Photo by Tom Rivers: Dean Marine & Excavating Inc. from Michigan is shown dredging the Oak Orchard Harbor on Aug. 26, 2021. The dredging barge is near the breakwall at the end of the Oak Orchard channel. Before this, the harbor was last dredged in August 2014.

POINT BREEZE – The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers announced the Oak Orchard Harbor will be dredged beginning in mid-June, the first time sediment will be cleared out of the channel in about four years.

The dredging is part of a $2 million contract that also includes dredging the Great Sodus Bay. The Army Corps of Engineers, Buffalo District awarded the contract to Michigan-based Dean Marine & Excavating on May 13.

“Oak Orchard Harbor is an important part of our local tourism and recreation economy, so ensuring the safe passage of boats in and out of the harbor has always been a top priority of ours,” said Lynne Johnson, chairwoman of the Orleans County Legislature. “We look forward to the dredging project getting underway later this year and thank the Army Corps of Engineers for their collaboration and leadership.”

Dredging of these harbors ensures accessible depths for vessels traveling the Great Lakes and enables recreational boating which supports more than $24 million in business revenue and labor income to the transportation sector combined, the Army Corps stated in a news release.

“Great Sodus Bay and Oak Orchard Harbor are critical components of the Great Lakes Navigation System, supporting economic growth in the local economy and ensuring safe refuge for boats on Lake Ontario,” said Lt. Col. Robert Burnham, USACE Buffalo District commander. “We look forward to delivering these projects on time and within budget, ensuring their waterfronts continue serving the local community and the country.”

Dredging will focus on the mouth of Oak Orchard Harbor first, followed by the inside of Great Sodus Bay past its piers. Work is scheduled to take place from mid-June through the end of August.

A total of approximately 15,000 cubic yards of material from Oak Orchard, and 20,000 from Great Sodus is contracted to be dredged and placed in designated open lake sites.

“With this contract awarded, it is full steam ahead for the dredging of Great Sodus Bay and Oak Orchard Harbor. As one of Lake Ontario’s strongest defenders in Washington, I’m proud to deliver the federal support to help our Lake Ontario communities set sail towards a brighter future,” said U.S. Sen. Chuck Schumer. “This critical dredging protects jobs and millions of dollars in business revenue across the Rochester-Finger Lakes region. I will never stop fighting to deliver all the resources we need to ensure a thriving and well-protected Great Lakes for generations to come.”

Oak Orchard Harbor is a shallow-draft harbor. Recreational boating facilitated by the harbor supports $6.8 million in business revenue, 94 direct, indirect, and induced jobs, and $6 million in labor income to the nation, the Army Corps said.

Great Sodus Bay also is a shallow-draft harbor on the southern shore of Lake Ontario. Recreational boating facilitated by the harbor supports $9.3 million in business revenue, 142 direct, indirect, and induced jobs, and $8.7 million in labor income to the nation.

Public can comment on plan during meeting Wednesday

Photo by Tom Rivers: The Oak Orchard Lighthouse is shown on May 10, 2024 during a dazzling display of the Northern Lights. The spectacle in the sky has inspired the lighthouse’s board of directors to pursue a light show on the structure.

CARLTON – The Oak Orchard Lighthouse Museum wants to recreate the magic of the Northern Lights with a light show on the lighthouse in a 20-30 minute show around dusk on Friday, Saturday and Sundays.

The museum will have a public meeting at 7 p.m. Wednesday at the Carlton United Methodist Church, 1196 Archbald Rd., Waterport.

The museum’s board will present the plan for a light show. The project is funded with a $5,000 grant for the Genesee-Orleans Regional Arts Council (GO Art!).

Cheryl Giacherio, a volunteer with the lighthouse and the Oak Orchard Neighborhood Association, said the light show is inspired by the Northern Lights which put on a memorable display May 10, 2024.

She reached out to IlluminFx, a Rochester-based company with a national reputation. IlluminFx has lighted up the Alamo, a battleship in the Carolinas and many building facades and outdoor spaces.

The Lighthouse Museum needs to have the public meeting to hear from the community, and then share that feedback with the State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation, which owns the land where the lighthouse stands next to the Oak Orchard River and Lake Ontario. The museum has already completed an environmental assessment form which showed no negative impacts to wildlife or the dark sky.

Besides the Friday through Sunday light shows, Giacherio said the museum would like to offer one special holiday show most months.

The museum is planning to have a song played at the beginning of the light show to announce the start of the event.

Chris Manaseri, the museum board president, said the light show should bring more people to Point Breeze, boosting local businesses.

Once the equipment for the light show is installed, it can be reused repeatedly over several years. There will be computerized equipment to project images and lights as part of the display.

Manaseri said he expects the regular schedule for the light shows would go from around Memorial Day in late May to Labor Day in early September.

The start for this year is uncertain because it depends on when the $5,000 will be made available from Go Art! Last year, the museum didn’t receive its grant from Go Art! until August.

Press Release, Carlton Fire Company

CARLTON – At 4:37 p.m. on Tuesday, the Carlton Fire Company, along with automatic mutual aid from Kendall Fire Department, were dispatched by the Orleans County 9-1-1 Communications Center for a structure fire with people trapped at 1171 Kent Rd. in the Town of Carlton.

First arriving units reported that there was a working fire, and that all occupants were out of the structure. The fire had quickly spread through the attic space of the home and wind conditions hampered the firefighting efforts.

The fire proved to be very labor intensive, and several interior firefighters were needed to make access to void spaces in the structure where there was no access.

There were no injuries to any of the residents that were home at the time or to any of the firefighters that responded.

In addition to the initial assignment the following agencies assisted at the scene: Mercy EMS, Albion, Barre, Brockport, Clarendon, Hamlin, Medina, Murray, Ridgeway, Shelby, Orleans County Emergency Management and the Orleans County Fire Investigation Unit, Orleans County Sheriff’s Office, New York State Police, American Red Cross, Town of Carlton Highway Department and National Grid.

The following agencies provided coverage within the county, while crews operated on scene: Barker, Town of Batavia, East Shelby and Spencerport.

The fire is currently under investigation by the Orleans County Fire Investigation Unit.  All units cleared the scene at 9:04 p.m. and were back in service at 11 p.m.

The members of the Carlton Fire Company would like to thank everyone that responded and assisted yesterday, the dispatchers working at the Orleans County 9-1-1 Communications Center, The Carlton Fire Company Ladies Auxiliary for providing refreshments, and our families for their patience and understanding.  Our thoughts and prayers are with the residents as they recover from this tragic event.

Photo from GoFundMe

CARLTON – A fire on Tuesday badly damaged a Carlton home at 1171 Kent Rd. The fire displaced a multi-generational family, their three cats and a dog.

A GoFundMe account has been set up by Ally Wittenberg, whose parents, Frank Gibson II and Julia Henchen, and Ally’s grandfather, Frank Gibson, are now without a home.

“This fire not only took everything they owned but also took irreplaceable childhood memories and memories of our beloved grandmother Carolyn,” Wittenberg writes on GoFundMe.

Firefighters from multiple departments were dispatched to scene at about 4:30 p.m. The initial dispatch said there was entrapment inside. Wittenberg said everyone got out of the house safely, including the three cats – Pheobe, Brantley and Max – and dog – Marlee.

“My grandfather is currently fighting end stage cancer and this is truly a terribly devastating time to lose not only the place he calls home but everything he owns,” Wittenberg said.

The GoFundMe lists clothes sizes for the three people who had their belongings destroyed in the fire.

“I want to say thank you in advance for anybody who donates or helps my family during this tragedy,” Wittenberg said. “It truly means more than my heart can express. My grandfather and parents didn’t deserve this and deserve any and all relief they can get.”

Salmon, steelhead will spend about a month in pens, getting bigger and ‘imprinting’ at Oak

Photos courtesy of Ron Bierstine: The state Department of Environmental Conservation delivered 138,000 Chinook salmon and 15,000 steelhead on Wednesday. The fish will be raised in pens for about 3 to 4 weeks.

CARLTON – About 150,000 fish arrived on Wednesday with volunteers braving the cold and then some fierce rain, ushering the small fish into nine pens in the Oak Orchard River.

The fish will spend three to four weeks in the pens, getting fed and getting bigger. That 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.

They also will “imprint” on the Oak Orchard, and be more likely to return when they are fully grown and looking to spawn.

The volunteers, many charter boat captains, have been leading the pen-rearing project at the Oak Orchard since 1998. It was the first on the southshore and now there are many, including one at Sandy Creek in Hamlin, the Genesee River, Sodus, Olcott and the Niagara River.

Photos courtesy of Isabella Zasa

The fish are led from a long pipe from a DEC truck to one of the pens in the Oak Orchard River. There are six pens for 138,000 Chinook salmon and three pens for 15,000 steelhead. That compares to 138,210 Chinook salmon and 10,000 steelhead for the pen-rearing in 2024. In 2019, there were 90,200 Chinook for the pen-rearing.

Bob Songin, a charter boat captain, has been part of the pen-rearing since it started in 1998. He said it has made a big difference in having bigger fish in the Oak Orchard and in Lake Ontario near the Point. 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.

There is one new pen for the steelhead this year, going from two to three pens. There are six pens for the Chinook.

The pens were refurbished with new netting and TF Enterprise in Albion rewelded the frames.

The pens sit in the water near Ernst’s Lake Breeze Marina. Six of the pens were moved farther down the river than their usual spot due to lower water levels.

Rob Westcott, a charter boat captain from Hamlin, is president of the Lake Ontario Charter Boat Association, which represents more than 400 charter boat captains.

“It’s been successful lake-wide,” Westcott said about the pen-rearing programs. “It’s proven successful with survivability. We’re doing anything we can do to help the fishery.”

Westcott said charter boat captains are worried about the low lake water levels. The lake is often a foot higher this time of year. The lake typically gains in depth this time of year, he said.

He is hopeful the International Joint Commission, which regulates the water flows, will facilitate raising the water levels.

“We’ve been in a holding pattern the last two months,” he said. “We are below average right now.”

Lower water levels could hinder the boats from getting into harbor and using docks, he said.

Photo by Tom Rivers: The back of a DEC truck carrying fish encourages parents to have their children go fishing.

Provided photo: One free preparedness class will be available per household for people completing the Citizen Preparedness Training Class on Nov. 25.

CARLTON – Orleans County Emergency Management will be offering a Citizens Preparedness Training Class on Nov. 25 that is open to county residents at no cost.

This training will help people to prepare for severe weather events, said Justin Niederhofer, the county’s emergency management director.

“The registration for the event last year was overwhelming and interest exceeded capacity so this year Carlton Fire Company has stepped up to host the event at the Carlton Rec Hall, which will allow a much greater capacity,” he said.

The class will be on Nov. 25, starting at 6 p.m. at the Carlton Rec Hall, 1853 Oak Orchard Rd.

The NY Citizen Preparedness Training Program provides an introduction to responding to a natural or human-caused disaster. Participants are advised on how to properly develop family emergency plans and stock up on emergency supplies. Each family that attends will receive one preparedness kit.

Pre-registration is required. Click here to register.

Provided photo

The Point Breeze Yacht Club held its annual members’ meeting and Election of Officers at Godfreys Pond on Saturday. Boaters interested in membership may find information at PBYCNY.com.

Elected Officers in photo, from left, include: Bob Bialkowski, Commodore; Bob Turk, Vice Commodore; Madeline Bialkowski, Treasurer; Marietta Schuth, Secretary; Kevin Tiffany, Port Captain; and Emrys March, Rear Commodore.