Photos by Ginny Kropf

BARRE – Skydiver Troy Fallon of Buffalo is silhouetted over the trees as he comes in for a landing Sunday at Pine Hill Airport today. Fallon has made 350 jumps.

Hundreds of people attended Pine Hill Airport ’s fly-in breakfast this morning. The semi-annual event started in 1979.

Karl and Susan Driesel, members of Barre Volunteer Fire Department, brought one of the department’s fire trucks to Pine Hill Airport ’s fly-in breakfast this morning.

Wendy Sanders of Barre, right, shows her grandchildren Michael McElwain, 6, and Paysen Sanders, 3, the Stearman biplane based at Pine Hill Airport. The plane is available for rides.

Alice Mathes, a member of the West Barre Methodist Church , sells baked good s at the fly-in breakfast. The church has had a baked goods booth at the annual fly-in breakfast every year for as long as Mathes can remember.

Ace Caldwell of Albion serves eggs to Dick Williams of Royalton at the fly-in breakfast. Caldwell has been cooking eggs for the airport’s fly-in breakfasts every June and September for nearly 40 years. He also cooks eggs every Sunday morning in the hangar for anyone who shows up. He figures he has cooked more than two million.

Pete Nesbitt, left, one of the original owners of Pine Hill Airport, cooks pancakes while new owner Tim Allen of Alden looks on.

John Keding of Albion cooks sausage at the fly-in breakfast.

Shelby Gray of Derby, a member of the Western New York Skydiving Club at Pine Hill Airport, volunteered for the dunk tank. The dunk tank was one of several new attractions at the airport designed to get kids interested in aviation.

Chance Wright of Rochester lands safely after a jump Sunday at Pine Hill Airport, during the fly-in breakfast. Wright, a member of the Western New York Skydiving Club, has 185 jumps to his credit.

Skydivers Chance Wright, left, and Troy Fallon give a high-five after their successful jump during the fly-in breakfast Sunday at Pine Hill Airport.

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Photos by Tom Rivers: New banners were installed about a week ago on Route 98 in the Barre Center hamlet to promote the town’s bicentennial.

Barre will celebrate its 200^th anniversary from June 29 to July 1. There will be a Bicentennial Festival on June 29-30 at the Barre Town Park on Route 98. Friday hours will be from 2 to 9 p.m. and Saturday from noon to 10 p.m. There will be a parade on Saturday, June 30, starting at 10 a.m. The parade route will be from East Barre Road north to the Town Park. There will be games, dances, music and food both days. There will be fireworks on Saturday, June 30.

In addition the Town Hall,  Fire Hall, Barre Center Church, West Barre Church, Pine Hill School House and the Pine Hill Airport will also be open for tours. Barre Center Presbyterian Church will be hosting a chicken barbecue on June 30 starting at 4 p.m. Tickets are pre-sale only and are available at the Barre Deli and the Town Hall. West Barre Church will be hosting a quilt show.

This banner celebrates the town’s agricultural roots.

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BARRE — The Town of Barre will dedicate a new flagpole and monument for veterans at 9:30 a.m. on June 30 at the Barre Town Hall.

The family of the late Fred Daniels is donating the flagpole and plaque. The stone for the monument is being donated by Keeler Construction.

Mr. Daniels was 75 when he passed away on Oct. 22, 2014. He was a member of the Honor Guard in Orleans County for many years, and a member of the American Legion in Albion and the VFW. He also served on the Orleans County Joint Veterans Council.

Adrienne Daniels, wife of Fred Daniels, is Barre’s town historian. She welcomes the community and the Honor Guard to attend the dedication program. Don Allport, an Orleans County legislator, is Fred’s nephew. He will speak at the dedication.

A parade will follow the service. The Orleans Veterans Van Service will have vehicles available to transport veterans who want to be in the parade.

The dedication on June 30 is part of the town’s 200th anniversary celebration.

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Spaghetti dinner, basket raffle helps Nick Holler and his family

Photos by Tom Rivers

ALBION – Nick Holler, 26, pulls the winning ticket for the door prize during a benefit for him and his family today at the First Presbyterian Church in Albion.

Holler, 26, has battled cancer twice in the past three years. First he was diagnosed with testicular cancer two weeks before his wedding in August 2015. After surgery and chemotherapy, Holler didn’t have a recurrence until a mass was detected near his pelvis in November. That mass, a cancerous lymph node, was removed in February.

Nick Holler and his father-in-law Bob Welker of Le Roy sell tckets for the dinners and basket raffles. Holler is getting scans every three months and meeting with doctors at Indiana University, which specializes in testicular cancer.

Holler lives in Barre with his wife, Amber, and their two children, daughter Macayla, 6; and son Kaiden, 17 months.

Holler and Amber met when they both worked in food service at Batavia Downs. Amber now works for a bank and Holler is a line cook at Applebees in Batavia.

The fundraiser today will help with out-of-pocket medical costs and to help the family if Holler has to miss work due to treatment and medical appointments.

Jeff Holler, Nick’s dad, serves up a spaghetti dinner. The benefit lasts until 7 p.m. today.

In addition to the dinners, there are 80 baskets available for raffle. Nick said he appreciated the turnout from the community.

“I’m impressed with all of the donations and volunteers, and everyone who has stepped up to help us,” he said.

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Photos courtesy of Jeff Andrews

WEST BARRE – Chief Akela (Ivan Barry) leads the Webelos 2 (a.k.a. Wookiee Patrol) in for the crossing over ceremony on April 23 at the West Barre United Methodist Church.

Scouts who crossed over include Sawyer Brigham, Matthew Mathis, Ethan Dunn and Dillon DiGiulio with Ivan Barry as Chief Akela. Members of their family are behind them.

Eli Pask applies a stripe of blue from the summer sky on their chin. The color blue represents the Spirit of Scouting. Scout spirit applies to how a Scout lives and conducts his “daily” life. He shows Scout spirit by being a role model to his peers, living by the Scout Oath and Law. He also brings out the best in others as a reflection of his own character and attitude in life.

Dominic DiGiulio changes the neckerchief of his younger brother Dillon. Now they are both Boy Scouts.

Scoutmaster for Troop 175 is Karl Driesel, left. Mike Schreiner and Pat Lamka are assistants. Cubmaster for Pack 175 is Mary Barry.

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BARRE – A citizens’ group has formed to oppose to the proposed Heritage Wind project in Barre. Clear Skies Above Barre, Inc. will be meeting at 7 p.m. Wednesday at the Hoag Library in Albion.

“We are just trying to get all of the information out to the public and make sure the community is well informed,” said Kerri Richardson.

She is a member of the board of directors for the new group, which has been recognized by the state. Richardson said Clear Skies Above Barre will soon be picking officers for the group.

Clear Skies was able to extend the comment period until May 4 for the preliminary scoping statement with the state Department of Public Service.

Heritage Wind (Apex Clean Energy) has proposed building a 200-megawatt project in Barre.

The company will compile and respond to the PSS comments, “and will make any necessary adjustments to the studies it proposes in connection with the project,” Project Development Manager Ben Yazman said in letter March 12 to the Hon. Kathleen H. Burgess, Secretary of the Public Service Commission.

Apex has been working in Barre for about two years. It has held several public meetings and has secured leases for 30 of the turbine sites. The company continues to discuss leases with landowners. Apex wants to have 47 sites under contract, Yazman told Orleans Hub last month.

The project would generate about $1.5 million in annual tax revenue for the town, county, school district and other public services, in addition to about $1 million annually to the landowners, Yazman said.

Richardson, 28, said the revenue-sharing deals for landowners and municipalities vary with the projects. She worries Barre may not get the promised revenue, especially because some of the deals she has seen show the county and school district getting more of the revenue than the host town.

“I don’t think this is as lucrative as it’s being made out to be,” she said.

Clear Skies will likely seek some of the intervenor funds that Apex will have to provide to the town and other recognized parties so they can hire experts or legal counsel to review the application.

Richardson urges residents to be involved in scrutinizing the project.

“My concern is for our community and what’s in the best interest for Barre,” she said.

She welcomed community members to attend Wednesday’s meeting at the library.

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Photos by Tom Rivers

BARRE – Five members of the Orleans County Clay Crushers take turns on Sunday afternoon at one of the two traps at the Barre Sportsmen’s Club on Gray Road. Bryce Wilson, center, readies the shot. The Clay Crushers started 12 years ago with six youths. It has grown to 57 kids ages 12 to 18.

The Clay Crushers are hoping to have its members who live in the Albion school district be part of a new trap shooting team. That would follow Holley and Kendall, which have formed teams, with Holley starting last year and Kendall’s team formed this year. The Clay Crushers and Albion school district weren’t able to work out all the details in time for a team this year, but the Clay Crushers are hopeful there will be an Albion team next school year.

The Clay Crushers compete in the Scholastic Clay Target Program (SCTP)/Scholastic Action Shooting Program (SASP).

Tommy Fox, right, takes aim at a target. Jeff Atwell, back, is one of the five coaches for the program. The youths pay $5 each week to shoot at 50 of the targets.

Chris Rice is the lead administrator and one of five coaches for the program. He shows the machine that sends out the targets at about 43 miles per hour. The machine is unpredictable for the shooters, sending the targets in different directions. The shooters are 16 yards away from the machine.

“I just enjoy and love to see the kids shooting,” said Chris Rice, who helped start the Clay Crushers. “It’s better than playing a video game. It’s something the kids can do with their father and grandfather.”

Ryan Krenning fires at a target. The students use shotguns for the target shooting.

There are two trap fields at the Barre Sportsmen’s Club. With 57 kids in the program, it takes about five hours on Sunday afternoon for all of them to get in their 50 shots. The microphones are voice activated. When the shooter yells “pull,” a target is released.

Jeff Atwell, president of the Barre Sportsmen’s Club, gives Austin Furness, 15, of Albion some advice. Atwell is one of five coaches for the team. The others include Chris Rice, Ryan Uderitz, Tim Brien and Mike Donahue.

Some of the shooters hit about 90 percent of the targets. Atwell said the beginners typically pick up the sport quickly. The key to hitting the targets: “focus” and “practice, practice, practice,” Atwell said.

Andrew Uderitz of Albion takes a shot at the trap target. The ammunition is donated by local sportsmen’s clubs and the Friends of the NRA.

Mike Donahue keeps track of the shooters’ scores. In many of the school competitions, teams don’t travel to compete, except for the state competition. They shoot at their home team trap fields. They then submit their scores online and compare with the other teams’. If Albion has a school team, they would compete at the Barre Sportsmen’s Club.

Atwell said competing with the school would give the Clay Crushers more events to compete in.

Jason Conn, 12, of Albion lets out a smile during target shooting on Sunday. He joined the Clay Crushers last month. He looks forward to going hunting.

“It keeps the kids’ away from video games,” said his mother Kelly Furness. “He likes being outside and he has great role models with the kids next to him.”

Clay Crushers are on the line at the trap field. This group includes, right to left: Sawyer Braley, Andrew Uderitz, Gage Brannon, Sarah Kingdollar and Brad Kingdollar.

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ALBION – Heritage Wind will have two open houses at its Albion office for community members to learn about a proposed project in Barre. Apex Clean Energy is proposing to build a 200-megawatt wind energy facility in Barre.

Community members learn more about the project, meet members of the team, ask questions, and share feedback during open houses from 2 to 4 p.m. Sunday and 4 to 6 p.m. on Monday. The sessions will be held at the Apex office, 49 North Main St., Albion.

“Apex has been working in the town of Barre for two years,” Project Developer Ben Yazman said. “During that time, we have held conversations with the Town Board, residents, landowners, state agencies, and other stakeholders to inform our development work. We are eager to share what we’ve learned and to answer questions, particularly regarding the community benefits this wind project can bring to Barre and Orleans County.”

Project staff invite the public to stop by if they have questions or wish to schedule a more formal meeting or presentation. Heritage Wind team members can be reached at 585-563-5137 or info@heritagewindpower.com. Office hours are also posted at www.heritagewindpower.com.

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Photo by Tom Rivers: Jack Ludwick heads for home plate for the Barre Cubs in last July’s championship game. The Barre Cubs won, 9-8, vs. Sandstone Park. The Barre Cubs have been fixtures in the Albion Midget League since 1956, when the league started.

BARRE – The Barre Bicentennial Committee wants your best photos of the town and its residents for the upcoming 200^th anniversary celebration of the town.

Barre is having a photo contest for youth (up to 18 years old) and adults. There are four categories: landscape, architecture, people and farm life.

Photos entered in the competition should be 8-by-10 prints. They need to be at the Town Hall by June 15-16. Judging will be on June 22, just ahead of the big bicentennial bash on June 29-July 1.

The best in show winner will receive $100. Other prizes include: first place, $40; second, $20; and third, $10.

The photos must be taken in Barre during 2017 or 2018, but aren’t limited to entries by Barre residents.

For more on the competition, click here.

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