4 from Albion honored for outstanding performance in leading role

Photos by Tom Rivers: Leah Kania is Fiona and Rowan Ford is Shrek in Albion’s production of Shrek the Musical which received several awards on Thursday night at the Stars of Tomorrow event in Rochester. Kania and Ford also were recognized for outstanding performance in a leading role.

ROCHESTER – The Albion High School production of Shrek the Musical won many awards on Thursday night at the Stars of Tomorrow in Rochester, including four awards for outstanding performance in a leading role.

The Stars of Tomorrow is a program through the Rochester Broadway Theatre League. It judges and recognizes musicals from 25 schools in the Rochester region. Albion is up against many of the much larger suburban districts in Monroe and Ontario counties.

The Albion students recognized for outstanding performance in a leading role include: Leah Kania as Fiona, Rowan Ford as Shrek, Myles Miller as Donkey and Jeffrey Brown as Lord Farquaad.

In addition, Leah Kania, Myles Miller and Rowan Ford are candidates to represent Rochester in a New York City competition – the National High School Musical Theater Awards, also known as the Jimmy Awards. Online voting starts at noon today. Click here for more information.

Myles Miller was named an outstanding performer in a leading role for her energetic and often hysterical turn as Donkey.

Jeffrey Brown shined as Lord Farquaad, the villain of the musical. He is short in stature and a ruthless ruler with many insecurities. Here is shown facing an uprising from the Fairytale Creatures.

Albion’s performance of Shrek was honored for the following:

• Excellence in student orchestra
• Excellence in acting ensemble
• Excellence in production crew.

Other individual awards included:

Natalie Baron received a Tip-of-the-hat award for her performance as Pinnochio.

Hannah Coolbaugh starred as the Mad Hatter.

• Special Recognitions to Ethan Merrill and Hannah Coolbaugh. Ethan Merrill ran the lighting board and never missed any of the 220 cues for the production.

• In addition to being the Mad Hatter, Hannah Coolbaugh was a Duloc Dancer, one of the 3 Blind Mice, Rat Tapper and a Knight. She was dance captain and choreographed the number in 3 Blind Mice.

• Kaitlynn Basinait was a Rising Star recipient. A middle schooler, she stepped in to run one of the spotlights.

This year was a welcome return to performing in front of a live audience for the Albion drama program. The musical in 2020 was cancelled due to Covid. Last year’s show was performed without an audience and then shown online through a video. Students also were able to take the stage this time without masks.

Photos by Tom Rivers

ALBION – Emily Trapiss, a senior at Albion High School, holds the first-place poster she made to promote the 34th Albion Strawberry Festival.

The event on June 10-11 has a theme of “Together We Serve” and will highlight service clubs and volunteerism in the community. The Albion Rotary Club is one of the festival’s sponsors. The club is celebrating its 100^th anniversary this year.

The poster created by Trapiss will be featured in promotional materials for the festival, which is back this year after being cancelled in 2020 and 2021 due to Covid restrictions and concerns.

“I wanted to make it inclusive and show everybody working together,” Trapiss said.

Jeffrey Brown, an Albion senior, holds his second-place poster.

Lily Zambito, another Albion senior, holds her third-place poster. There were about 40 entries in the contest. The prize money included $50 for first place, and $25 for both second and third.

The posters winners – Lily Zambito, Jeffrey Brown and Emily Trapiss – are shown with Don Bishop, the logistics chairman for the festival.

They were recognized at today’s Albion Rotary Club meeting at the Cobblestone Museum.

ALBION – The Village Board has approved spending $35,371 for a camera and security system at Bullard Park.

The village will pay LINSTAR in Buffalo for the security system with federal funding through the American Rescue Plan Act.

The board wants to deter vandalism at the park which has received about $800,000 in recent upgrades with a splash park, new playground equipment, an amphitheater and a utility building with bathrooms.

In other action during last week’s board meeting:

• Approved renting out the north pavilion at Bullard Park, the one by the woods, for $25 for village residents and $50 for people outside the village.

• Agreed to loan $65,000 from the General Fund to the Sewer Fund to assist with cash flow requirements.

• Approved closing East State Street and East Bank Street from Platt to Main Street on June 9 (Thursday) through the close of the Albion Strawberry Festival on June 11 (Saturday). The board also approved use of picnic tables and the Albion Police Department for the festival on June 10-11.

• Accepted a $722.86 check from Niagara Metals for the sale of scrap metal to be put into the village’s Equipment Reserves.

Photo by Tom Rivers

ALBION – The Who Dats are shown closing out Albion’s summer concert series on Aug. 19 last year. The band includes lead singer Lonnie Froman, John Borello on guitar (in back), Alona Kuhns on guitar (in back in white shorts), Ed Hilfiker on guitar and Alex DeSmit on drums.

The Who Dats will be back in this summer’s series on Aug. 18.

The Village Board last week approved the concert series featuring six performances. The village organizes the events, which receive $2,410 in funding from the Genesee-Orleans Regional Arts Council.

The concerts are on Thursdays from 6 to 8 p.m. by the canal on Platt Street, next to the fire hall.

The lineup includes:

• July 14 – Eagle Creek

• July 21 – Begging Angels

• July 28 – “A” Blues Band

• Aug. 4 – Jonesie & The Cruisers

• Aug. 11 – Trellis Cooper Band

• Aug. 18 – The Who Dats

These candidates will be on the ballot today in an election for trustees at Hoag Library in Albion.

ALBION – There are five candidates for five trustee positions in an election today at Hoag Library. Voting is from noon to 7 p.m. at the library.

Voters must be at least 18 and live 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.

The library’s annual meeting will be at 7 p.m. today.

The candidates include:

• Mary Covell – She has worked 16 years as an accountant and her family frequently uses the library.

“I want to see the Hoag Library continue to thrive in community outreach, educational opportunities for all ages, and really become a central focus point for the Village and Town,” she said in her candidate biography. “The Library has so much to offer and genuinely can help anyone grow and further their potential. I would love to have the chance to help build up, spread the word and encourage everyone to want to come in and utilize all the resources it has.”

• Kevin Doherty – He is a long-time member of the board and was president during the building of the new library in 2012 and for several years after that. Doherty has been a technology business contractor since the 1980s.

“This facility is a great example of that which can be accomplished when personal agenda are laid aside for the community benefit,” he said in his candidate bio. “I can honestly say that I was not a user of the old Swan Library; it was not a welcoming environment. Our family has, however, embraced the programming, collections and general upbeat attitude of the new Hoag building and staff.”

• Rachel Hicks – An employee of Albion Agencies Insurance for the last 8 years, who works in agency management and accounting, in addition to insurance sales. She brings her family to many of the library events, including the summer reading program.

“I feel the library provides services and opportunities a lot of local community members haven’t even realized yet,” she said. “The weekly programs for different learning opportunities, provides a wealth of learning opportunity from ages of young to old.”

• Linda Weller – The current board president also is a member of the Albion Board of Education. She is owner of Info Advantage Inc. in Rochester.

“I would like the opportunity to serve as a member of the Library Board, and will continue to serve the community to the best of my abilities,” she said.

• James Babcock – The owner of a construction business, Babcock has volunteered with the summer reading program and other local agencies.

“My interest in serving on the board is to share my knowledge and experience with the trustees,” Babcock said. “My work experience and community involvement I believe will make me an asset to the board.”

Click here to see the candidate bios.

Photos by Tom Rivers

ALBION – Motorcyclists head south on Main Street in Albion this afternoon at the start of a 50-mile safety and awareness ride throughout Orleans County.

Members of ABATE (American Bikers Aimed Toward Education) in Orleans County organized the event that included about 50 motorcyclists.

They gathered at the steps of the Orleans County Courthouse for the rally and start of their ride. The police-escorted trek ended at the VFW in Medina

These motorcyclists include, from left: Lorrie Simons of Holley, Rhonda Starling of Hamlin and Jessica Ornt of Holley. They are members of the Old Crow Motorcycle Club of Orleans County, which is based in Kent.

Chuck Persons, president of ABATE in Orleans County, addresses the group of motorcyclists. He introduced Assemblyman Steve Hawley and County Legislator John Fitzak who shared proclamations declaring May as “Motorcycle Safety and Awareness Month.” Hawley thanked the group for promoting safety on the local roadways.

Fitzak said ABATE has helped to prevent accidents through awareness programs aimed at all drivers, acted as liaison on behalf of motorcyclists with government agencies, and promoted good citizenship by encouraging members to use their right to vote.

Chuck Persons and other speakers addressed the group from the top of the courthouse steps.

ABATE reminds the public that motorcyclists are out and drivers should, “Look twice, save a life.”

The caravan of motorcycle riders head out on their safety and awareness ride. There was a light rain at the start of the ride at about 2:30 p.m.

The group heads south of Route 98 in Albion.

ALBION – The Village Board on Friday passed a $7,153,178 budget for 2022-23 that will increase taxes by 3.2 percent.

The tax levy – what the village collects in taxes – will increase from $2,761,524 to $2,851,056. The tax rate will go up from $17.85 to $18.46 per $1,000 of assessed property.

The budget includes $4,106,279 in the general fund, $1,797,521 in the water fund and $1,249,377 in the sewer fund.

The tax increase is below the state-imposed tax cap by $14,476, partly because the village was able to carry over $42,901 from previous budgets that were below the tax cap, according to the budget documents.

Mayor Angel Javier Jr. is taking a $1 salary which reduced the mayor’s budget expense by $10,322, and Trustee Tim McMurray is only taking a dollar, cutting that expense by $6,176.

The village fiscal years starts June 1 and ends May 31. The budget won’t include any of the new changes in assessments. In this budget, the village’s total tax base actually decreased by $249,927 – from $154,707,229 to $154,457,302.

Speakers at schools, churches share message; Matt Lockett’s family from 7 generations ago owned Will Ford’s as slaves

Photos by Tom Rivers

ALBION – Will Ford, right, shares how the family of Matt Lockett, left, once owned Ford’s as slaves. The photo on screen shows portraits of Napoleon and Mary Lockett during the Civil War era. The Lockett family once owned 126 slaves.

Lockett and Ford met at a rally against abortion in Washington DC about 17 years ago. They became close friends and after a decade they both traced back their family lineage. Ford saw in the past some of his ancestors had the last name Lockett before his grandfather changed the name to Ford because he didn’t want the last name of a family that held his in bondage.

Lockett’s brother was actively trying to learn about the family’s history. The two found the last battle of the Civil War was fought at the Lockett farm in Virginia on April 6, 1865. After the war, the family dispersed to Kentucky and Louisiana.

Ford said he felt anger towards Lockett, his friend, when he realized the Locketts once enslaved Ford’s ancestors.

“For me it was the first time there was a face connected to a painful story,” he said.

He needed to go to a deeper level of forgiveness to find healing.

“I was confronted with the reality of this historic pain,” Lockett told about 150 people at the First Presbyterian Church in Albion on Friday night. “I wasn’t there 150 years ago, but Will’s pain is still real.”

Matt Lockett speaks during Friday’s 2 ½ hour event at the First Presbyterian Church in Albion. Ford and Lockett also spoke during assemblies at Albion and Medina high schools on Friday. The last battle of the Civil War was fought at Sailor’s Creek at the Lockett farm in Virginia.

The two have remained close friends. They believe relationships are the key to moving the country forward through so many divisions.

“The first one to love wins,” Ford said.

Ford brought a cast-iron kettle that has been in his family for seven generations. That family artifact is a powerful connection to when the family once was enslaved.

He shared how he has been called racial slurs, pulled over by police “for driving while Black” and faced suspicious for living in a mostly white suburban neighborhood in Dallas, Texas.

Ford said the Christian people can make a difference in bringing racial justice to the country. Upstate New York has been instrumental in the past in the fight for abolition and women’s rights, Ford said.

He called on a united church to show love for all, and lead the way through the intense division in the country.

The Rev. Susan Thaine, pastor of the Presbyterian church in Albion, welcomes the group to Friday’s program.

“Our hope is it will become a community conservation – not a one and done – as we work towards racial reconciliation,” she said.

The two speakers will be the First Baptist Church in Medina today at 1 p.m. for a question and answer session, and then at 7 p.m. today at Roberts Wesleyan College in North Chili.

In addition Ford will speak at Sunday service at 10 a.m. at Harvest Christian Fellowship in Albion with Lockett speaking at Antioch Baptist Church in Rochester on Joseph Avenue.

For more information, click here.

Group asks village to move historical marker, sign to make room for bronze statue

Photos by Tom Rivers: The Albion Betterment Committee wants a bronze statue that looks like Santa Claus to go in front the of Santa mural at Waterman Park on Main Street. A historical marker and sign promoting local events would need to be moved to make room for the statue. The 24-foot-long mural will get a 3-inch border to protect the edges of the large painting.

ALBION – The Village Board agreed to let the Albion Betterment Committee put in a 3-inch metal border around a 24-foot-long mural of Santa Claus in a sleigh flying over the Orleans County Courthouse and downtown Albion.

The Betterment Committee will pay for the costs of the border, which will look like a frame for the large painting and also protect the edges.

The mural at Waterman Park on Main Street was spearheaded by the Albion Rotary Club and was completed in July 2018. The mural is on village property and given to the village by the Rotary Club.

Stacey Kirby Steward, an Albion native, painted the mural. The project commemorates the life and work of Charles W. Howard.  In 1937, Howard founded a Santa Claus School in Albion, dedicating his life to establishing a high standard for Santas everywhere.

The Betterment Committee is working to add more to the site celebrating the life of Howard and promoting Albion’s Santa story.

The committee has raised $100,000 for a bronze statue of Santa. That statue is expected to be done and installed in May 2023, and then dedicated the following month during the Strawberry Festival.

Brian Porter, a sculptor from Pendleton, shows members of the Albion Betterment Committee a 6-foot-high clay mold of Santa Claus in Porter’s garage on Saturday. That statue will be cast in bronze and installed in about a year.

Two members of the Betterment Committee, Joe Gehl and Natsha Wasuck, asked the Village Board on Wednesday to relocate a historic marker and also a sign that functions as a for community events. The committee wants the statue to be where those elements are. The statue shows a Santa in a welcoming pose with an outstretched hand and arm.

The marker and sign could be moved about a block south to the village municipal lot next to the Presbyterian Church, Wasuck suggested.

The committee would like the village’s help in a concrete pad that would be about 3-by-4 feet. (A local business may donate the concrete.) A sandstone slab would go on top of the concrete as the base for the statue. Village Attorney John Gavenda suggested the committee have the size of the base engineered to ensure it can hold the 800-pound statue.

Wasuck also asked for the village to run electricity to the site so lights could be displayed on the statue at night. The committee would cover those costs.

The committee also wants to work on the lower parts of the buildings adjoining Waterman Park through paint and new bricks. Conrad Cropsey told the committee he would approve of the work at the committee’s expense. The other building owner, Colleen Albright, wants to work on her own building, Wasuck said.

Mayor Angel Javier Jr. said the board wants to see the intentions of Cropsey and Albright in writing before giving any approval.

The board said it was OK with the 3-inch frame on the mural for now. There is still plenty of time to discuss the other requests from the committee because the bronze statue won’t be ready for about a year.

Lafayette and St. Joe’s will be open all the time, including at night

Photos by Tom Rivers: The gate at the entrance of Lafayette Park on West State Street is open this morning. The Village Board agreed on Wednesday to not lock Lafayette or St. Joe’s Park.

ALBION – The Village Board in a 3-2 decision agreed to not lock the gates of two village parks west of Main Street, including at night.

Trustees Chris Barry and Zack Burgess said they supported keeping the parks open during daylight, but they thought the gates should be closed and locked at night so neighbors don’t have to contend with noise.

Mayor Angel Javier Jr. and trustees Tim McMurray and Joyce Riley voted to not have the parks locked.

Susan Oschmann, a member of the Abion Recreation Committee, brought up the issue. She said she tried to take her grandchildren to St. Joe’s Park last summer and was surprised the entrance was locked.

She noticed other neighborhood parks with fences – Carosol on Ingersoll and Veterans on Linwood – weren’t locked. Bullard Park, the village’s main park, isn’t fenced in. The village will soon be adding cameras to Bullard to help deter vandalism.

“We need to invest in our neighborhoods the right way,” Oschmann said at Wednesday’s Village Board meeting. “I don’t think putting a lock on the playgrounds is the right answer.”

The village historically would lock the gates on Lafayette and St. Joe’s at night and then unlock them at 8 a.m. But often in recent years they have stayed locked all day.

Dorothy Daniels, another resident at the meeting, said it was “bad optics” to lock parks on one side of the village and not the other.

“It sends a very bad message,” she said.

Trustee Tim McMurray made the motion to not lock the two parks, including at night. If there are issues after dusk, McMurray said locking the gates at night could be revisited.

Trustee Joyce Riley said having the parks locked during the day didn’t send a welcoming message to those neighborhoods. She said the smaller parks need to open because not everyone has a car and can get to Bullard on Route 31. That site has the most playground equipment and a spray park that opened last year.

“We need to treat each other the way we want to be treated on a regular basis,” Riley said. “Let’s start by opening our parks.”

St. Joe’s Park on Clinton Street is open today after a member of the Albion Recreation Committee asked why the park is often locked with the front gate closed, even on weekends during the summer.

Shelismar Reyes won first place with this poster design.

Press Release, Albion Central School

ALBION – Albion students Shelismar Reyes, Aubrey Bruning and Misty Weese have been named this year’s winner of the annual American Legion Auxiliary Poppy Poster Contest.

Reyes, a high school sophomore, earned first place with her design. Bruning and Weese, both fifth graders, finished second and third, respectively.

The American Legion Auxiliary, Sheret Unit #35 sponsors the local event each year. The three posters that placed will now travel to Albany to be judged at the state level with the state winner moving on to the national competition.

Aubrey Bruning won second place for this poster.

Student artists must include specific elements in their posters and are judged based on poster appeal, artistic ability and neatness. Submissions are broken down into classes based on grade level.

The American Legion Auxiliary’s mission is, “to support The American Legion and to honor the sacrifice of those who serve by enhancing the lives of our veterans, military, and their families, both at home and abroad. For God and Country, we advocate for veterans, educate our citizens, mentor youth, and promote patriotism, good citizenship, peace and security.”

Learn more about the organization and the Poppy Poster Contest at www.legion-aux.org.

Misty Weese was third with this design for the American Legion Auxiliary Poppy Poster Contest.

Photos by Tom Rivers

ALBION – Marti’s on Main celebrated the opening of an art show on Friday, featuring about 100 works of art from 22 members of the Brockport Artists Guild.

About 150 people attended the three-hour season-opening show.

The gallery is located in the former Cornell Cooperative Extension building at 20 South Main St. Kim Martillotta Muscarella and her husband Neal Muscarella painstakingly and creatively remodeled the building into an art gallery. It opened for its first art show last summer.

Kim Martillotta Muscarella is planning three different art shows this year.

Kim Martillotta Muscarella, a member of the Brockport Artists Guild, poses with two of her paintings, of an acorn woodpecker and red-headed woodpecker, both acrylics on Masonite. Muscarella is a member of the Brockport Artist’s Guild.

Artwork is on display in the first and second floor of the building.

Josephine Dickerson, 10, of Hamlin looks at some of the artwork by her grandmother Suzanne Wells, an Albion art teacher from 1971 to 2005. Wells, who passed away from cancer is 2019, loved to paint flowers and portraits. Her favorite media included watercolor, acrylic and mixed media. She loved color, which could be seen in the way she dressed as well as her work.

Proceeds from the sale of Wells’ artwork in the show will go to the Pancreatic Cancer Association of WNY.

Arthur Barnes made this painting of the former CCE building, which is now the Marti’s on Main art gallery.

The former Cornell Cooperative Extension building was most recently used an outreach center for the Episcopal Church in Albion. The building was originally a house built in the 1830s.

Muscarella watched the site decline for many years, with little activity inside the doors of one of the prominent buildings in the historic Courthouse Square.

For about a decade she ran Marti’s on Main, an art gallery and studio at her home at 229 South Main St. But that site, which was half of her house, was cramped to display art and accommodate groups of people.

On a whim in December 2019, she decided to look at the old Extension building, which had been for sale for years and was listed by her friend Jim Theodorakos of Morrison Realty. Muscarella and her husband were given a tour of the building. (The Extension moved in 2007 to a new building at the 4-H fairgrounds in Knowlesville.)

The walls in the old building were all painted a very pale yellow. The floors covered in green and red carpet or asphalt tiles. The couple also noted the high ceilings, big rooms and lots of wall space. They decided to take on the building, and give it a new life as an art studio and gallery.

For more information or to request a tour, contact Muscarella at 585-589-6715 or 585-590-9211.