Jim and Chris Foss have been mainstays at the bowling alley for decades

Photos by Tom Rivers: Jim Foss and his son Chris became the owners of Medina Lanes last month. They credited the previous owners – Dr. David Stahl, Gerry Allen and Chris Bacon – for a series of improvements at the 20-lane bowling alley on Maple Ridge Road.

MEDINA – There are new owners of Medina Lanes, and the father and son team aren’t strangers to Medina.

Jim Foss, co-owner and manager, has worked at the site for about 40 years. His son Chris also has been a frequent face at the bowling alley, since he was a young kid.

The Fosses purchased the 20-lane alley last month from Dr. David Stahl, Gerry Allen and Chris Bacon. They owned it for 12 years and made many upgrades to the site, including adding synthetic lanes.

Stahl posted on the Medina Lanes Facebook page that the bowling alley is in good hands with Jim Foss as co-owner and running the day-to-day operations.

“We have been looking for the right person to carry on the improvements we have made,” Stahl said. “Jimmy has been a dedicated and excellent employee for many years. We all agreed he is the right fit for the lanes. You all have supported us for the past 12 years and we hope you will continue to do so for Jimmy. Thanks again for your unwavering loyalty  while we made improvements to the lanes.”

Foss, 59, has been working for bowling centers for more than 40 years, starting with the former Ranallo’s on Main Street in Medina. His first job was cleaning tables and the bowling balls. Then he was a “pin chaser,” working in the back. He worked his way up to head mechanic and he often helps other bowling alleys in the region with a malfunction.

He also is a people-person who enjoys bantering with customers and employees. He and his son want to welcome a new generation of bowlers through a youth league on Saturday mornings, and also encourage other adults to give it a try.

Jim Foss is shown on a busy Wednesday league night at Medina Lanes. Foss has worked at the bowling alley for 40 years. The league nights on Wednesdays and Thursdays have about 100 bowlers and they are spread out at tables near the lanes.

Bowling as a pastime was declining about 15 years ago in the region, but the Fosses say it has picked back up with people looking for an inexpensive way to get together and have fun, and also have some friendly competition.

Medina Lanes has seven employees who not only run the bowling center, but serve food – pizza, chicken wings and fish fries. There is also a bar. Some of the customers come in just for food, and to be part of an energetic atmosphere.

Chris Foss, 35, said Medina Lanes is looking to bring back live bands to add to the entertainment on Saturday nights.

Chris has worked full-time the past 10 years as a production worker for BMP America. He is grateful to also have the chance to run Medina lanes alongside his father.

“It’s something we can do together and it’s something we love,” Chris said. “We’ve always been here. We’ve been here our whole lives. We just want to keep it going.”

Jim said the lanes have come a long way in 40 years – from synthetic lanes to automatic computerized scoring. But the core remains the same as a timeless activity spanning generations – rolling a ball down a narrow path, trying to avoid the gutter to knock down pins.

Medina Lanes proudly displays the names of bowlers who have topped 800 in a three-game set. The wall of fame includes Jim Foss and his nephew Curtis.

Jim is also one of the best local bowler, currently carrying a 225 average per game. In his mid-40s, he was at his peak, averaging over 230. Chris is currently carrying a 212 average.

Jim remembers the former Ranallo’s, when owner Frank Ranallo tried to take some of the sting out of a gutter bowl. He put irrigation pipe in the gutter when kids were bowling, an original bumper to help kids gain confidence and avoid the gutter.

Medina Lanes offers the youth leagues and welcomes coaches to help give kids’ pointers on how to hold and let go of the ball.

Medina Lanes continues to be a popular spot for kids’ birthday parties, which includes a package of bowling, pizza and pop – $50 for a group of six.

Medina Lanes will soon be kicking off its senior league on Thursday afternoons starting Oct. 6, and also runs a league for women on Wednesday mornings.

The place can get busy with a full parking lot at times. Jim Foss said he likes to see people having fun.

“This is something I’ve always wanted to do,” he said. “I just like the atmosphere. You’re always meeting new people.”

Photos by Tom Rivers

MEDINA – A new kayak launch that is handicapped accessible was installed today in Medina’s Canal Basin.

BoardSafe, an aluminum boat dock manufacturer from Fleetwood, PA, installed the new launch.

Medina received a $10,500 “IMPACT!” grant from the Erie Canalway National Heritage Corridor for the ADA-accessible kayak launch.

MEDINA – The Village Board wants to hear from the community whether Medina should allow legal marijuana dispensaries

There will be a public hearing Monday at 7 p.m. at the Senior Citizen Center at 615 West Ave. about whether the village will opt in or out of allowing dispensaries, where people could purchase adult-use cannabis products. If preferred, people can send an email with their comments to publichearing@villagemedina.org with marijuana in the subject line.

The state has given municipalities until Dec. 31 to make a decision. If the municipal boards don’t vote on the issue, they are considered by the state to be opting in and allowing the dispensaries.

Towns and villages can opt out by Dec. 31 and then vote again in the future to opt in.

Municipalities also need to decide by the end of the year if they will opt out of allowing onsite consumption at businesses such as a smoking lounge.

The state has approved a 13-percent excise tax on marijuana with a breakdown that includes 9 cents for each taxable sale to the state, 3 cents to the municipality that has the dispensary, and 1 cent to the county. Municipalities that opt out wouldn’t be eligible for the 3-cent share of the 13-percent sales tax.

Towns and villages can’t overstep the state and ban recreational use of marijuana. But the towns and villages can prohibit dispensaries and smoking lounges.

If the municipal board for a village or town decides to opt out, residents could still push a permissive referendum, with the matter going on the ballot. They would need to turn in a petition by at least 10 percent of qualified voters within 45 days of the Village Board’s decision to force a public vote.

Photos by Ginny Kropf: Jim Nowaczewski has opened his second coffee shop – this one at 114 East Center St., Medina.

MEDINA – Jim Nowaczewski wasn’t a bit hesitant about opening a coffee shop in the middle of a pandemic.

HeBrews at 59 North Main St. in Albion has become so popular he decided to open another in Medina.

As the name suggests, his business is a coffee shop in a Christian environment, although he says he doesn’t push religion on his customers.

Nowaczewski originally came from Buffalo, then went to work as supervisor for a company in Southern California dealing with rooftop safety. The company is owned by Lyndonville native Michael Mumau, who Nowaczewski says had a big impact on his life.

“He followed the Bible and it touched my heart,” he said.

With family still in Akron and Buffalo, Nowaczewski decided to return to Western New York and bought a home in Albion three years ago. He likes coffee a lot, he said. So opening a coffee house was a natural choice.

HeBrews 5:9 is not only the address of his North Main Street coffee shop, it is a great verse from the Bible, he said, as is HeBrews 1:14, the East Center Street address of his new Medina shop.

Nowaczewski said his move to Medina was jump started by Kathy Blackburn, owner of 114 East Center St., where she formerly had an ice cream parlor.

“She came to Albion and said she’d love for me to do the same thing in Medina,” he said.

He and his helpers started working on the building in July and August.

He said he always thought it would be nice to have a community center, and that is how he hopes his coffee shop will be viewed. There are small rooms with tables and chairs, couches and stuffed chairs. The back room has a pool table and dart board and is capable of accommodating up to 20 people. He hopes groups looking for a place to meet or have a Bible study will consider his space.

Jim Nowaczewski stands in the back room of the coffee shop he opened a week ago at 114 East Center St., the former site of Meggie Moo’s Ice Cream. He has added lounging areas and a meeting room with pool table and dart board.

There is a covered back patio which can seat up to 12 in good weather.

“This is a safe place where people can be people,” he said. “We are a place of hope. Hope lives here.”

He said his menu is simple. Hot coffee, iced coffee, Bubble tea, Papa Thom’s Rockin’ Bagles and fresh muffins from local bakeries. Sometimes he has scones and gluten free baked goods.

He is looking to expand the kitchen and in October, Nowaczewski hopes to begin offering hot breakfasts and soups, salads and sandwiches for lunch.

His coffee beans are roasted by family friends in Buffalo.

Nowaczewski said he is looking forward to Ale in Autumn, as HeBrews is the designated driver headquarters.

He is also excited to have been recently notified his Albion business has been chosen by the Orleans County Chamber of Commerce as its “New Business of the Year.”

For now, his hours in Medina are 7 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Saturday, but he hopes to expand them soon and offer home delivery.

“We will always be closed on Sundays,” he said.

Ceremony also acknowledges courage of residents, staff during Covid pandemic

Photos by Tom Rivers

MEDINA – These 30 white bags had lights in honor of the 30 residents at the Orchard Rehabilitation and Nursing Center who passed away after getting Covid-19.

Orchard held a reflection service at 7 p.m. Tuesday outside at the front entrance of the site on Bates Road.

Martin MacKenzie, Orchard’s administrator, praised the staff for their courage in providing care and service to the residents at Orchard. Those residents also showed strength, often encouraging the staff during a scary time, MacKenzie said.

About 80 staff members and 100 residents contracted Covid during the pandemic.

He said the virus doesn’t discriminate, infecting people from all backgrounds and circumstances.

“The staff and residents deserve recognition for what they have been through,” MacKenzie said. “The pandemic hasn’t passed but we wanted to recognize what the facility has accomplished.”

He also thanked the Medina Fire Department, the Department of Health at the state and county levels, the National Guard and the Orleans County Emergency Management Office which provided expertise, service and PPE supplies.

Many local residents and businesses also have sent pizza and other expressions of love during a tough time.

“The community support has been absolutely phenomenal for this facility,” MacKenzie said.

Mary Luckman, director of nursing at Orchard, lights a candle in memory of the 30 residents who died due to Covid. Pam Shirback, whose husband passed away from Covid, also lighted one of the candles during the service.

Shirback posted on Orchard’s Facebook page that the service “was a wonderful tribute to both those residents who passed away during the Covid outbreak in 2020, and those who stayed by their sides to care for them at the risk of endangering their own lives.”

She also thanked an honor guard of local veterans and the Medina Fire Department for attending the ceremony

Of the 30 residents who passed away due to Covid at Orchard, six were veterans. The local honor guard did three volleys of a gun salute in honor of the deceased veterans.

Brad Nudd served as the bugler in playing Taps.

The Rev. Dan Thurber, pastor of Oak Orchard Assembly of God Church, offered a prayer during the service.

“We mourn the passing of each dear soul,” Thurber said.

He used to lead church services at Orchard, but during much of the pandemic outside visitors haven’t been allowed. Just two days ago on Monday, Orchard announced it had to temporary suspend indoor visits due to the Covid transmission rate passing 10 percent in Orleans County. The facility will make accommodations for end-of-life or compassionate care.

After the service this group gathered under the canopy near the front entrance. There were cookies available in the shape of butterflies.

Orchard unveiled a new butterfly garden and a plaque in the garden that stated: “Dedicated to the memory of the lives lost and the brave staff who cared for the sick during the COVID-19 pandemic.”

Photo from Lakeside Beach State Park: This photo shows someone throwing a frisbee at one of the baskets on the disc golf course at Lakeside in Carlton.

MEDINA – The YMCA in Orleans County is looking for a partner in developing an 18-hole disc golf course.

The Y received a grant for $20,000 to $24,000 for the Ralph C. Wilson, Jr. Foundation to develop a course with tee boxes, signs and baskets that are mounted in small concrete foundations – 8 inches wide by 20 inches deep.

Each hole is about an acre so 18 acres would be ideal for the course, said Greg Reed, YMCA director.

He would like the course to be in either the Albion area or Medina and has reached to local officials and hasn’t been able to finalize an agreement.

Reed thought Bullard Park in Albion would ideal for the course, but village officials declined, saying it wasn’t part of the plan for the space. A Bullard Park committee already developed a long-range plan for the park with other uses, Reed said village officials told him.

Reed also is talking with Barre town officials about using part of that park on Route 98. He has approached Medina village officials about Gulf Street Park but that space has neighbors close by and doesn’t have enough room for an 18-hole course. It would be big enough for a 9-hole course, Reed said.

He also said the park area by Glenwood Lake in Ridgeway could be utilized for disc golf. Another possibility for Medina would be to use vacant land in the Medina Business Park with the understanding if a business was ready to build on the acres the disc golf course would have to be removed.

Reed said the courses are “transient” and could easily be taken out and put somewhere else.

The grant from the Wilson Foundation includes utilizing the WNY Disc Golf Association as a design consultant on the course.

The courses tend to be on a mix of open land and paths in wooded areas.

“You want obstacles,” Reed said. “That’s what makes it more fun.”

Reed applied for the Wilson Foundation grant during a time of indoor Covid restrictions on gyms and fitness centers. He was looking for a way to get people outside and active.

He would like to form leagues to have regular players on the course, which would also be open to others who just want to give it a try.

“It’s an inexpensive, anyone-can-do-it-type thing,” Reed said.

He envisions utilized the course for YMCA summer youth programming and day camps.

Reed said there are disc golf courses at Lakeside Beach State Park in Carlton, Golden Hill State Park just across the county line in Barker, and in the Town Sweden, near the Holley community in eastern Orleans. He considers the Medina and Albion areas to be “disc golf deserts.”

A stipulation of the grant says the project needs to be in place by June 2022.

Photos courtesy and info courtesy of Medina Marching Band

HILTON – The Medina Mustang Marching Band traveled to the Hilton on Saturday for their first competition this season.

Medina competed against East Irondequoit in the SS1 classification. Medina won first place with a score of 79.90 and East Irondequoit in second with 77.79.

In the LS3 class Greece won 1st place with 73.20 followed by Hilton in 2nd with 71.45. Victor was the only band in the National category and they scored 79.30.

The day started off with The Pride of Rochester Marching Band performing in exhibition their show “Respect: Celebrating Amazing Women in Music.” This is a newly formed band of players from the Rochester City School Districts.

Previously, Medina last competed on October 27, 2019 at the Carrier Dome where they won the State Championship in their SS1 class for the 14th time. All of the schools in the Field Band Conference endured the same setbacks due to the coronavirus, which include reduced numbers of participants and opportunities to perform.

This coming Saturday on Sept. 25 is Medina’s Home Show, The Fall Festival of Bands. The show will be held at the Veterans Memorial Park and gates open at 4:30 p.m. and the show starts at 6 p.m.

This is a great opportunity to see these students perform without traveling too far.

File photo by Tom Rivers: The flag was lowered in May 2020 at the former Orchard Manor (now known as Orchard Rehabilitation & Nursing Center). The flags were lowered statewide out of respect for people who died from Covid-19.

MEDINA – The Orchard Rehabilitation & Nursing Center on Bates Road in Medina will be holding a memorial service at 7 p.m. on Tuesday in honor of the 30 residents who died due to Covid-19.

The service will be outdoors at the front entrance. The service also will acknowledge the sacrifices and strength shown by many in enduring the pandemic.

Orleans County has had 83 confirmed deaths from Covid during the 18 months of the pandemic.

Orchard Rehabilitation & Nursing Center will be honoring each of the 30 residents who passed away from Covid.

Martin MacKenzie, Orchard’s administrator, will speak during the service. There will also be a bird release, a prayer and moment of silence, Taps and a gun salute. Punch and cookies will be available following the ceremony.

MEDINA – There will be a fundraiser on Oct. 17 from 3 to 6 p.m. at leonard Oakes Estate Winery to support newborn baby Koleson Meakin, and his parents, Brady and Dominique.

Koleson was born Aug. 31 with Lissencephaly, which is a rare, gene-linked brain malformation characterized by the absence of normal folds in the cerebral cortex and an abnormally small head.

Pam Eaton of Hometown Wellness Center is organizing the benefit to assist the family with the cost of caring for Koleson.

“They are great people,” Eaton said about the young couple.

Dominique Meakin works for Eaton as one of the instructors of the wellness center on Pearl Street.

Eaton said there has already been a strong response from the community with donations, gift certificates and baskets.

“It goes to show what a community will do for each other when needed,” Eaton said.

Eaton said people can reach out to her through Facebook or by calling (585) 409-3452 to make donations or to volunteer at the event.

The event at Leonard Oakes will include orchard rides, live music and the basket raffle.

Site at former railroad depot in Medina shut down for a year of the Covid pandemic

Photo by Ginny Kropf: Kelly Shaw, director of the Senior Center of Western Orleans, sells chicken barbecue tickets to Margaret Kelly. The Senior Center does various fundraisers throughout the year, but this is the first time they have done a chicken barbecue, and it will be provided by the Weidner family from Eden, who have been doing barbecues since 1956. The barbecue will be dine in or take out.

MEDINA – Members of the Senior Center of Western Orleans are happy to have the Center up and running as usual, after being closed for a year due to the pandemic.

Director Kelly Shaw already has two events planned – a chicken barbecue on Oct. 14 and a basket raffle on Oct. 16.

This is the first time the Center has had a chicken barbecue and Shaw contacted a new provider to the area to cook the chicken.

Weidner Barbecue from Eden is a family operation started by Bert Weidner and his two brothers in 1956 when they set up a stand at the Erie County Fair to sell chicken barbecue. Three generations later they are still using the same recipe and cater events all over Western New York.

Tickets are $12 and are available from members or at the Center during opening hours, which are 9 a.m. to noon on Monday and Tuesday, 9 a.m. to 4 on Wednesday and Thursday and noon to 3:30 on Friday. The barbecue comes with salt potatoes, cole slaw, roll and butter and a cookie.

The basket raffle has always been a popular event, with as many as 80 baskets donated by seniors and the community. Shaw is accepting donations of baskets through Thursday. Tickets will go on sale Sept. 17.

Some very unique baskets are already on display at the Senior Center, and include such things as wine baskets, lottery tickets, a designer tote, children’s activities, jigsaw puzzles, gift certificates and holiday decorations. The basket raffle is the Senior Center’s biggest fundraiser, Shaw said.

Shaw stressed how important these fundraisers are to operation of the Senior Center. They are able to operate through memberships, funding from United Way of Orleans County and fundraisers.

Shaw also urges seniors who are not members to join. It provides a wonderful opportunity to meet people,  socialize and have a good time. Membership is only $10 a year, and even if a senior doesn’t want to come and participate in activities, the dues help keep the Center going.

When Shaw became director 16 years ago, there were 400 members, and now there are 250. Shaw said the decline is due in part to the fact seniors are working longer and many are taking care of grandchildren. Anyone who is 50 or older is eligible to join.

The Center has a dinner meeting the second Monday of every month, the first of which is pot luck. In October, the meal will be meatloaf. Also on Mondays, baked goods are available from Tops. Seniors may choose a loaf of bread and one sweet treat per person.

Lady Dispatchers meet the last Tuesday of the month for lunch and crafts or games. Lunch is only $5.

The Senior Center also runs a drawing every month for members. Items are donated and include everything from holiday decorations to gift cards. Tickets are only two for $1.

Before Covid, the Senior Center had two rummage sales a year. Items from households or estate sales are welcome, but they cannot accept electronics or large furniture. Shaw is planning to have a cash raffle the beginning the next year.

Shaw reminds seniors that euchre is played at 1 p.m. Wednesday, Thursday and Friday. There is a pinochle game on Wednesdays and Thursdays, and exercise led by Michelle Sargent from the Orleans County Office for the Aging is at 10 a.m. Wednesdays, except for the last Wednesday of the month, which is 11 a.m. The class provides great exercise and a lot of laughs for only $1. There is always a jigsaw puzzle in progress, Shaw added.

The community is also reminded the Senior Center accepts cans and bottles, or they may be taken to Medina Bottles and Cans on East Center Street or JCo Returns on South Main and indicate they are for the Senior Center. The Center also collects canceled stamps and pop can tops.

Courtesy of Orleans EDA in 2017: The Orleans Economic Development Agency is commissioning a traffic for the area around the Medina Business Park – Maple Ridge Road, Bates Road, Waterworks Road and Sanderson Road.

MEDINA – The Orleans Economic Development Agency today voted to spend $13,500 to have a traffic study done in the area near the Medina Business Park.

LaBella Associates will do the study and will be reaching out the state Department of Transportation for traffic counts and other input.

LaBella will be asked to determine if turning lanes, stop signs or traffic devices are needed, as well as possibly widening roads and looking at potential traffic flow at the Keppler site, which has about 125 acres south of Maple Ridge Road near Waterworks Road.

The EDA has pressed the DOT in the recent past for a left turning lane on Maple Ridge at the Bates Road intersection, but that hasn’t been approved.

The area will see more traffic with an expansion by Western New York Energy and the soon-to-open Cobblestone Suites hotel with 58 rooms on Maple Ridge. BOMET Recovery also has purchased 10 acres of land from the EDA for a new 37,000-square foot facility at 100 Marcia Tuohey Way, the northside of the road facing Bates Road.

The EDA also is promoting about 300 vacant acres of certified shovel-ready land at the business park.

The EDA expects those acres will have businesses with several hundred employees and many truck deliveries in the future.

The traffic study will look at the current situation and projections for the future, and what will be needed to ease traffic flow and make it safer.

The study will likely be used by the EDA and local officials to press for any needed improvements and funding assistance.

Rear half of store will also be unveiled after extensive renovations

Press Release, Author’s Note

Provided photo: Julie Berry, an acclaimed author, purchased the former Book Shoppe in Medina and has made many changes to the Main Street location.

MEDINA – Author’s Note, Medina’s new bookstore, announces its grand opening celebration to be held on Saturday, September 25, featuring a ribbon-cutting ceremony taking place, rain or shine, at 9:30 a.m. in front of the store at 519 Main St. The ceremony will be followed by an unveiling of the newly-refinished rear half of the store.

Throughout the day, giveaways, refreshments, and activities will help commemorate the day. For more details on the unfolding schedule, visit www.authorsnote.com.

“We’re thrilled to welcome the community, which has been so supportive of this project from the moment I bought the store, and we want to thank them,” explained author and owner Julie Berry. “We’re here because of Medina’s faith in and commitment to local small businesses, and to maintaining a vibrant downtown shopping district.”

Berry, a New York Times bestselling, award-winning author, was born and raised in Medina (as Julie Gardner), but hadn’t lived in the area since graduating from Medina High School in 1991. She and her family had been living in Los Angeles for several years at the start of the Covid-19 pandemic. When they learned that the bookstore had come up for sale, they took a leap and relocated to Medina to reinvent the store as Author’s Note.

The bookstore, situated in Medina’s historic Main Street shopping district on the Erie Canal trail, occupies the site of the prior store known as The Book Shoppe, which served Medina shoppers for over 20 years.

Berry purchased the bookstore in February of this year and undertook an ambitious renovation and restoration project, dismantling the interior back to its original hardwood floors and antique molded tin ceilings. The front part of the store opened to the public on May 22, 2021, welcoming shoppers and tourists to Medina throughout the summer, but the rear portion, hidden behind construction drapes, hasn’t yet been seen.

“I couldn’t bear the thought of Medina no longer having a bookstore,” said Berry. “Preserving a bookstore in my own hometown was too wonderful an idea to pass up.”

Her vision for Author’s Note includes leveraging her ties to the publishing industry to bring authors and illustrators regularly into Orleans County for readings, signings, school visits, lectures, and events, thus connecting authors and readers in a wider reading community, once the renovation is complete and as pandemic-related health and safety concerns permit.

The independent bookstore offers new books for adults, teens, and children, both new releases and enduring classics. They also offer toys, games, puzzles, stationery, coffee and gifts.

The store serves shoppers at its brick-and-mortar store and nationwide at authorsnote.com, selling books, audiobooks, and e-books. They also offer onsite school and community book fairs, and institutional book-buying discounts to schools, libraries, churches, civic groups, nonprofits, and businesses.