Kevin Graham says he has financial background to help village with $7 million budget

ALBION – A third candidate for Albion mayor has emerged in the March 15 village election. Kevin Graham submitted petitions to run as an independent in the election.

Kevin Graham

He will face Angel Javier Jr. who has the Republican line and Vickie Elsenheimer who has the Democratic Party line.

Javier and Elsenheimer also submitted petitions today to run on independent lines. Javier’s independent line will be called “Better Together Albion Strong” and Elsenheimer will be on the independent “Move Albion Forward.”

Candidates on the independent line need at least 100 signatures from registered voters in the village who weren’t at the Democratic and Republican caucuses on Jan. 25. Today was the deadline to submit petitions.

Two other Democratic candidates – Sandra Walter and Joyce Riley – also submitted independent party petitions to be on the “Move Albion Forward” line.

Graham, 57, graduated from Albion in the same class with Elsenheimer. He has worked as a certified public accountant for 23 years and currently is in the finance department at the University of Rochester Medical Center. The East Avenue resident previously was the chief financial officer at the Arc of Genesee & Orleans, an organization with a $23 million budget. He was there until last April. That Arc has since merged with the Arc in Livingston and Wyoming counties.

Graham said he would bring “a fresh set of eyes” to the village government, including a $7 million village budget.

He believes that skill set with budgets would be an asset to village taxpayers and the village employees.

“I want to jump in and help out the community,” Graham said. “My qualities, I have a lot of experience I could bring to the job. Finances are my forte.”

Graham went door to door collecting signatures in the past week. He heard from residents they want a more vibrant downtown, stronger neighborhoods and more improvements in the village parks.

He praised the current Village Board for seeing through major upgrades to Bullard Park, which includes a new splash pad, amphitheater and utility building with a pavilion and bathrooms.

“They’ve done a great job with Bullard Park,” Graham said about the current board. “I’d like to continue the effort with the parks, and have more community events.”

Graham admitted he doesn’t have much political experience. He is a not affiliated with a political party.

“I am a true independent,” he said. “ I can work with anybody – Republican or Democrat.”

Trellis Pore leads ‘judgement free’ congregation

Photos by Tom Rivers: The Rev. Trellis Pore was voted in on Nov. 21 to serve as pastor of Shiloh Church at 3286 Crandall Rd. in Albion. Pore became a licensed ministerial candidate at age 19 at Shiloh. He returned to Shiloh after 13 years as the associate and youth pastor at the Mt. Zion Missionary Baptist Church in Batavia. The church services are at 11 a.m. on Sunday, with Sunday school at 10 a.m.

ALBION – Step into Shiloh Church and Trellis Pore says it will feel much different than what many people may expect to experience inside a church.

Pore said atmosphere is overwhelmingly welcoming, a “judgement free” environment where the past isn’t a focus, but rather the present and future.

“The atmosphere is very relaxed and uplifting,” said the Rev. Pore, who was voted in as pastor at Shiloh on Nov. 21. “So many people have encountered ‘church hurt.’ People shouldn’t feel beat down if they go to church.”

Pore, 38, sees Shiloh as a hospital, a place to help people get better and to see how to live better.

“My ministry is unlike any other,” he said. “We’re focused on the overlooked and those who made mistakes. Your past is your past. We’re more concerned about your future.”

Since he was a young boy, Pore said he has felt very close with God, and a call to help others feel God’s presence in their lives.

Pore grew up in the church, and in what he said is a very spiritual family with lots of prayer and praise for God, even during times of trial and pain.

Pore at about age 5 sang publicly with his family in the Cooper Family Gospel Singers. They performed all over Western New York. He continues a music ministry with the Trellis Cooper Band that performs in the community – often outside of a church.

Photo courtesy of Jesse Colmenero: Trellis Pore is part of the worship band at Shiloh. He looks forward to Shiloh hosting gospel concerts. For many years Pore has performed in the Trellis Cooper Band. He also has been a part of the Cooper Family Gospel Singers since he was a kid.

Since started as pastor at Shiloh , he has brought many of his musician friends to be part of the worship band.

“We have one of the most amazing and anointed music departments you can find,” he said.

The music is a big part of church as Shiloh, and so are the sermons from Pore, and his determination to connect with everyone.

“When he says he loves you he truly means that,” said Ocie Bennett, a deacon at the church since 2003 and the Sunday school leader. “He is trying to do great things in our community and bring our community together.”

The church attendance has already jumped from about 10 on Sunday mornings to about 100 – in the past six weeks.

Trellis Pore is shown in the pastor’s study at Shiloh Church. Pore also works full-time as a corrections officer at the Albion Correctional Facility and is a member of the Albion Board of Education.

Pore leads the push for a “judgement free” environment that Bennett said has brought many people to church who hadn’t been inside a church building in years.

“We don’t look at people’s past because we all have a past,” Bennett said. “No one is perfect. We all need help. We’re one big family at Shiloh.”

The church is located at a former one-room school house at the corner of Densmore and Crandall roads. Shiloh Missionary Baptist Church started in 1966. It has been a predominantly African-American congregation.

The church is dropping Missionary Baptist from its name to de-emphasize a denomination. Pore wants everyone to feel welcome. “Heaven doesn’t have denominations,” he said.

Pore works full-time as a corrections officer at the Albion Correctional Facility. He also is a firearms instructor, chemical agent instructor, and CPR and first aid instructor for the Department of Corrections.

He worked downstate his first three years as a corrections officer and has been at Albion Correctional the past 17 years.

Pore also is a member of the Albion Board of Education, in addition to leading the Shiloh church. He and his wife have two kids, ages 4 and 9.

Pore acknowledged he is busy, but he said he feels energized, especially with the new role leading a church in Albion.

“I’d rather wear out than rust out,” he said. “I’m grateful to be back in my own community.”

For the previous 13 years he worked as an associate and youth pastor in Batavia at Mount Zion Missionary Baptist Church.

Pore has felt a calling since he was a young boy to ministry. He became a licensed minister at age 19 at Shiloh, where his late father, Jimmy Pore, was a deacon. Trellis grew up attending the St. Paul Baptist Church on Ingersoll Street in Albion where his late grandfather, Willie D. Cooper, was a deacon.

Pore’s grandfather proved a great mentor for Pore in a life of faith.

“He taught me how to pray, to sing hymns and he shared his pastoral handbook,” Pore said. “I’ve been very blessed and thankful.”

Trellis Pore gave the keynote address on June 2, 2019 during the Albion baccalaureate service at the First Baptist Church, a voluntary service for soon-to-graduate high school seniors. Pore, a 2001 Albion graduate, shared about David and Goliath, how David beat a much larger warrior, a shocking defeat for the giant, which is described in 1 Samuel in the Bible. The graduates will face many Goliaths in their lives, Pore said. There will be self doubt after a failure, grief, financial stress and lots of “haters,” people who are jealous and don’t want the grads to reach their dreams. “You will face multiple Goliaths in life,” Pore said. “You will get through one and then there will be another.” Pore urged them to not run from their Goliaths. He shared the verse, Philippians 4:13: “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.”

Pore for the past two decades preached at some local churches on pulpit supply when the pastors were on vacation. Those preaching opportunities increased in recent years at the Eagle Harbor United Methodist Church, First Presbyterian Church of Albion and the First Baptist Church in Albion.

The Albion Ministerium in 2019 picked Pore to give the keynote address at baccalaureate, a religious service for high school seniors who would graduate later that month.

The Rev. Sue Thaine, pastor of the Presbyterian Church, has had Pore preach for her when she is on vacation. The congregation has been very responsive to his messages.

“He’s dynamic,” Thaine said. “His faith is very alive. He is also a people-person. He comes with all these gifts and abilities, but he is accessible.”

She sees Pore energizing the local Christian community.

“He is amazing partner in ministry,” Thaine said. “I look forward to seeing what God will do through him. The people who encounter Trellis want to be near him. Everybody loves him. He uses his music, in cooperation with the word he is preaching.”

Pore found a larger audience in the community through Facebook. When the Covid-19 pandemic closed churches to in-person services in mid-March 2020, Pore started delivering sermons on Facebook – from his dining room.

“We turned Facebook into ‘Faithbook,’” Pore said.

There were several hundred views on those sermons, and Pore believes those messages helped make church more accessible to many in the community.

He is pleased that Shiloh is already nearing capacity, and may need to expand the building in the near future. Shiloh also will bring back popular church barbecues, and Pore wants to host gospel concerts.

But even more importantly, he wants people to be drawn closer to God when they are at Shiloh.

“I feel honored to be a pastor in my hometown,” he said. “I’ve always tried to treat people fairly, and as Christ would treat them.”

Photos by Tom Rivers

ALBION – Mary Grace McCormick, 10, of Albion wipes out coming down the sledding hill at Bullard Park in Albion this afternoon.

It is a perfect day to go sledding with lots of fresh snow, sunshine and temperatures in the mid 30s.

Allie Kekoe, 8, of Hilton carries an inner tube of a Narwhal, a whale with a large protruding tusk. Allie was visiting family in Albion and joined them in sledding at Bullard.

Joseph Dibley and his son Keegan, 4, of Albion head down the east side of the hill on a toboggan.

The father and son get ready to walk back up the hill for another ride down the hill.

This photo was taken up from the highest point of the hill, looking out on the south side of the hill. There were about 20 people sledding at 2 p.m. with some people serving hot cocoa from the parking lot.

Tosh Spilberg, 13, of Wayland rides a green disc down the hill. He was visiting family in Albion.

Susan Oschmann of Albion has fun going down the hill with her granddaughter Gemma.

Wild Flour makes food from scratch, will expand dining room

Photos by Tom Rivers: Beth Miller, owner of Wild Flour Deli & Bakery, holds a turkey Reuben sandwich which she calls Daffodil. Miller has 11 sandwiches on the menu which are all named after flowers and offers a build-your-own sandwich option.

ALBION – Beth Miller was making sandwiches and soups from scratch out of her kitchen in Albion during the early days of the Covid pandemic about two years ago. She made the meals for friends and family.

She wanted to offer a healthier option than fast food and pizza.

Miller received good feedback, and her friends and family urged her to take her skills to a bigger audience with her own business.

On Nov. 1, she opened the Wild Flour Deli & Bakery at 438 West Ave. in Albion. Initially, she prepared the sandwiches, soups and salads by herself, making deliveries and offering pickup from a hallway.

Beth Miller prepares soups – French onion, Wisconsin cheddar, and chili – in the kitchen at Wild Flor this morning.

Word soon spread about Wild Flour. Miller now has five employees. She added a dining area and soon will be opening a new room with more sit-down space.

Miller is pleasantly surprised by the popularity of the new business. She didn’t expect it to take off so fast.

“People are excited to have a different option, a healthier option,” she said.

Miller, 32, earned a culinary degree at Paul Smith’s College and worked seven years as a pastry chef at upscale lodges and resorts in Lake Placid. More recently she worked as chef at the Holley Falls Bar & Grill, a server and bartender at 39 Problems in Albion, and the front house manager and chef at Lures in Kendall.

She said she has dreamed of opening her own deli and bakery since she was kid.

“I did not expect it to take off the way it did,” she said about Wild Flour. “But I knew people would like the food once they tasted it.”

Miller, a Holley native, has named her 11 sandwiches all after flowers. They come in different combinations of meat, cheese, toppings, vegetables, sauces and breads.

One of the most popular sandwiches is the Aster with roast beef and cheddar on rye, with banana peppers, pickled onions and horseradish mayonnaise, toasted on a panini.

The bakery includes cookies, brownies, muffins, cupcakes, scones and turnovers.

Everything is made the day of. Miller makes her own soups, mayonnaise and salad dressings from scratch.

“It helps me to stand out,” she said about her menu with her personal touch. “They are getting homemade from scratch. It’s my own brain putting this all together.”

Wild Flour is open Tuesday through Saturday from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Miller is looking to open for breakfast too, offering gourmet parfaits, quiches, oatmeals and other “grab and go’s.”

Miller graduated from the Microenterprise Assistance Program offered by the Orleans Economic Development Agency. One of the class mentors, Dorothy Daniels, owns the building at 438 West Ave., where Wild Flour is located. Daniels tried Miller’s sandwiches and soup and encouraged her to open the business.

“She is a very talented individual,” Daniels said about Miller. “People have been starving for this. It’s something besides fast food and pizza.”

The business offers delivery in the Albion area, and people can order online. For more information about Wild Flour, click here.

Photo by Ginny Kropf: Jackie Gardner, seated, who just took the position of chief operating officer and director of operations at Community Action in Albion, talks with executive director Renee Hungerford.

ALBION – Jackie Gardner always knew she would follow her family’s footsteps and pursue a career in banking, but when a “job of a lifetime” opened at Community Action in Albion, she knew it was time to make a switch.

Gardner was born and raised in Albion. Her father always said a career in banking was an honorable position, and her brother is a bank manager in Rochester, so it was natural she should take that career path.

But when a position as chief operating officer and director of operations became available at Community Action, she gave up her 25-year banking career to accept the position.

She first met Renee Hungerford, executive director of Community Action, during a bank acquisition in 1993. Gardner was working for Chase when they announced they were leaving the area, and Jodi Gaines, then founder of CRFS, called and offered her a job.

“She hired me and I worked in client relations and ran a team filing claims for the government,” Gardner said. “I was there eight years when I decided it was a good time to explore a career move.”

Most recently, Gardner worked for M&T running an audit team for risk and compliance. She had previously talked to Hungerford about a position at Community Action, but the timing wasn’t right, she said.

When Annette Finch, long-time director of Emergency Services, announced her retirement, Hungerford posted the job.

“Jackie called me that morning,” Hungerford said. “Hiring has been such a struggle, with the pandemic and all, and how fortunate the perfect person should show up at my doorstep.”

Gardner said when she worked for one bank, she knew Finch through food drives and coat drives they did for Community Action.

“We wanted to give back to the community,” she said. “What impresses me about this organization is the passion of the people who work and volunteer here.”

“It is so refreshing to hear that excitement,” Hungerford said.

“There are a lot of great organizations in this county and I see Community Action as being pivotal in helping those in need,” Gardner said.

“We are stronger together, whether we are developing programs or working on grants,” Hungerford said.

Gardner said it’s hard not to be excited about coming to work every day.

“We have a phenomenal team right now and I couldn’t be more grateful ,” Hungerford said.

Gardner said she has been involved in for-profit organizations all her life, but so much of what she learned there can be transferred to this job.

Gardner is also president of the board of United Way of Orleans County and a member of GCASA’s executive board.

Photos by Tom Rivers

ALBION – Albion Rotary Club members fill goodie bags for merchants in downtown Albion on Thursday afternoon. Pictured from left include Bonnie Malakie, Richard Remley, Don Bishop, Robert batt and Doug Farley. They are shown at Hoag Library.

The goodie bags included frosted cookies and some other treats, as well as a thank you letter from Rotary Club President Alex Krebs.

“We are so grateful for our local businesses, and are aware of how difficult it is to operate a business in a small community like Albion, especially through the past couple of years,” Krebs wrote in her letter. “We’re glad you are here!!”

The Cobblestone Museum donated 40 bags for the items.

The Albion Rotary Club is celebrating its 100^th anniversary this year. The Rotary motto is “Service Above Self.” Krebs said the club this year is putting an emphasis on service to the community.

Vickie Elsenheimer and Angel Javier Jr. backed for mayor in March 15 election

ALBION – The Republican and Democratic parties each held their caucuses this evening and nominated a slate of candidates for three positions on the Village Board in the March 15 election.

There were 86 registered Republicans in the village at the party caucus at Hoag Library and they backed Angel Javier Jr. with 70 of the votes over current trustee Gary Katsanis for mayor. The Republicans also picked Tim McMurray and Dan Conrad for trustee candidates with current trustee Stan Farone also nominated but getting the third most votes.

The Democrats had 51 people at their caucus at the Pullman Memorial Universalist Church. The party picked Vickie Elsenheimer as candidate for mayor, and Sandra Walter and Joyce Riley for trustees.

The Republican Party candidates for the March 15 election include, from left: Angel Javier Jr. for mayor, and Tim McMurray and Dan Conrad for village trustees.

Javier, 33, has been campaigning for the position since November. He said he won’t take the mayor’s salary, which is about $9,000 a year. He owns the former Family Hardware building in downtown Albion and works at Rochester Gas & Electric as a pipefitter apprentice.

He was in the Marine Corps for four years and worked with State Farm insurance before RG&E. Javier said he wants to welcome new investment and more residents into the village, where he noted the population is down 6.9 percent in the latest census from 6,056 in 2010 to 5,637 in 2020.

In a video he posted on YouTube and Facebook, he said the village needs to be more attractive for residents and businesses. He said the village currently has an 11 percent vacancy rate.

McMurray, 38, has been active for many years as a youth football coach and most recently worked with Sanzo Beverages as a merchandizer stocking beer.

Conrad, 39, has been active in the community for many years. He is president of the Albion Lions Club and owns Toyz n Kandy on East Bank Street. He also serves on the board for Hoag Library and Central Orleans Volunteer Ambulance.

The Democratic Party candidates for the March 15 election include, from left: Vickie Elsenheimer for mayor, and Sandra Walter and Joyce Riley for village trustees.

Elsenheimer, 56, leads the Democratic ticket. She 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, with a focus on improving neighborhoods and the downtown business district.

The empty storefronts and vacant houses hurt the community’s prospects in attracting more businesses, she said. It will take a community effort to move Albion forward for the future, Elsenheimer said.

“I’m in the right season of life,” she said. “I’m retired. I can give it my full attention.”

Sandra Walter, 73, is retired from CRFS, Dime Bank, Anchor Bank and Kodak. She is the chairperson of the Albion Democratic Party Committee.

Joyce Riley is 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 and made an unsuccessful run mayor four years ago. Eileen Banker, the current mayor, isn’t seeking re-election.

Photos by Tom Rivers

ALBION – Firefighters were dispatched at about 9:30 this morning to the former Hawks Hideaway bar at 14111 Albion-Eagle Harbor Rd.

The building is currently being used for storage. No one lives there.

Multiple fire departments responded to the scene in 10-degree weather.

Orleans County fire investigators are at the scene.

No other information is available.

‘This thing is going to change what we know about the universe’ – Dirk Climenhaga

Provided photo: Dirk Climenhaga, a library assistant at Hoag Library, has created a display about the James Webb Space Telescope. Climenhaga, a former engineer at Kodak, worked on the space telescope when he was a engineer with Kodak and ITT.

ALBION – It’s been an exciting few weeks for Dirk Climenhaga with the launch and deployment of the James Webb Space Telescope.

Climenhaga, 64, worked on the space telescope when he was an engineer at Kodak and then ITT.

Kodak and then ITT were among numerous subcontractors hired by NASA to work on the space telescope. Climenhaga was on a team at Kodak in 1994 that worked on part of the secondary mirror on the telescope.

“We made sure it was workable,” Climenhaga said.

The space telescope has proven to be workable. It was launched on Christmas. The powerful infrared telescope has a 21.3 foot primary mirror.

The observatory will study every phase of cosmic history – from within our solar system to the most distant observable galaxies in the early universe, NASA said. It will essentially be able to look back in time at the first stars and galaxies, Climenhaga said.

“This thing is going to change what we know about the universe,” he said. “We will see the first stars from the beginning. This is so amazing to show what God has done.”

Climenhaga grew up in Medina and lives in Gaines. His wife Sandy is a biology teacher at Albion.

Climenhaga started working at Kodak in 1978 as an assembler and moved up to be a draftsman and an engineer, retiring in 2008.

Climenhaga has been working since 2013 as a library assistant in Albion at the Hoag Library. He does special programs such as 3D printing, classes for mechanical, architectural and animation. He also shares his vintage train setup and assists people with Rokenbok, educational toys that he said better than Lego.

In his latest project, he has a display up in the library about the James Webb Space Telescope. He welcomes people to stop by and ask questions.

“People in the world will be surprised by unexpected discoveries with this new technology,” he said.

Image credit: NASA GSFC/CIL/Adriana Manrique Gutierrez – An artist’s conception of the James Webb Space Telescope shows all its major elements fully deployed.

Provided photos

ALBION – The Town of Albion has a new loader and a state grant for $180,000 covered most of the cost for the $215,000 piece of equipment.

Pictured from left include Wayne Downs, Albion highway department employee; Michael Neidert, Albion highway superintendent; Joe Navarra, Albion highway department employee; State Sen. Rob Ortt; Town Supervisor Dick Remley; Terry Wilbert, Albion town councilman; and Scott Fisher, sale representative with George & Swede Sales & Services in Pavilion.

State Sen. Rob Ortt sits behind the wheel of the loader. Ortt secured a $180,000 State and Municipal Facilities (SAM) grant for the Hyundai wheel loader. It includes a general purpose bucket, clam bucket, forks, snow pusher and extendable boom all designed as quick attach attachments. It was purchased at George and Swede in Pavilion. After a trade the total cost was $187,600, Neidert said.

Photos by Tom Rivers

ALBION – A firefighter heads face first down a ladder, escaping dark smoke from the upstairs of 136 Knapp St.

The upstairs was full of gray smoke but it turned quickly into rolling black smoke. Four firefighters were upstairs and had to bail out in what firefighters said was a flashover, when a fire quickly intensifies.

Justin Niederhofer (in red) quickly gets out of the house as the fire intensifies while another firefighter hangs out a window. It was a scary moment for the firefighters on the ground and the onlookers as the dark smoke spewed out of the windows with the firefighters inside.

Niederhofer, Seth Dumrese, Steven Papponetti and Dustin Pahura all were able to get out.

Dale Banker, the county’s emergency management coordinator, has been battling fires for over 40 years. He didn’t recall a fire change so rapidly.

Papponetti suffered a cut to his hand in making his escape out of the upstairs, coming down a ladder head first.

The fast-moving caused extensive damage to a home. The homeowner, Mike Reigle, suffered burns on his arms and head. He was able to drag a mattress outside that was on fire.

A propane heater likely caught the mattress on fire, officials at the scene said.

Jerry Bentley, deputy fire coordinator, gets water on the flames in the house.

The dispatch call to firefighters at about 10 a.m. initially said it was a porch fire. But that changed to a fully involved structure fire at about 10:20 a.m.

One firefighter is grabbed after coming down the ladder face-first while another firefighter gets ready to come down in a tense moment this morning.