The three-person race for Albion mayor, plus four people seeking two other board seats, brought out 23.4 percent of the registered voters or 710 of 3,031.

Angel Javier Jr. was elected mayor with 378 votes to 195 for Vickie Elsenheimer and 137 for Kevin Graham.

Tim McMurray and Joyce Riley were elected trustees with 440 votes and 326 votes, respectively. Other trustee candidates included Dan Conrad with 301 votes and Sandra Walter with 206.

The candidates bought ads, put out yard signs, sent mailers and many went door-to-door. That 710 voter turnout was up from 614 in March 2018 when there was also a three-person race for mayor that was won by Eileen Banker over Joyce Riley and Kevin Doherty.

One of the trustee candidates in Tuesday’s election, Sandra Walter, said during a candidate forum that she would support moving the village election to June, like in Holley and Brockport. She thinks there would be a bigger turnout in warmer weather and candidates could more easily connect with voters.

In Medina, the turnout was only 1.2 percent for the election with 39 voters out of 3,389. However, the candidates were all unopposed with Mayor Mike Sidari and Trustees Marguerite Sherman and Tim Elliott.

They were also unopposed on the ballot in the previous election in September 2020. That election was moved back six months due to Covid restrictions.

There was a write-in campaign in that election that brought more people to the polls with Sidari winning 104 to 59 for Mary Hare. Sherman had 124 votes and Elliott received 118, to 56 for Charles Hartway.

Photos by Tom Rivers

ALBION – Christine Robinson is pictured with some of the kids at Little Leapers Childcare Center, which celebrated its 20^thanniversary today.

Robinson secured her state license for the center on March 18, 2002. Back then the site was on Hamilton Street near the railroad tracks. Then it moved to East State Street near the Elks’ Lodge.

Robinson moved into the former Tiny Shoes location at the corner of Allen Road and Hamilton Street in 2011.

“The kids make you feel like a superstar,” Robinson said. “If you walk in, they’re grabbig you and hugging you.”

The kids are so excited to see Robinson and the employees if they are out in community, even if it’s years past when they were at Little Leapers.

The childcare center has room for 70 children. There is currently a waiting list. The site opens at 5 a.m. and closes at 6 p.m., Monday through Friday.

Christine Robinson, owner of Little Leapers, is pictured with two long-time employees, Jamie Hickman (left) and Ethel Taylor (right).

Little Leapers has 18 employees and serves children ages 6 weeks to 12 years old.

Little Leapers follows a curriculum with kids being read to, learning sign language and vocabulary, and good manners are emphasized.

At Little Leapers, the motto is: “where your child leaps ahead.”

Christine Robinson works with her daughter Kourtni Mietlicki, who is the teacher in the one-year-old infant room.

Mietlicki said her mother does a great job managing the pressures of running the business.

“She can stay calm in any situation,” Mietlicki said. “She can figure out any type of issue, whether with a staff member, a kid or a parent.”

Photos by Tom Rivers

ALBION – A cast of 27 Albion Middle School students will be performing Alice in Wonderland at 7 p.m. Friday, and noon and 7 p.m. on Saturday at the Middle School Auditorium. Tickets are available at the door.

This is the first full-length musical the middle school gets to perform since March 2019. The cast was a week away from performing Matilda when Covid closed the school in mid-March 2020. Last year the school did a scaled down show that wasn’t in front of a live audience. They also did a shorter show this fall.

“I’m so excited to be back and performing for an audience,” Carrie Kozody, the musical director, said today after the students gave a preview of the musical to elementary students. (The young students in the crowd giggled many times during the preview.)

This will be the first time many of the cast members, including the eighth-graders, perform in front of an audience due to the previous Covid restrictions.

There are 60 students total involved in the show, including the stage crew and production team.

Julia Button plays the lead role in Alice in Wonderland. She goes down a rabbit hole and meets many zany characters, including the The White Rabbit, Tweedle-Dee and Tweedle-Dum, the Mad Hatter, the Caterpillar, the Mock Turtle, the mysterious Cheshire Cat, the Queen of Hearts and many others.

Kozody has directed the musical several times during her character. She likes the message in the show.

“Don’t be afraid to hold on to the whimsy of being a child,” she said. “Don’t be in a hurry to grow up.”

Carrie Kozody speaks with the cast and crew after a preview today. They were getting ready to go over their bows.

Kailee Anstey is Tweddle-Dee, right, and Phoebe Allen is Teedle-Dum. They are two silly and childish Wonderland characters taking Alice on an adventure.

These cards include Cerenity Johnson as No. 7, Neveya Barnes as No. 2, and ChrisJen Winters as No. 5. They are performing “Painting the Roses Red.”

Kamryn Simmons (right) plays the Cheshire Cat, one of the magical creatures in Alice in Wonderland.

Some members of the stage crew rehearse their bows today for the first time. There wasn’t a musical in 2020 and in 2021 it was online only. This will be the first chance to perform a full-length show for a live audience since March 2019.

Photos by Tom Rivers

ALBION – Albion Rotary Club members were busy this morning making cole slaw, and prepping ham and potatoes for the return of the St. Pat’s Ham Dinner. The top photo shows Bruce Landis, left, and Doug Farley making the cole slaw.

The dinner was cancelled in 2020 and 2021 due to Covid restrictions. The ham dinners will be served on Thursday from 4:30 to 6 p.m. at the First Presbyterian Church, but will be drive-through and take-out only.

The cost is $12 per dinner and are available while supplies last. Advance tickets also can be purchased through Albion Rotary Venmo @Albion-Rotary.

Brad Shelp puts the cloves in the hams in preparation for Thursday’s dinner. The hams were also dressed with dry mustard, brown sugar and crushed pineapple.

Most of the proceeds from the event support a project for the Interact Club at the high school. Those students are raising funds to assist a girls school in Pakistan. The Interactors are providing the desserts for Thursday’s dinner.

Don Bishop washes the potatoes before they will be cooked on Thursday.

The Albion Rotary Club is celebrating its 100^th anniversary this year.

ALBION – Angel Javier Jr. won a three-person race for village mayor, receiving 378 votes to 195 for Vickie Elsenheimer and 137 for Kevin Graham.

Angel Javier Jr.

Javier, 32, ran with under the Republican line and independent “Better Together Albion Strong.” His four-year term starts when he is sworn into office on April 4.

He campaigned with Tim McMurray, who led four candidates for trustee with 440 votes. Joyce Riley, a Democrat, also was elected with 326 votes. Other trustee candidates included Dan Conrad with 301 votes and Sandra Walter with 206.

The newly elected board members will succeed Mayor Eileen Banker and Trustees Stan Farone and Gary Katsanis.

Javier said during the campaign he wouldn’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 said he has been connecting with businesses and residents during the campaign.

The new officials take office and face the pressing task of putting together a village budget by April 30. The current budget is about $7 million. The Village Board at its April 4 meeting also will approve appointments to village committees and some staff positions.

“I am fully aware that we have major fiscal constraints facing us as a Village, but I firmly believe that with an innovative and positive ‘can do’ approach, we can significantly improve the quality of life here in many ways – particularly for our youth,” Javier wrote in a letter in the Lake Country Pennysaver on March 13.

Press Release, Albion Central School

Photo courtesy of Albion Central School: A group of high school students from Albion were able to spend a week in the nation’s capital.

ALBION – Close Up students recently returned from a week spent in Washington, D.C. This year’s participating students were Miguel Aldaco, Jeffrey Brown, Belen Rosario Soto, Collin Capurso, Tyler Gibson, Leah Kania, James Beach and Nicolina Creasey with advisor Rich Gannon.

While in the nation’s capital, they had the opportunity to visit many monuments, memorials and museums. Among the sites toured were the Jefferson Memorial, Lincoln Memorial, Washington Monument at night, the Eisenhower Memorial, FDR Memorial, Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial, the Kennedy Center, White House, Capitol Building, WWII Memorial, Korean War Memorial, Vietnam Memorial, the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture, the National Museum of Natural History and Arlington National Cemetery.

“In my experience, I really enjoyed the expeditions to the monuments,” said senior Collin Capurso. “All these memorials featured descriptive writings from speeches or quotes and they all really stood out to me in a certain way.”

Senior Belen Rosario-Soto was impacted by many of the war memorials, particularly the Korean War Veterans Memorial.

“We got to see the anguish on the faces. It made it more realistic, honestly, being able to see those expressions,” she said. “It really just put a face to a name and made me think these are actual people that actually went here and did this, not just a little brief hour lesson that we usually learn in history class.”

While visiting Capitol Hill, Congressman Chris Jacobs met with the students from Albion to share his views and answer questions. The students were also able to watch a live debate.

“We got to witness a debate between a liberal and a conservative the first night that we got there,” said Rosario-Soto. “The way they behaved toward each other, they were passive aggressive but they still showed a level of respect.”

Fellow senior Nicolina Creasey learned a lot from watching the debate.

“The most interesting or shocking thing that I learned is that the two extreme sides of political debate can sometimes – actually very often – can meet in agreement,” noted Creasey. “I think we saw that a lot and that was really strange to see. I didn’t think that was possible.”

Albion students were immersed with other high schoolers from around the country, giving them an opportunity to learn about others’ beliefs, backgrounds and customs.

“My favorite part was meeting all the new people from Louisiana, California, Iowa, Ohio, Rhode Island,” said senior Leah Kania.

Capurso enjoyed the sense of community and connectedness of having Close Up students from all across the country join together for the week.

“I felt like it created a very nice sense of community,” he said. “There was some unity and interconnectedness amongst all of us. I really appreciated that because it taught me, essentially, that these are all different people from different backgrounds and locations, but we all came together for the same purpose and we all made the best of it.”

“We really learned how to actually be politically involved citizens,” added Kania. “We discussed our opinions on certain topics and we really discussed liberty, justice and equality a lot and how they were important to the different monuments.”

The Close Up Foundation was founded in 1971 with Albion students involved in the program for decades. The program was built on the belief that young people from all backgrounds need a better understanding of the democratic process and their responsibilities as citizens.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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 19^th 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.

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.

For more information, click here.