideration from local leaders with the impending closing of the Main Street lift bridge, which could be shut down for two years for extensive repairs.
In her job at Brockport she helped with fundraising and “friend-raising,” and she said Albion needs that approach, bringing more grants and resources to the community, and more allies from other local and state government. She helped Brockport raise $26 million in a campaign for the college.
The downtown needs to a priority because many local residents and prospective businesses judge the community on the looks and energy of the downtown. Right now, the downtown “looks like an abandoned area,” she said. She would push to make rents affordable and pursue grants to help with buildings and beautify the business district.
Albion should better capitalize on being the county seat, she said.
Joyce Riley
“We need to build on that,” she said. “We need to develop community feel of neighbors caring about each other. We need to be at the top of our game and we’re not there right now.”
Joyce Riley is a retired nursing supervisor. She is currently a trustee for Hoag Library and the Cobblestone Museum. She has twice served on the Albion Board of Education.
Riley said Albion can’t keep moving sideways but must move forward. She said the village needs to develop a plan for upgrading all facets of the community, from water and sewer infrastructure, to parks, to the business districts and the neighborhood. She sees the water and sewer plants as a great asset for Albion attracting more businesses. She was adamant that taxes not go any higher.
“We need to be action-oriented,” Riley said. “Don’t only assess and determine a plan of action, but we actually need to go out and do it.”
Sandra Walter
Sandra Walter is retired from CRFS, Dime Bank, Anchor Bank and Kodak. She is the chairperson of the Albion Democratic Party Committee.
Walter said she has run for the Village Board four times now. She said she is determined to make a bigger difference for the village.
She said Albion has faced a steady erosion over the years, with a declining population and limited job prospects.
“I applaud the efforts of revitalization, but there is still a long ways to go,” she said. “We need to all step up together as a community to make Albion a busy and vibrant village.”
Walter said she would support moving the village election to June, like in Holley and Brockport. She said it was be easier for residents to get to know the candidates with the election a few months later in warmer weather.
Angel Javier Jr. has the Republican line for mayor and also is on the independent “Better Together Albion Strong.” Dan Conrad and Tim McMurray also are running with the Republican backing.
Angel Javier Jr.
Javier has he won’t take the mayor’s salary, which is almost $10,000 a year. He owns the former Family Hardware building in downtown Albion and works at Rochester Gas & Electric as a pipefitter apprentice. He is on the Strawberry Festival Committee and a subcommittee of the Planning Board looking for strategies for the downtown buildings.
His first action steps would be talking with local businesses throughout the community to survey their needs and how the village could best help them. He wants a better village website that would promote local businesses, and break down village expenses.
“We need to grow throughout the village, not just downtown, but along the Avenue, at Arnold Gregory and the canal,” Javier said. “There is a perception that Albion is anti-business and we need to change that.”
Javier, who served in the Marine Corps, said he brings a “can-do” attitude and positivity.
“Tell the community we are open of business,” he said.
Dan Conrad
Dan Conrad said he is well connected in the community through his role as president of the Albion Lions Club, a toy and candy business he owns on East Bank Street, and other volunteerism, including serving as a current member of COVA’s board of directors. He also organizes an annual youth fishing derby.
He said he would be a “team player” in working with village employees to make sure the village is run efficiently and providing quality services to residents and businesses.
He said he has experience working with budgets through COVA and also when he was a trustee on the Hoag Library board.
Tim McMurray
“It’s not just the board,” Conrad said about the village trustees and mayor. “It takes business owners, the community, it takes everybody to come together to make the village better.”
Tim McMurray said he would make youth services a focus and would like to see a year-round recreation program, even if it’s a couple Saturdays a month during the winter. McMurray has been a youth football coach for 12 years as well as serving as co-commissioner and on executive board of the youth football league. He is part of the Strawberry Festival Committee and helped with the lighted parade in Albion in December. He most recently worked with Sanzo Beverages as a merchandizer stocking beer.
Like the other candidates, he also supports giving the police department the resources it needs for training to protect the community. He is on a committee trying to put new basketball courts in at Bullard Park.
“I’m not a politician,” he said. “I have no aspirations to ever be one.” He urged residents to be more involved in the community and “be the change.”
Kevin Graham
Kevin Graham is running under the independent “Albion Pride, Working Together.” Graham has worked as a certified public accountant for 23 years and currently is in the finance department at the University of Rochester Medical Center. He previously was the chief financial officer at the Arc of Genesee & Orleans, an organization with a $23 million budget. He said he would bring a financial management expertise to the village’s $7 million budget.
He has been active with Hospice of Orleans, the Arc of Genesee & Orleans, the Special Olympics and the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation.
“Fiscal constraints are our greatest challenge,” he said. “With the rising costs of inflation we need to look every place to try to find efficiencies.”
He said he would connect with other local officials to look for partnerships in providing services. He said he is a true independent, willing to work with everyone, regardless of their political affiliation.
The winners of the March 15 election start their four-year terms on April 1. The village budget needs to be completed by the end of April.
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 1 March 2022 at 8:22 am
‘Keep an open mind. Reach out to people. Don’t think you know everything’
File photos by Tom Rivers: Members of the Rebuild Bullard Park Committee, Albion Village Board members and other park supporters celebrated the opening of the amphitheater on June 19, 2021. Pictured from left in front include Jack Burris, Chris Barry, Zack Burgess, Mayor Eileen Banker with scissors, Bernie Baldwin, John Grillo, Stan Farone, Kim Remley and Gary Katsanis. The amphitheater is part of major upgrades at Bullard including a splash pad, new utility building and walking trail.
ALBION – The Village Board will have three new members on April 1 with Mayor Eileen Banker and trustees Gary Katsanis and Stan Farone not coming back for another term.
Banker has been mayor the past four years and a board member for 12 years. Katsanis has six years on the board and Farone, eight years.
Albion Mayor Eileen Banker talks with Gary Katsanis, left, and Stan Farone when the three were endorsed by the Republican Party during a caucus on Jan. 30, 2018.
They leave at a time when the village will see the retirement of Linda Babcock as village clerk/treasurer next month. Katsanis called Babcock “the pulse of the village office.”
The three new board members will join Trustee Chris Barry, who has been on the board two years, and Zack Burgess, who was elected a year ago.
Banker, Katsanis and Farone were interviewed on Feb. 19 in the village office. They highlighted big projects with upgrades to Bullard Park, and the water and sewer plants.
They are pleased with agreements with Elba and Holley, where village personnel run the sewer plants in those villages.
Albion also worked out an arrangement with the Albion school district to have an Albion officer assigned to the district as a school resource officer.
Banker said she doesn’t micro-manage the department heads but pays close attention to their reports. She works as the chief of staff for Assemblyman Steve Hawley. She said her relationships with other local, state and federal officials has helped Albion secure grant funding for Bullard Park and village infrastructure.
Farone is retired after a 33-year career from Kodak. He has been an active firefighter for 50 years, with Albion and Holley, and also as a volunteer with COVA.
Katsanis is retired as a medical data analyst for Strong and then Blue Cross. He managed a staff that stretched from Buffalo to Utica.
The trio said they try to empower the department heads and heap praise on the village employees. The village has about 50 employees and a $7 million budget that includes the general fund, water and sewer.
Gary Katsanis, a trustee on the Albion Village Board, applies stain on Albion’s new utility building at Bullard Park in this photo from July 23, 2020. Katsanis, Trustee Stan Farone and Mayor Eileen Banker volunteered to put two coats of stain and then polyurethane on the cedar siding and wood on the building, which has bathrooms, storage, equipment and infrastructure for the spray park.
The tax rate the past three budgets includes $17.80 per thousand dollars of assessed property in 2019-20 and 2020-21 and then $17.85 in 2021-22.
The new board starts April 1 and budget needs to be adopted by the end of April. The new board also will need to negotiate a contract with the DPW union.
The mayor is paid $9,723 a year with the trustees’ salary at $6,572. Katsanis tracked his hours and estimated it translates into about $2 an hour during busier months.
Question: What were you advice be for the new members of the Village Board?
Stan Farone: For the new people coming in my advice is if you have any questions, I’m available. I know Eileen and Gary would be available to sit down or give us a call. I did sit down with one of the person’s running for trustee. I’m here to help. I’ll sit down with anybody at any time to keep the village going in the right direction.
Gary Katsanis: My advice to people coming on is if you work as hard as you possibly can you may in fact do an adequate job. Speaking for myself I think I’ve worked hard for the village and I think I did, by and large, an adequate job. All of our positions here are just to pass the baton to the next group of people.
Eileen Banker: My advice is to keep an open mind. Reach out to people. Don’t think you know everything because there is a lot to learn. I’ve been on the board 12 years and I’m still learning. There are new things that you learn because things come up that are not in the book, that you don’t know, that’s not black and white. It’s not written down. There is no guide book to this. There are so many things that could happen that have happened. We’ve always as a board been able to move forward with it.
My husband also says not to look at Facebook. I’ve gotten so aggravated with the stuff on Facebook and taken it to heart. You (Tom Rivers) would put an article on the Orleans Hub, it would be about something positive, and it automatically was bashing and people saying the village is no good.
Stan Farone, right, of Albion is shown on July 12, 2021 in Albion on the Cycling the Erie Canal event, an 8-day journey covering about 400 miles from Buffalo to Albany. Farone did the ride for the fourth time. He said he has made friends with many of the cyclists who come back year after year.
Stan Farone: They also have to know there are going to be times when you get into discussions where you don’t agree with each other. There are times when Eileen and I disagreed over something and it seemed like we were going to cut each other’s heads off. But then we’d walk out that door and I’d go put my sneakers on and we’d go for a walk together.
So once you walk out that door you have to learn to leave everything there.
Eileen Banker: And the mayor does not control the decision making of the board members. You’re individuals. You are individual people who are elected by the village people. You’re not controlled by the mayor. Most of the time I’ll sit up and wait until everybody else votes.
Gary Katsanis: Yeah, the mayor is not supposed to be initiating action.
Mayor Eileen Banker is on a lift and is pictured with a banner of her late father, John Pahura, in June 2020. The banners are 2 ½ feet by 5 feet. Banker coordinated the effort which included 69 banners in 2020 and then 23 more in 2021.
Eileen Banker: I don’t initiate. It’s everybody else voting first. Then if I need to vote, I vote. I usually vote.
Question: Are you concerned about the lack of Village Board experience with the candidates and also with the village clerk retiring?
Stan Farone: I’m very concerned. They do have the qualifications but they don’t have the experience and to me experience is a big thing. I don’t have anything against the two board members who are staying (Chris Barry and Zack Burgess). They are two good people, but they are fairly new. They have only been on two years.
You are going to end up with a new mayor and two new board members, and a new clerk. Like I said there is a lot that goes on behind the scenes that they don’t realize.
Like I said in one of my tweets, the trustees are not here to train the mayor. The mayor is here to guide the trustees. I don’t see that happening with a new board coming on.
Eileen Banker: There is also a lot of municipal law you have to be familiar with. There is stuff within the budget. You can’t mix money – the water and sewer funds you can’t mix with the general fund. You have to be really careful because when an auditor comes through and there are things in your books that are not done correctly, the answer “Oh I’m new I didn’t know” doesn’t cut it.
Question: What are some of the things you are proud of during your time on the board?
Stan Farone: There’s a lot we can be proud of for accomplishments. I’m not going to say individually because we work as a board. So the improvements at Bullard Park, the water plant, I’m just proud to be a trustee in the village and seeing it go as far as it has. Being a trustee I’m proud to sit there and make decisions and help the village. We worked on grants, we worked on Bullard Park, basic public relations with employees. It gave me the opportunity to work on some of these other committees like the Scarecrow Committee and just being involved with the village as a whole. I’ve tried to get the people to come downtown and make it better as whole for the village.
Gary Katsanis: We’ve been fiscally responsible and that’s important to me.
Eileen Banker: We did the banners (of veterans) which I’m proud of. But again, fiscally responsible, I think that is important. We’ve tried to hold the line. If we did have to increase taxes it’s because of no fault of our own. It’s because of the increase in retirement of healthcare. You want to have something you can give the employees because you’re down to bare bones in each department so you want the best qualified person. You need to entice them with what we can give them.
There are times we had to raise (the tax rate) by 2, 3, 4, or 5 cents. It’s a minimum increase – would we have still liked to decrease it? Absolutely – but I think we’ve done well. We got, like I said, great department heads and I’m very proud of all of them and all of our employees. We have a lot of new employees and they say this is the best place to work. People have no idea how much they get and how well they are taken care of working for the village.
The banners were probably one of my proudest moments because of what they stand for. It’s the military, it’s my father, it’s father-in-law, it’s my neighbor. I’m very thrilled with the banner program and I hope it continues.
The photos we’ve put in here (village office and main meeting room). I love the photos and I think more should be done. We had a great photographer (Peggy Barringer) who did those for us.
The Village of Albion was able to use a $300,000 state grant to pay most of the cost of a $380,000 new vacuum truck from the Vactor that can be used when there are waterline breaks, plugged sewers and other work on the water and sewer lines. Jay Pahura, Albion’s superintendent of the Department of Public Works, shows the new truck to Mayor Eileen Banker, State Sen. Robert Ortt and one of Ortt’s staff members in this photo from Dec. 11, 2019. Banker said connecting with other local, state and federal officials should be part of the job for mayor, trying to bring in resources for the village. The $300,000 grant came through Ortt’s office.
Question: Stan, I know you do that Cycling the Canal bike ride every year and even rode the bike in the Metro 10 in Albion.
Stan Farone: I do the canal ride every year. I did the Metro 10 and I still do a lot of 5ks. I’m planning on doing a 6-hour walk and run in Buffalo. I put it on Facebook and to try to encourage people to walk around and come out in the village and look around. I had about 6-7 people come down and we talked about the book, I think it’s The Boy from the Four Corners. It was written about downtown Albion. We talked about downtown Albion and we looked up where you can basically see the dates on the buildings. Just to get people downtown where they can see what’s going on makes me feel good.
Candidate forum this evening at Lockstone
There will be a candidate forum today from 6 to 8 p.m. with the seven candidates running for the Village Board in the March 15 election. The Lockstone is hosting the event at 160 North Main St. The event is sponsored by The Lake Country Pennysaver and Orleans Hub.
The candidates include three people for mayor: Angel Javier Jr., running on the Republican and independent “Better Together Albion Strong” lines; Vickie Elsenheimer on the Democratic and independent “Move Albion Forward” lines; and Kevin Graham on the independent “Albion Pride, Working Together.”
Four people are seeking two trustee positions on the Village Board. Tim McMurray and Dan Conrad are on the Republican line. Sandra Walter and Joyce Riley are under the Democratic line and the independent “Move Albion Forward.”
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 26 February 2022 at 10:37 am
Photo by Tom Rivers
ALBION – Caleb, Leah and Eli Prior of Hilton present a check for $511 to Patty Coffee, director of the PAWS Animal Shelter on Gaines Basin Road in Albion. Coffee is holding a Chihuahua named Sky.
The three children are the great-grandkids of the late Judy Grabowski who passed away about a year ago. Grabowski was known as “Mema” to the great-grandchildren. She was a Holley resident who donated often to PAWS in memory of friends who passed away, and as memorials for pets in the family that also passed.
“The kids chose PAWS because it was her favorite charity,” said her daughter, Elizabeth Pera of Hamlin. “She loved animals.”
Grabowski’s family did a Super Bowl Square fundraiser and gave the proceeds to PAWS in her memory.
Besides the three great-grandchildren this morning the donation was presented by Grabowski’s daughters, Pat Fredendall of Holley and Elizabeth Pera of Hamlin, and Grabowski’s granddaughter, Karen Prior of Hilton.
Coffee, the PAWS director, said the shelter currently has seven cats and eight dogs available for adoption.
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 24 February 2022 at 9:29 pm
ALBION – In October 2020, David Hill opened Orleans Storage with 107 units at three buildings on West Countyhouse Road in Albion, just east of Route 98.
Business has been good, and Hill only has six units available.
He has proposed an expansion with three more buildings that would bring the total units to about 240.
The Orleans County Planning Board this evening voted in favor of the project which includes two buildings that would be 30 feet wide by 230 feet long, plus another building that would be 20 feet long by 225 feet.
“There is a definite demand,” he told the Planning Board this evening.
Dan Strong, the town’s code enforcement officer, said it’s a “low-key” business that is quiet with little traffic.
The board recommended the Town of Albion approve the site plan and permit for the project.
In other action:
• The board recommended the Town of Clarendon approve a permit for a diesel repair shop to be operated by Erich Hoak at 5267 Countyline Rd.
• The board re-elected Brian Napoli of Ridgeway as the board chairman and Paul Hendel of Murray as the vice chairman.
• Corey Winters, a planner with the County Planning and Development Department, announced the department was notified that $41,000 in state funding will be coming to Orleans for snowmobile trail maintenance and signage.
• Winters also notified the board that the household hazardous waste collection event will be back in August with expanded hours after last year’s event quickly filled up and some residents had to be turned away.
ALBION – Albion Elks Lodge prides itself in doing what we can to help our local community.
No doubt we have all felt the pain caused by the pandemic in one way or another. We decided to reach out to The Grand Lodge of Elks and apply for what is known as the Spotlight Grant valued at $2,000. The grant is one of many that local lodges can apply for to offer assistance in their community.
In previous years our Lodge has donated to several different organizations: Hospice, COVA Ambulance, Orleans Hope and Recovery, and the Angel Program through Community Action, just to name a few.
We thought hard about where we could impact the most in our community and the decision was the Genesee-Orleans County Ministry of Concern. The Ministry of Concern is a local non-profit organization that assists in helping low-income families and elderly individuals to overcome difficult circumstances when no other help is available.
It is with heartfelt expression that we at Albion Elks Lodge 1006 are proud to be able to support our community.
