Community Heart & Soul initiative to prioritize action plan
Provided photos: Carlton Heart & Soul volunteers convene at a recent meeting.
Press Release, Rochester Area Community Foundation
The Town of Carlton and Village of Corfu were selected as the first communities in Western New York to launch Community Heart & Soul, a program that helps build stronger, more connected communities centered around what people love about where they live. Batavia will follow shortly after, launching later in 2026.
“My hope is that the Community Heart & Soul process encourages greater community involvement in village decision-making and helps restore the pride, character, and sense of identity that make our little village special,” says Ken Lauer, Corfu resident, Village Trustee, and owner of Buttercrumbs Bakery.
When people talk about small rural towns, the story often focuses on what’s been lost: like anchor employers, bustling main streets, and vital services. But that’s only part of the story.
Every small town also has strengths — including its people, traditions, quirks, and local legends — that residents don’t want to lose as they plan for the future.
Through a guided, two-year process, Community Heart & Soul will help residents identify the priorities, places and traditions that matter most, and work together to turn those shared values into action. The goal: to engage the entire community in shaping the future of their town.
“Most of our members are lifelong residents of Carlton,” says Peter Bartula, one of the volunteers with Carlton Heart & Soul. “We want to help our town to achieve the success that other Heart & Soul Communities have achieved.”
Developed and field-tested in more than 130 small cities and towns across the country, the Community Heart & Soul model empowers residents to dream together and access resources to make things happen. At the end of two years, communities will have identified common ground, prioritized ideas, and developed a plan for short- and long-term action.
Corfu Heart & Soul volunteers are shown in this picture.
In 2025, Rochester Area Community Foundation and the Community Foundation for Greater Buffalo invited towns and villages with a population of 25,000 or less in Genesee or Orleans counties — areas served by both organizations — to apply. Six communities raised their hand to explore whether Community Heart & Soul was the right fit for their town. A $1,000 mini-grant for community engagement work was offered to communities who were not selected for the initial cohort, to honor residents’ efforts.
Community Heart & Soul and the Ralph C. Wilson, Jr Foundation have committed expertise and funding towards the engagement process. These resources will help pay for marketing, materials, food, event supplies, coaching, and project coordination.
Staff members from Rochester Area Community Foundation and the Community Foundation for Greater Buffalo will serve as “coaches,” guiding residents through Community Heart & Soul’s four phases: imagine, connect, plan, and act.
“Heart & Soul gives residents the support to turn their ideas into action,” says Sara Bukowiec, Director of Rural Community Impact at Rochester Area Community Foundation. “And it gives funders the opportunity to listen deeply and learn what’s most important to these communities.”
A major goal of the initiative is to build relationships between communities and their local funders, opening the door to funding opportunities during Community Heart & Soul, and in the future.
“We are honored to help bring this innovative, resident-driven process to Genesee and Orleans counties. This opportunity reflects our enduring commitment to strengthen communities across Western New York as we connect people, ideas and resources to improve lives,” says Cara Matelliano, Vice President, Community Impact, Community Foundation for Greater Buffalo.
Residents can learn more from Heart & Soul volunteers at these upcoming events:
• Village of Corfu Memorial Day Parade – Monday, May 25 at 12 p.m.
• Town of Carlton Hometown Days – Saturday, June 6 at 12 p.m.
People interested in participating in Corfu, Carlton or Batavia Heart & Soul should contact Paige O’Connor (poconnor@racf.org or 585.341.4332).
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 13 April 2026 at 4:26 pm
Photos by Tom Rivers
CARLTON – Firefighters work to stop a fire and vent smoke from a house at 1544 Oak Orchard Rd. in Carlton. Jerry Bentley, the deputy fire coordinator, is on the aldder breaking a window to let out smoke.
Firefighters were dispatched to the scene at about 2:45 p.m. The house is located on Route 98 near the intersection with Park Avenue.
There was heavy smoke coming from the house and flames on the back side of the structure when firefighters arrived on scene, said Chris Standish, the Carlton fire chief.
“Firefighters could hear the crackle and popping coming from inside,” he said.
Standish said the fire is under investigation.
Carlton was assisted at the scene by firefighters from Albion, Kendall, Murray, Clarendon and Medina as well as the Orleans County Emergency Management Office.
Tonia James lives at the house with four cats and three dogs. Six of those pets perished in the fire. She is thankful her dog Sadie survived.
Sadie gets oxygen from the Mercy Flight medics who responded. Sadie suffered smoke inhalation and rebounded. She was up and walking with James.
Jayden Allport, an EMT with Mercy Flight, checks on Sadie. The dog was carried out of the house by firefighters and Mercy Flight gave her oxygen at the scene.
Initiative will gather resident feedback, implement action plan
Press Release, Town of Carlton
CARLTON – The Town of Carlton is pleased to announce it has been selected by the Rochester Area Community Foundation and Community Foundation for Buffalo to be the first community to implement the Community Heart & Soul model in Orleans County, an initiative fully funded with grant support from Ralph C. Wilson Jr. Foundation.
The program is designed to help build communities through a resident-driven process and take action on what matters most to residents.
The Community Heart & Soul model was developed over 10 years ago and has been recognized nationally by the American Planning Association as a successful approach to community planning and development. Community Heart & Soul doesn’t replace other community development and planning processes but complements existing initiatives to increase engagement and support for community-led programs and activities.
At the suggestion of Carlton Town Supervisor Gayle Ashbury and resident Penny Miller, a team of local residents met in December and January to assess what they love about living in the town of Carlton and what improvements they would like to see.
Representatives in attendance were from Carlton’s business and agriculture communities, town recreation leaders and members of the Oak Orchard Neighborhood Association. The attendees’ suggestions included recreational enhancements to the town park such as basketball and pickleball courts as well as trails linking the east and west sides of the Oak Orchard River.
Infrastructure enhancements that were identified included a public sewer system and sidewalks, among other projects. Based on public input, town councilman Brian McCue drafted the application to be considered for the Community Heart & Soul designation for rural communities (population less than 25,000) which will receive seed funding, technical assistance and professional coaching over a period of approximately 18 months.
The core team leaders that were selected to begin implementing the program are Brian McCue, Heather Tabor, Lynne Menz, Penny Miller and Laura Bentley. Their core responsibility will be to carry out the 4 phases of the program:
Phase I – Imagine: build awareness, interest and commitment in all segments of the community;
Phase II – Connect: gather stories from residents to identity what matters most and what they love about their town;
Phase III – Plan: develop action plans to guide future town planning;
Phase IV – Act: get these plans adopted by town council and incorporate them into the comprehensive plan to be used for future policies and decisions.
For more information about Community Heart & Soul, visit www.communityheartandsoul.org. To be involved in the program, contact Penny Miller at 585-331-9292 or email penny@focmp.org.
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 6 April 2026 at 9:57 pm
Fish will spend nearly month in pens, growing and imprinting on famed fishery
Photos courtesy of Isabella Zasa: The pipe provides a pathway for small Chinook salmon and steelhead from a DEC truck to pens in the Oak Orchard River.
POINT BREEZE – The state Department of Transportation delivered some precious cargo today to the Oak Orchard River: 165,000 fish that will be nurtured over the next month.
Charter boat captains and other fishing stakeholders will keep tabs on the little fish that will be fed while kept in pens at the Oak Orchard by Ernst’s Lake Breeze Marina.
The volunteers have been leading the pen-rearing project at the Oak Orchard since 1998. It was the first on the southshore of Lake Ontario and now there are many, including one at Sandy Creek in Hamlin, the Genesee River, Sodus, Olcott and the Niagara River.
The fish will spend three to four weeks in the pens, growing in size which will increase their chances of surviving when they are released. They will be a little less likely to be eaten by other fish or predators when they are released from the pens.
They also will “imprint” on the Oak Orchard, and be more likely to return when they are fully grown and looking to spawn.
It will take about three years for the little fish to reach full size. For some of the Chinook that will be over 30 pounds. A good-size steelhead can weigh 15 pounds.
The DEC stocking plan for Orleans County includes:
150,000 Chinook in pens
35,000 Steelhead into the Oak Orchard River with 15,000 in pens plus another 20,000 direct.
6,000 Steelhead direct to Johnson Creek
22,500 Coho salmon direct at Oak Orchard River
37,100 brown trout direct at Lake Ontario
Some additional lake trout and Atlantic salmon at Lake Ontario
The DEC has team with the local community for the pen-rearing project since 1998. It was the first one on the southshore of Lake Ontario. Now there are several.
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 27 February 2026 at 10:52 am
ALBION – A business that will be growing cannabis in a 1,000-squarefoot warehouse has the Orleans County Planning Board’s support.
Joe Molisani Jr., owner of Dream orchard LLC, wants to cultivate the cannabis at 13353 Kendrick Rd., Waterport. He then plans to sell it from another business he plans to be opening in downtown Medina, a cannabis dispensary.
Molisani said he won’t be selling any cannabis directly from the Kendrick Road site. If he has any wholesale orders, he will make the deliveries with no customers coming to the site in Carlton.
He needs a special use permit from Carlton to grow the cannabis. The County Planning Board recommended Carlton approve the permit. Some of the Planning Board members didn’t think a special use permit was necessary because Molisani will be doing an allowed use in a residential-agricultural district.
Molisani has his license to grow cannabis as a micro-business through the state’s Office of Cannabis Management.
By Ginny Kropf, correspondent Posted 1 February 2026 at 2:48 pm
Photos by Ginny Kropf: Narby’s Superette and Tackle will open in the spring under new owners. Jonathan Ross, center, and his partner Tara Webb have purchased the business. They stand here in front of the store at The Bridges with Ross’ son Ryland.
THE BRIDGES – One of the oldest businesses in Orleans County is about to enter its next phase with new owners.
Narby’s Superette & Tackle, located on Route 98 at The Bridges, has been purchased by Jonathan Ross and his partner Tara Webb. They also own Route 18 Tackle near Hamlin and Ross has owned a fishing charter boat at Point Breeze for nearly 20 years.
Ross said he had been eyeing the Superette for several years, and finally made the decision to purchase it following death of Sharon Narburgh last June. Sharon and her husband Bill purchased the store in the mid 1960s. After Bill died in 1992, Sharon continued to run the store and the tackle shop until shortly before her passing.
Ross said with owning a tackle shop a few miles away, he was concerned who his competition might be.
“When the price was right, we made our move to buy it,” Ross said.
Ross has a 15-year-old son Ryland, who he hopes some day will take an interest in the business.
“I plan to teach him the ropes as he grows,” Ross said.
Jonathan Ross, his son Ryland and partner Tara Webb stand outside the tackle shop at Narby’s Superette, which Ross and Webb have recently purchased. Ross and Webb are also partners in Route 18 Tackle near Hamlin.
Ross and Webb have big plans for grocery store and tackle shop. Ross is known for his development of the highly acclaimed Hawk’s custom salmon tackle.
“Last September one of our customers won the LOC Derby with it,” Ross said.
Ross also purchased the Narby’s name, but he is not yet sure how he will incorporate it into naming the new business.
“We plan to get the grocery store stocked back up, along with fuel, and build the tackle shop bigger than it ever was,” Ross said.
The upstairs apartment, where the Narburghs lived, will become an Airbnb for fishermen, Ross said.
Information online from the Orleans County Historian states the first business to open on Narby’s site was a post office in 1877. It became G.D. Fowler’s General Merchandise in 1888. It was also a post office until 1915, with the exception of four years in 1894-97. Several other owners followed prior to the Narburgh’s purchase.
And now the store is about to embark on another new chapter.
“We are planning a grand opening in the spring,” Ross said. “We know we’re going to have longer hours during the busy season. This whole year is going to be a learning year,” Ross said.
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 1 December 2025 at 8:27 pm
POINT BREEZE – The Oak Orchard Neighborhood Association is sharing $7,000 in donations to local organizations.
The proceeds are from the OONA summer concert series. OONA donated to the following:
• $1,500 – Community Action of Orleans & Genesee
• $1,000 – Hospice of Orleans
• $1,000 – Orleans Koinonia Kitchen
• $1,000 – Genesee-Orleans Ministry of Concern
• $1,000 – Carlton Fire Department
• $600 – Oak Orchard Lighthouse
• $500 – Orleans County Veterans Agency
• $400 – 50 Winks (Bowie Foundation)
“The tremendous support and generosity of our community enabled us to donate a total of $7,000 to these very worthy organizations,” said Pat Furlong, OONA treasurer.
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 22 October 2025 at 3:56 pm
Gov. Kathy Hochul announced the state will be spending $600 million to pave nearly 2,150 lane miles in the 2026 construction season, including $1.4 million to resurface Route 98 in Orleans County from Route 104 in Gaines going north to the Lake Ontario State Parkway in Carlton.
The paving plan also includes $2.8 million to resurface Route 262 from Route 63 to Route 98, and Route 98 from Edgerton Road to the Orleans County line in the towns of Oakfield and Elba, Genesee County
Hochul, in announcing the projects today, called the work an “unprecedented paving investment” that leverages $800 million secured in current state budget.
“As someone who has ridden on virtually every mile of every state road across New York, I know firsthand every curve and every pothole, and next year we will be making an unprecedented investment to improve state roads across New York,” Hochul said. “New Yorkers will be seeing crews out there like never before next year, rejuvenating highways, enhancing the safety of the traveling public, and laying a solid foundation for economic development across the Empire State.”
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 14 October 2025 at 4:02 pm
Photos by Tom Rivers
WATERPORT – An angler uses a net to help a friend bring in a Chinook salmon this morning at the Oak Orchard River.
The fish was caught by St. Mary’s Archers Club, which lets people park for $10 and gives them access to the river.
The club opens its gate at 5 a.m. every morning for about a month up until Veterans’ Day on Nov. 11. The Archers Club has coffee, doughnuts and bagels ready in the morning, and then serves hamburgers and hot dogs for lunch.
This man is happy to have landed a Chinook salmon. He released it back into the Oak Orchard.
Fishing is the county’s top tourism attraction, generating about $28 million in economic activity in Orleans, according to a report from the state DEC based on 2017 data.
There have been visiting anglers so far from Hawaii, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Massachusetts, Vermont, New Jersey, Virginia and Michigan. They make the trek for the chance to catch a big brown trout of Chinook salmon.
David Mangold of Cumberland, Maryland holds a small brown trout he caught. He let the fish go. He caught a Chinook salmon, too.
Mangold has been coming to the Oak Orchard the second week of October the past 10 years.
“It’s always a good time,” he said.
Howard Palmer, a member of the Archers Club, is up by 4 a.m. every day to go open the gate at the Archers Club, get the coffee pot brewing and to start a fire.
He has been on early morning duty the past five years or so and he said he’s never missed a day or been late.
Some of the fishermen are ready at 5. They like to claim their spot in the river. They can’t start fishing legally until a half hour before sunrise, or about 6:45 a.m.
Palmer, 80, said the Archers Club can accommodate about 80 parked vehicles. The fishermen like to be spread out. They say it’s not nearly as crowded or hectic as the salmon River up in Pulaski and Altmar.
“I’ve never met a bad fisherman,” Palmer said. “They’re interesting people.”
Tom O’Hearn, president of the Archers Club, cooks hot dogs and hamburgers today. He has a great view of the river from the grill.
O’Hearn has been the club’s president the past 10 years. The parking fees and revenue from breakfast and lunch help maintain the property. The Archers Club has upgraded the cooking area in recent years and extended the pavilion.
The anglers enjoy the great outdoors. It’s an ideal time to be out with colorful fall foliage and the changing of the seasons.
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 29 September 2025 at 12:01 pm
OOL Museum this weekend welcomed family of Emelee Arbuckle
Photos by Tom Rivers: The Oak Orchard Lighthouse Museum presented a light show on Saturday that honored Emelee Arbuckle, who was 23 when she died in a motorcycle accident in Florida in 2013. Her family has left bricks with her name engraved at about 300 lighthouses around the country. The bricks are typically buried or left in the water close by the lighthouse. Oak Orchard is the fifth lighthouse to find the brick and contact Emelee’s parents.
Ken and Karen Arbuckle of Melbourne Beach, Fla. visited the Oak Orchard Lighthouse on Saturday evening for a special light show as a tribute for their daughter, Emelee. The show was in addition to the nightly 30-minute light show that starts a half hour at sunset. That light show mimics the Northern Lights.
POINT BREEZE – The Oak Orchard Lighthouse Museum presented a special light show on Saturday in honor of a Florida woman was passed away at age 23 on Dec. 29, 2013 from complications following a motorcycle accident.
Emelee Arbuckle was connected to the water. She was the top coxswain on her high school rowing team. She was also an artist who wanted to teach art to disabled children.
Her parents, Ken and Karen Arbuckle, visited Point Breeze over the weekend. The Arbuckles have left about 300 engraved bricks at lighthouses around the country. They were at the Oak Orchard Lighthouse on Aug. 4, 2024 and buried a brick engraved with their daughter’s name and nickname: Emelee “Bean” Arbuckle.
The Arbuckles typically will bury a brick at the southeast corner of a lighthouse or leave in close to shore in the water.
At the Oak Orchard Lighthouse, a new lighting system was being installed in August to display a light show that would mimic the Aurora Borealis. Lighthouse volunteers worked with A.J. Hetzke of IlluminFx Lighting Systems to install the system which debuted on Aug. 14.
Cheryl Giacherio was digging at the southwest corner on Aug. 7, creating a hole for one of four corner canisters for the lights. The top of the lighthouse has 192 lights for the show.
When Giacherio dug down in the dirt, she found a brick in honor of Emelee “Bean” Arbuckle. An internet search showed the story of Emelee, and helped connect the lighthouse museum to her family.
It was the fifth brick that has been found with Emelee’s name.
The Arbuckles made the trip up from Melbourne Beach, Florida on Friday, and presented a collage with a poem by their daughter that will be on display in the lighthouse.
The lighthouse museum had a special tribute for the family on Saturday night. Hetzke of IlluminFx created a new light show for Emelee.
“Thank you so much for honoring our girl,” Mrs. Arbuckle told a group at the lighthouse on Saturday night. “No one has ever done anything like this for us.”
Emelee Arbuckle is shown at left. Here is the brick that was found last month with her name at the Oak Orchard Lighthouse.
Emelee’s mother feels like it was a God-ordained miracle that the brick was discovered at Oak Orchard. Her husband usually buries the bricks in the southeast corner. This time, he put it at the southwest corner, right where a hole would be dug a year later for the light show.
“This was God,” Mrs. Arbuckle said. “He was coordinating this to all come together. You need to recognize these miracles when they happen.”
She thanked Hetzke for the light show, which was set to music.
“With the music, you can feel it in your heart,” Mrs. Arbuckle said.
She and her husband have been to at least 400 lighthouses in the past 12 years, trying to leave a memorial brick or a “handheart” of her and her husband’s hands creating a heart shape. The Arbuckles take a picture of that heart shape with the lighthouse in the background if they can’t get up close in person. Some of the lighthouses are off limits to the public. (They stopped by the Braddock Point Lighthouse in Hilton on Saturday but couldn’t get close enough to leave a brick because it’s on private property.)
The Arbuckles are happy when people find a brick with their daughter’s name, and reach out to her parents.
“It’s about saying Emelee’s name so it isn’t forgotten,” Mr. Arbuckle said.
Here are other photos from the light show on Saturday night.
CARLTON – The New York State Department of Transportation is advising motorists that State Route 18 in the Town of Carlton, Orleans County, will be closed to all traffic between Waterport Road and Hard Road beginning at 6 a.m. Monday, September 29, to accommodate a culvert replacement project.
Motorists should follow posted detours using Route 18, Route 63, Route 104 and Route 98. The road is expected to be reopened by mid-October.
Motorists should anticipate travel delays during this time and are advised to seek alternate routes if necessary. Construction activities are weather dependent and subject to change based on conditions.
Motorists are urged to slow down and drive responsibly in work zones. Fines are doubled for speeding in a work zone. Convictions of two or more speeding violations in a work zone could result in the suspension of an individual’s driver license.
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 17 September 2025 at 10:36 pm
Photos courtesy of Marsha Rivers: This mosaic compass was created by artist Kim Martillotta Muscarella in her Albion studio.
POINT BREEZE – The Oak Orchard Lighthouse Museum this evening celebrated a new addition to the grounds at Point Breeze by the Oak Orchard Harbor: a mosaic compass.
Kim Martillotta Muscarella created the mosaic piece in a project funded through a Ripple grant from the Genesee-Orleans Regional Arts Council.
GO Art! also directed another $5,000 grant to the lighthouse for a light show each day for a half hour after sunset. The light show mimics the northern lights. That project and the mosaic compass enhance the grounds, trying to bring more people to see the lighthouse and Point Breeze area.
Kim Martillotta Muscarella stands by the mosaic compass she made for the Oak Orchard Lighthouse Museum.
“The creation of a compass rose to complement the lighthouse was part of the original scope of the proposed lighthouse work, but was delayed due to cost,” said Chris Manaseri, the museum president. “The GO Art! grant was a means by which the Lighthouse Board might accomplish competing its original proposal at a lower and indirect cost.”
Manaseri, who is also an artist, approached Muscarella last winter. She is the owner of the Marti’s on Main art gallery. She created the mosaic at her studio at the gallery.
Lighthouse Museum President Chris Manaseri thanks Kim Martillotta Muscarella for her work creating the compass rose mosaic that has been installed in the lighthouse garden.
Photo by Isabella Zasa: Kim Martillotta Muscarella shows Orly the Ox the mosaic when it was in the early stages back on Aug. 1. Orly is the Orleans County mascot for its bicentennial celebration this year.
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 11 September 2025 at 8:22 am
Photos courtesy of Melissa Ierlan
CARLTON – A historical marker highlighting the “Ancient Mound” built by the Algonkian Indians in Carlton has been refurbished with fresh paint.
Dave and Dar Krull are shown with the marker at their home on Oak Orchard River Road. They are with niece Kailah, and great-nieces Sidney, Shelby and Rylee Ierlan.
Melissa Ierlan of Clarendon recently stripped the marker down and repainted it. The marker notes Algonkian Indians built this Ancient Mound in the second period or Polished Stone Age. It was excavated in 1932-’33 by Charles Wyman Palmer. The marker was installed by State Education Department in 1932.
Located on Oak Orchard River Road about 1 ½ miles west of The Bridges. It’s at the south end of a long private driveway and not visible from the road.
Ierlan has refurbished about 40 historical markers in recent years.
These photos show some of the marker’s transformation before it received its final coat of blue and yellow paint.
CARLTON – The Town of Carlton is pleased to announce it has been selected by the Rochester Area Community Foundation and Community Foundation for Buffalo to be the first community to implement the Community Heart & Soul model in Orleans County, an initiative fully funded with grant support from Ralph C. Wilson Jr. Foundation.
