Photo by Tom Rivers
GAINES – A Crew was out today putting in a new driveway for Fairhaven Treasures, a site at the southeast intersection of routes 98 and 104. The new driveway will be on 98.
The property owners, Ray and Linda Burke, have been transforming the former Swiercznski homestead into an art gallery and high-end craft co-op. The Burkes are hoping to open the site to the public on Nov. 29, a day after Thanksgiving.
Photos by Tom Rivers
EAGLE HARBOR – Nick Condoluci may have the scariest setup for Halloween in Orleans County, a backyard with hanging skeletons, a grave yard, a guillotine and a “Booger Booth,” just to name a few.
Condoluci makes most of the props himself, spending much of the winter cutting out and designing tombstones, signs and other scary features, including an electric chair with a buzzer on the seat.
“You can’t buy this stuff,” he said. “I think I have the largest Halloween display in Orleans County. No one else does it to this extreme.”
Condoluci created the outdoor setup about five years ago at his home on School Lane in Eagle Harbor. (The first road north of the lift bridge.)
He opens the attractions up for the community each year about a week before Halloween. He has the setup aglow in green, red, yellow and orange lights each night from 6 to 9 p.m. On Halloween some of his friends – “actors” – will be part of the display.
“They are here to scare you,” Condoluci said.
He has turned 1-acre in his backyard into a scare land, with a spooky fake graveyard bearing the names of the people killed in the Salem Witch Trials.
Condoluci, a school bus driver, said Halloween and the display are just a hobby that he enjoys sharing with the community.
“I call it Halloween to the extreme,” he said.
Condoluci said some of the visitors like to pose with the guillotine and the stocks in the backyard. He is happy to oblige any photo requests.
Photos by Tom Rivers
GAINES – The former Swiercznski homestead at the corner of routes 98 and 104 is planned to open on Nov. 29, the Friday after Thanksgiving. The site will be an art gallery and high-end craft co-op.
Ray Burke and his wife have spent about a year renovating and remodeling the 3,040-square-foot house, which was built in 1834.
“This old house was just sitting here,” said Burke. “We’ve tried to bring it up to some level of use and beauty.”
Burke is retired from DuPont in Rochester. The former machine shop foreman said several community members have helped work on the building and brainstorm uses for the site. He praised Gaines Town Supervisor Carol Culhane, in particular, for providing a vision for the site and also a lot of manual labor.
Culhane said the house will be a nice complement to the Cobblestone Society Museum, the Village Inn and other businesses on the Ridge.
“This is the historical crossroads of this community,” Culhane said. “It deserves to be showcased.”
The house has six fireplaces, including a heating pot and Dutch oven in the kitchen. Burke welcomes any historical photos and clues about the site’s past.
He has worked on the property almost every day since last Christmas.
“The more I work on it, the more I like it,” he said.
Photo by Tom Rivers
ALBION – The 9th annual Making Strides Against Breast Cancer Walk at Watt Farms raised about $47,000 with more donations expected to be tabulated.
About 800 participants walked through the orchards at Watt Farms on Sunday. The event has now raised about $275,000 over nine years for the American Cancer Society in Western New York.
Photos by Tom Rivers – Karen Watt, co-owner of Watt Farms Country Market, addresses the crowd this morning before the start of the Making Strides Against Breast Cancer Walk at the farm on Route 98 in Albion.
Larry Montello, front center, waves while he joins other walkers at the start of the walk at Watt Farms. Montello was part of a team from Community Action that walked in memory of Kathy LaLonde.
ALBION – Karen Watt took a walk through the orchards of Watt Farms today, carrying her 1-year-old grandson Evan on her back.
Watt is thankful for the chance to be a part of his life. About a decade ago she was diagnosed with breast cancer. She credits breakthroughs in research for improved treatment. Otherwise, the cancer might have killed her long before Evan was born.
“It’s precious the time I have with him as a grandmother,” Watt told a big crowd of several hundred people at today’s Making Strides Against Breast Cancer Walk at Watt Farms. “I wouldn’t have it without those who went before me.”
Watt and her husband Chris have hosted the Making Strides walk for nine years now. It has become a mega-event, drawing about 800 people who raise about $50,000 for the American Cancer Society in Western New York.
Jeanne Wormuth, a breast cancer survivor from Elba, is pictured with her husband A.J.
Some of that money supports research, and some goes to patients and their families battling the disease. Watt lamented the loss of “two pillars of the community,” who recently died from cancer. Kathy LaLonde of Albion was an active community volunteer. She was 54 when she died on Oct. 6.
Judy Christopher, another Albion community volunteer and business owner, was 70 when she died on Aug. 3.
Friends and family of LaLonde and Christopher both formed groups to walk the orchard today and raise memory of the two women. LaLonde was a grant writer at Community Action before taking a job at Brockport State College.
Annette Finch, a former co-worker of Kathy LaLonde at Community Action of Orleans and Genesee, wore a shirt in memory of LaLonde during today’s Making Strides Against Breast Cancer Walk at Watt Farms Country Market in Albion. LaLonde died from cancer on Oct. 6.
Although she stopped working at Community Action about a decade ago, many of her former co-workers showed up in force today, wearing T-shirts in her honor.
“She was an integral part of Community Action,” said Annette Finch, director of community services for the agency. “We just loved her to no end.”
LaLonde was instrumental in starting the Angels in Action program, which has built a big network of volunteers and supporters for the agency and its clients.
The Community Action staff walked in memory of Kathy LaLonde.
Christopher lived in Albion and Carlton. “The Ladies of the Lake,” a group of about 35 of her friends and neighbors, all walked the orchard in Christopher’s memory this morning. Many wore a sticker with her saying to “Keep Moving.”
Karen Blank, owner of the Whole Approach in Holley, worked for Christopher when she owned Phoenix Fitness, a health club in Albion. Blank formed a team from her Holley gym in honor of Christopher.
“We’re here because of the loss of our beautiful friend Judy Christopher,” Blank said. “This is a cause that is near and dear to most women’s hearts.”
Jeanne Wormuth of Elba attended the walk a year ago when she was in the throes of chemotherapy after being diagnosed with breast cancer. She returned today as a cancer survivor. She wants to help raise money for research.
“I benefitted from the past people and the advances in treatment,” she said.
Kathy Williams, a breast cancer survivor for 13 years now, urges a crowd of several hundred people to keep advocating for cancer research through private donations and government funding.
The walk today included teams from CRFS in Albion and Medina, the Holley Fire Department, and Albion, Kendall, Byron-Bergen and Elba central schools, as well as numerous other groups.
Elba and Byron-Bergen have a combined football team. The 38 players and their coaches joined for the walk today. One player had a father die from cancer and other players have parents fighting the disease.
Coach Mike Cintorino said the group raised more than $1,500 for the Cancer Society.
Members of the Elba Lancers were part of today’s breast cancer walk at Watt Farms.
Photos by Tom Rivers
A crowd of several hundred people gathered this morning at Watt Farms Country Market on Route 98 in Gaines for the 9th annual Making Strides Against Breast Cancer Walk.
The walk in its first eight years raised $225,000 for breast cancer research and assistance for patients.
OrleansHub.com will have more on the walk later today.
Photos by Tom Rivers – This unnamed stream by Ridge Road in Gaines, about a mile east of Route 98, is largely undisturbed.
GAINES – The stream doesn’t have a name, but it caught the eye of a pioneer settler on Ridge Road and the town of Gaines more than 200 years ago.
Elizabeth Gilbert and her husband, identified in historical records only as “Mr. Gilbert,” arrived with their two children and a niece in 1807. They picked a spot next to a stream near where the Gaines Carlton Community Church now stands on Route 104, close to the intersection with Brown Road.
Early settlers liked to build log cabins close to a source of water. The Gilberts chose the north side of Ridge Road, building their home where there was a rise in the land.
The cabin is long gone, but a historical marker notes the pioneering efforts from Mrs. Gilbert. Her husband died in 1808, leaving her to raise the children, and tame the nearby wilderness.
The creek at the site has never been named, but Al Capurso wants to change that. He wants it to recognize the pioneering efforts of Mrs. Gilbert.
The creek begins from feeder sources south of Route 104 near Brown Road. It then marries Procter Brook in Carlton, and then flows into the oak Orchard River.
Capurso has secured resolutions of support for naming the stream “Gilbert Creek” from both the Gaines and Carlton town boards. He has pages of signatures from residents in support of the creek naming.
Al Capurso stands on a pedestrian bridge over a stream he wants named for a pioneer settler in Gaines.
On July 7, he sent an application to the U.S. Geological Survey Unit of the Department of the Interior, the agency responsible for reviewing applications for naming geologic features in the country.
Capurso said the creek meets the Interior’s criteria for naming a creek based on three levels: The feature is currently unnamed; The stream has an independent and distinct source of flow; and it is historically significant.
Capurso has read historical accounts of the pioneers in Orleans, and Gilbert is credited with helping settlers that arrived soon after her make their new homes.
Capurso believes the stones on the creek bed are the same ones that the Gilbert family likely stood on when they moved to Gaines and built a cabin beginning in 1807.
He is hopeful the creek will officially bear her name by early next year, and a sign by Ridge Road will proclaim it as “Gilbert Creek.” Capurso is working on the wooden sign that will match the one for Procter Brook at the Cobblestone Society Museum.
He thinks honoring a pioneer settler, and erecting a historical-looking sign, will blend in nicely with the Cobblestone Museum less than a mile down the road.
GAINES – An audit of the town of Gaines blasts town officials for not establishing formal policies and procedures for expense reimbursements, cash receipts, fuel usage and other functions and operations within the town.
The report from Bonadio and Company was presented during Tuesday’s Town Board meeting. The firm said there are “several deficiencies” in internal controls, as well as a lack of “checks and balances.”
Town Supervisor Carol Culhane sought out the forensic audit after a recent audit cited several deficiencies in internal controls.
“There will be some serious questions that have to be answered,” Culhane said today. “The audit on Tuesday was the first step. There will be more to come.”
The town is seeking advice from the Connors and Vilardo law firm in Buffalo over whether to pursue civil or legal action. Attorney Terrence Connors presented the audit results at Tuesday’s board meeting. (The document is also available on the town web site. Click here to see it.)
In the Bonadio audit, the firm noted what it said were improper mileage reimbursements for Town Clerk Jean Klatt. She claimed reimbursement for a conference to Saratoga from April 22-25, 2012. She was reimbursed $260.10 for the trip. However, she carpooled there with three town clerks and the town of Byron had already been paid Gaines’s share of the trip when Klatt sought the full reimbursement, seven months after the event.
Klatt also was faulted in the audit for claiming 20 miles of mileage for trips to Albion on April 23 and April 25, when she was at the Saratoga conference.
“An employee and/or elected official submitting expense reimbursement requests for expenses not incurred is a punishable offense, and one that should not be taken lightly by the Town,” according to the audit.
Klatt and Highway Superintendent Ron Mannella each received $10,400 buyout options in 2011 and 2012. They weren’t eligible for the buyout because they aren’t members of the town’s union, which includes highway department employees. Union employees only were eligible for the $10,400 health insurance buyout, but the Town Board approved it for both Mannella and Klatt.
The board last year voted against offering the bigger buyouts for the highway superintendent and clerk for 2013, reducing the health insurance buyout for the two to $2,500 each.
Mannella was faulted for signing off on $79,423 to a vendor from 2010 to 2013 for services and materials that have not been received by the town.
“The Highway Superintendent knowingly signed a document stating that materials and services were rendered, when in fact none were provided,” according to the audit.
Bonadio said the highway superintendent would pre-pay for services and materials to use up his budgeted funds to avoid budget cuts in the future. Bonadio said that practice did not allow the Town Board to manage the actual costs for the department and resulted in a tax levy that was “unrealistic.”
Bonadio questions the “ethical nature” and validity between the vendor and highway superintendent for providing invoices that were approved when the services weren’t rendered.
Bonadio said the vendor, Barre Stone Products, should refund the $79,423 immediately and the highway department should stop the practice of spending down its budget because annual expenditures often are not accurately reported.
The town had not completed an audit since 2007. Culhane was elected in November 2011 and took over as town supervisor in January 2012. She was inquiring about a grant for local government consolidation efforts when she realized the town hadn’t been audited since 2007.
She called the town supervisors at other local towns to see how they handled audits.
“They all said it should be done every year,” she said.
Photos by Tom Rivers
GAINES – They were popular during the Revolutionary War, tall wooden poles typically put up in town squares. They were painted red on top, a sign of defiance against British rule.
In 1982, the people of Gaines and the Cobblestone Society Museum erected a replica Liberty Pole next to Farmer’s Hall on Route 98, just south of Route 104.
I’ve noticed the pole before, but I didn’t know what it symbolized until Saturday, when I stopped by the museum for its “Traders of the Lost Arts” event. A lady demonstrating flax processing clued me in on Liberty Poles. She said they were popular in New England. There aren’t too many around anymore.
The Liberty Pole in Gaines includes a carving of a bald eagle. The pole went up in 1982, “The Year of the Eagle,” according to a marker by the pole.
Photos by Tom Rivers
GAINES – Tom O’Connor of Rochester works in the blacksmith shop at the Cobblestone Society Museum on Saturday. He is one of the “Traders of the Lost Arts.”
The event continues today from 1 to 5 p.m. when the museum grounds will be open for half price.
Besides the blacksmith, the museum is showcasing flax processing, quilting and printing. The museum is located near the routes 98 and 104 intersection in the town of Gaines. The site has been designated a National Historic Landmark.
O’Connor said the blacksmith shop is a “gem,” featuring original equipment that still works.
The cover of “Unknown Museums of Upstate New York” includes a photo of the Cobblestone Universalist Church in Gaines, which is part of the Cobblestone Society Museum.
The Cobblestone Society Museum, which includes several historic structures, has been trying to raise its profile in recent years so more people could experience the oldest cobblestone church in North America and other buildings at the museum.
A new book about 50 museums in Upstate New York includes a picture on the cover of the Cobblestone Universalist Church, which is the centerpiece of the museum complex near the routes 98 and 104 intersection. The church was built in 1834.
The book introduces readers to “unknown museums.” Chuck D’Imperio, the author of several books about Upstate New York, wrote his latest book as a guide to 50 “treasures” that tell unappreciated stories of the state’s history.
In “Unknown Museums of Upstate New York,” D’Imperio writes about the Jell-O Museum in Le Roy, the National Bottle Museum in Ballston Spa, the Catskill Fly Fishing Museum, the Kazoo Museum, and the Robert Louis Stevenson Cottage and Museum.
Syracuse University Press published the book. I spotted it earlier today in Bindings Bookstore in Albion. Click here for more information on the book.
Press release, Orleans County Sheriff’s Department
GAINES – An Albion man was injured last night when the motorcycle he was operating collided with a deer.
Luis R. Soto-Thomas, 45, was riding solo on his 2002 Harley-Davidson MC travelling north when a deer ran onto the roadway and into his path. After the collision, he and the machine became separated. Both slid an additional 225 feet before coming to rest on the east shoulder of the roadway.
Soto-Thomas was flown to Strong Memorial Hospital in Rochester by Mercy Flight helicopter with serious but non-life threatening injuries.
The incident occurred at about 8 p.m., in the 2900 block of Gaines Road (State Route 279) in the town of Gaines.
Soto-Thomas was cited for aggravated unlicensed operation in the third degree and operation without a license. He will appear in Town of Gaines Court at a later date pending his recovery.
The incident was investigated by Deputy J.J. Cole, assisted by Deputy K.J. Colonna and Sergeant G.T. Gunkler.
Photo by Tom Rivers
U.S. Rep. Chris Collins addressed members of the Albion Rotary Club today, including Michael Bonnewell, superintendent of Albion Central School.
GAINES – The government could grind to a halt next month due to the “vast differences” between President Barack Obama and a Republican-led House of Representatives, U.S. Rep. Chris Collins told members of the Albion Rotary Club today.
House Republicans want the president and Congress to reduce the nation’s deficit and develop a plan for paying down the national debt, said Collins, R-Clarence.
“The country is on an unsustainable course,” Collins told the Albion Rotary Club today during its meeting at The Village Inn. “There will be a showdown.”
House Speaker John Boehner vowed “a whale of a fight” over extending the debt ceiling. Boehner told reporters in Boise on Tuesday that Obama needs to cut government spending for Republicans in Congress to support raising the debt ceiling.
If the debt ceiling isn’t extended, the government could default on paying its bills in October. Collins would support raising the debt limit, if Obama would agree to rewriting the tax code. Collins said a fairer, less burdensome tax policy would spur the economy, with increased business activity resulting in more tax revenues.
Collins also wants to see the controversial Keystone Pipeline approved. Republicans could insist on that as part of the negotiations with Obama and Democrats in Congress over the debt ceiling and deficit reduction plan, Collins said.
The congressman touched on other issues. He supports an immigration reform plan that would give legal status for many farmworkers, especially those at dairies, to be in the country and work in agriculture.
He doesn’t want the United States to intervene in the civil war in Syria. While the fighting in Syria is “deeply troubling,” Collins said the country’s disintegration doesn’t pose an “imminent threat” to the U.S.
“We don’t want to have a knee-jerk reaction and fire cruise missiles,” Collins said. “I’m hopeful the president will move cautiously.”
Collins this afternoon made at least his third stop in Orleans County since March. He was in Corfu earlier today and was in Batavia on Wednesday. He said he is frequently meeting with business and community leaders in the eight-county district.
When he was elected in November, Collins said many people assumed he would seldom reach out to the rural counties, and instead be devoted to Erie County, where he was the county executive.
“I’m trying to prove the naysayers wrong,” Collins said.
Photos by Tom Rivers
Sharon Pollock of Albion created this image of the Mount Albion Tower. She drew the tower by burning into a piece of wood. I bought it from her today at a flea market with 51 vendors at the Gaines Carlton Community Church.
Pollock was laid off from her job on Jan. 1 as an index clerk at the County Clerk’s Building as part of a downsizing at the office. She has spent more time developing an arts business, creating images of local scenes etched in glass, mirrors or wood. She calls the business Scratch and Burn Crafts.
The flea market continues until 4 p.m. today at the Gaines Carlton Community Church at 14585 Ridge Rd., just east of Route 98.
There are 51 vendors at the flea market, including Debbie Clocksin of Rochester, in back by van. She is selling painted furniture, vintage jewelry and other collectibles. COVA, Mercy Flight, PAWS Animal Shelter and other community groups have displays at the event.
I bought this picture of an unidentified Albion man from Debbie Clocksin at the flea market. She had a stack of old portraits from Western New York. I didn’t want the photo to leave the community. If anyone has an idea who the man is, send me an email at tom@orleanshub.com.
Photos by Tom Rivers – The Pullman Memorial Universalist Church will use $3,000 grant for a roof repair study at the church at the corner of East Park and South Main streets.
ALBION – Three historic churches in the Albionarea all have received “Sacred Sites” grants that will help advance projects ranging from roof and tower repair studies to repointing of the masonry.
The New York Landmarks Conservancy approved 23 grants state-wide for $275,000. That includes $3,000 to the Pullman Memorial Universalist Church, $1,500 to the First Presbyterian Church of Albion and $1,000 to the Cobblestone Universalist Church.
Peg Breen, president of the Landmarks Conservancy, noted that the grant recipients serve important roles in the community as religious and community institutions.
“It’s vital to repair and renew religious buildings,” she said. “Not only do these sites convey their communities’ history, they serve their neighborhoods today with food pantries, nursery schools, concerts and a variety of worthy programs.”
The Cobblestone Society Museum has been awarded a matching grant to survey the roof and tower of the Cobblestone Universalist Church, a building from 1834 that is part of the museum near the intersection of routes 98 and 104.
The Cobblestone Universalist Church is most prominent building in the Cobblestone Society Museum. The church from 1834 needs roof and tower repairs. The $1,000 grant will go towards a survey to determine the repairs needed for the roof and tower. The church is used for a variety of historical programs, services and weddings every year.
The Presbyterian Church was built in 1874, and its 175-foot-high spire makes it the tallest building in the county. The church is working to repoint some of the masonry on the sandstone structure at the corner of Main and State streets.
The First Presbyterian Church in Albion was awarded a $1,500 grant to help with some repointing work on the building that was constructed in 1874.
“Any support helps and makes a difference,” said the Rev. Doug Holmes, the church pastor. “We want the church to be around and vital for a long time to come.”
The church is used by many community organizations, including Scouts, a garden club and various 12-step groups. It also is used to host the Eastman at Albion concert series and a baccalaureate program for graduating high school seniors.
The Pullman building was built in 1894 at the corner of East Park and Main streets. The building includes 41 Tiffany stained-glass windows. The congregation is working to replace the roof.
The Orleans County Genealogical Society has monthly meetings at the church, which has also hosted at Eastman concert. The Concerned Citizens of Orleans County also meet at the site to discuss their efforts to keep the county nursing home publicly owned.
