MEDINA – When Hans and Dan Rosentreter decided to open a coffee shop in Medina, they couldn’t have hoped for a bigger success than their first year in business.

On Tuesday, the couple celebrated their first anniversary in business by cutting a ribbon to launch their second year in the Coffee Pot Cafe. Participating were Dan’s parents Daniel and Charlene Poprawski, Han’s parents Wesley and Dee Rosentreter, Hans’ grandmother Barb Albone, Barry Flansburg on behalf of Assemblyman Steve Hawley, Orleans County Legislature chair Lynne Johnson, legislators Skip Draper and John Fitzak and Shelby town clerk Darlene Rich.

Guests then gathered to enjoy cupcakes and pastries and extend good wishes.

Both Dan and Hans describe themselves as “coffee junkies,” and owning a coffee shop is something Dan dreamed of doing. When he discovered the store at 114 East Center St. was vacant, he knew he had to act.

“We both realized real fast we had to be here,” Hans said. “Dan quit his job in insurance and I quit mine at the Creekside Floral Shop and we became full time here.”

Dan had researched brands of coffee to find the very best coffee they could buy, and settled on Joe Bean Roasters out of Rochester, Dan said.

“This has always been a dream of mine to open a coffee shop,” Dan said.

Hans is a baker, so he makes all the pastries, turnovers and bagels.

(Left) Dan Rosentreter, left, and husband Hans greet customers at the Coffee Pot Café, which celebrated its one-year anniversary on Tuesday. (Right) Hans Rosentreter shows off an antique phone he installed at the Coffee Pot Café as a conversation piece. It was patented in 1901.

They opened on Aug. 1, 2022 and couldn’t be more pleased with the response. Reviews on their website are glowing and customers are at the door when they open at 6 a.m.

“We’ve been busy right from the beginning and it hasn’t slowed down,” Dan said.

Johnson shared her pleasure at seeing a thriving business in her county.

“Medina is the most growing village in Orleans County, and it excites me when a business chooses to open here,” she said. “There is no better place than Orleans County.”

The Coffee Pot Café is open from 6 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday and from 6 a.m. to 3 p.m., on Saturday.  They offer a variety of coffee flavors, including seasonal roasts, bubble tea, lemonade and frozen drinks, in addition to pastries, turnovers and bagels. They are expanding their lunch menu, which features chicken salad sandwiches and other choices and plan to add a soup and sandwich special.

“We’ve only gotten busier,” Hans said. “We realized Medina needed a coffee shop that was warm and inviting like your home. We’ve gotten to meet a lot of really nice people.”

Press Release, Medina Police Department

MEDINA – The Medina Police Department and the Medina Police Advisory Committee are co-organizing this year’s Orleans County National Night Out.

We are proud to give an update on this year’s event that will take place on Tuesday August 1st  from 5:30 to 8 p.m. at the Medina Clifford Wise Intermediate School, 1016 Gwinn St.

National Night Out started in the 1980s as a way to bring law enforcement and citizens together nationwide on the same night each year. We have expanded on that principle and put together an event that focuses on bringing many agencies and organizations together for the annual National Night Out.

Photos by Tom Rivers: Mason Cady, 8, of Kendall rides in a bike rodeo on during National Night Out in Medina, outside Clifford Wise Intermediate School in Medina. The event was free to the community and connected residents with local law enforcement officers and other first responders, as well as agencies.

This year NNO is celebrating its 40th anniversary. Participants in this event will include law enforcement from throughout Orleans County, fire agencies, EMS responders, civic organizations and other groups that will be providing activities and giveaways.  Some of the big hits from past events have been the “Battle of the Belts,” K-9 demonstrations and the bike rodeo.

Our mission is simple. We want an event where families can come for a night and be entertained at no cost, eating and having fun in an environment that is free of violence, alcohol, tobacco and drugs. We hope citizens can meet members of our local organizations and get to know the services they provide to our community.

We would like to thank all of our sponsors, participants and volunteers who have helped make this event possible!

Tentative Schedule

• Mercy Flight Landing at 6 p.m.
• Battle of the Belts at 6:45 p.m.
• K-9 Demonstration at 7:15 p.m.

The Safety Pup also attended National Night Out and greeted community members. About 700 people attended the National Night Out last year. National Night Out was cancelled in 2020 and 2021 due to Covid restrictions and concerns.

Tentative Dunk Tank participants and schedule include Fire Chief Matt Jackson, Aidyn Jackson, Police Chief Todd Draper, Pastor Russ Peters, Donnell Holloway, Pastor Jovannie Canales, Heather Jackson – NNO Committee Chair, Village Trustee Jess Marciano, Village Trustee Diana Baker and Assistant District Attorney Susan Howard.

Highlighted Activities:

• Free Hot Dogs, Water, & Chips
• Bike Rodeo
• Child Car Seat Safety Inspections
• Child ID cards
• Bounce House
• Coloring Contest
• Spray House
• Animals
• Games and Giveaways
• Police and Fire equipment
• Appearances by Safety Pup and Sparky
• Charactures
• Magician

Provided photo: A historic marker has been installed in the canal basin to highlight the Medina Aqueduct, considered an engineering marvel. It is the only true aqueduct remaining on the Erie Canal.

MEDINA – A historic marker recognizing the significance of the Medina Aqueduct has been installed in the canal basin by the Medina DPW.

The Orleans Renaissance Group was the prime mover of the project and facilitated its design and fabrication with Catskill Castings in Bloomville.

The ORG believes recognition of this engineering marvel was way overdue, as the feature is unique on the canal and an often overlooked point of true historic significance, said Chris Busch, chairman of the ORG.

“Few people know that it’s there,” Busch said. “Now they not only know it’s there, but they’ll know how important it is to the history of the canal.”

The Barge Canal System begun in 1907 and completed in 1918, was a result of a report from the Committee on Canals, created by Governor Theodore Roosevelt in 1898. The Canal’s width was extended to 125 feet with a minimum depth of 12 feet.

During this enlargement of the canal, the problem of carrying the canal over the gorge at Oak Orchard River in Medina was the most studied engineering issue of the 1917 rebuild. At one point, engineers had considered removing the loop and moving the canal to a straighter path across the river, using a steel truss system.

The idea was abandoned and the result is what is seen today – a true engineering marvel. The concrete wall which holds back the canal is actually a dam and is longer than the Hoover Dam, with an aqueduct carrying the canal across the Oak Orchard River.

Following is an excerpt from History of the Barge Canal of New York State by NYS State engineer and surveyor Noble E. Whitford, 1922, and provides an assessment and description of the engineering required to create this section of the canal:

“Because of the difficulties involved in the problem of crossing the Oak Orchard in the village of Medina, a short stretch of canal in this vicinity became one of the most interesting portions of the whole line and received a greater amount of study than any other section.

Seven schemes (to cross the Oak Orchard) and their costs, which included simply the length of the canal across the gorge, were as follows:

(1) A steel cantilever structure with a steel trough for the canal, which was estimated to cost $500.

(2) A three-hinged steel arch of 300 feet span, center to center, carrying a steel trough for its length of 300 feet, the approaches of about a hundred feet on either side being concrete troughs supported on short concrete arches. The estimated cost was $405,000.

(3) The same steel arch and trough, but with approaches built all of steel, the cost being $407,000.

(4) A concrete arch in place of the steel arch, the remainder of the structure, both trough and approach supports, being of steel, at an estimated cost of $300,000.

(5) An all-concrete structure, consisting of a plain concrete trough on a concrete arch of 300 feet span, center to center, estimated at $272,000.

(6) The same concrete structure, but with architectural adornment, which would raise the cost to $285,000.

(7) An earth fill over a long culvert, the canal to be carried in a concrete trough, estimated to cost $433,000.

After careful consideration, the sixth scheme was adopted for making detailed plans on which to let a contract. The reasons for this choice were, briefly, this concrete structure was considered to be the safest, most permanent and cheapest to build, cheapest to maintain and the most pleasing in appearance.

This diagram shows the aqueduct-dam and Medina Falls north of Medina’s canal basin.

The canal as it was finally built in this vicinity, embodies several interesting engineering features, the most important being the long stretches of retaining wall, some of it unusually high, and the aqueduct over the creek.

Although the extent of canal under this contract was only 2 1/3 miles long, there was on the north side one continuous stretch of retaining wall nearly 7,000 feet long, while on the south side, two pieces together measured about 4,600 feet.

Between 1,500 and 1,600 feet of the north wall was high, extending in some places well below the canal bottom, to the natural surface as it sloped down toward the gorge.

Here, the bed of the canal is a rock fill and the wall beside the channel sustains hydrostatic pressure for its full height, which reaches a maximum of 45 feet. Thus, in effect, the canal runs behind a high dam for nearly a third of a mile.

As a preventative against leakage at this high wall, a vertical plate of steel was embedded six inches in each of two adjoining sections at the joints formed in construction.”

“This aqueduct feature may not be as glamorous as other sites along the canal, but as you can see it is of vital importance,” Busch said. “It was heavily studied and was a true feat of engineering for its day. ORG is happy to bring this important piece of history to light and its role in the history of the Erie Canal and hopes it is a source of pride for our community.”

Busch further added, “We are incredibly grateful for the generous financial support we received in bringing this important project to fruition. We would like to publicly recognize and thank those who contributed to this effort. It would not have been possible without them.”

In addition to ORG, generous financial support was provided by Medina Sandstone Society, Honorable James Punch and Gabrielle Barone.

“We also thank mayor Mike Sidari and the Medina Village Board for their cooperation in making this a reality,” Busch said. “Also, village historian Todd Bensley for his expert assistance and support, and DPW superintendent Jason Watts, along with the personnel of Medina DPW for executing an excellent installation of the marker.”

The marker is located in Medina’s Canal Basin and joins the numerous historic markers and interpretive signs throughout the village that tell the story of Medina along the village’s Heritage Trail.

MEDINA – There are 750 cyclists from 40 states and Canada spending tonight in Medina during the first let of the 400-mile, eight-day Cycle the Erie Canal ride along the Erie Canal from Buffalo to Albany.

This is the 25th anniversary of the ride, which is a fundraiser for Parks and Trails New York, said Erica Schneider with Parks and Trails New York.

Schneider is riding with the cyclists to talk to them and the public about the mission of Parks and Trails New York.

“The ride is a fundraiser for Parks and Trails New York to aid our mission to promote and expands public parks,” Schneider said. “It’s really a party on wheels for eight days. All the communities give us such a big welcome.”

Those welcoming activities along the ride include live music, food trucks, artisan vendors, a massage therapist in Medina and Clyde, wine and cheese tasting in Seneca Falls and post cards in Brockport for riders to write notes back home.

April Amodei, director of Parks and Trails New York, said she loved coming to Medina.

“You are always so good to us,” she said. “I love the sweet cherries every year.”

(Left) Erica Schneider, on staff with Parks and Trails New York, is riding with the cyclists on Cycle the Erie Canal this year to talk to folks along the way and let the cyclists and public know about the work her organization does. The ride is a fundraiser for Parks and Trails New York. (Right) Sev Gonnella of Marcellus, left, and Debbie Curtis of Clarence oversee a truck filled with supplies for the cyclists. They drive the truck one day and ride their cycles the next.

Guin Panek from Ledge Rock Farms provides sweet cherries for the cyclists every year, said Jim Hancock, chair of the Medina Tourism Committee which chairs the event in Medina.

Hancock also shared a story about a rider who flew here from California and purchased a bicycle in Buffalo. When she gets to Albany, she plans to sell it and then fly back home.

Two new participants in the event this year are Sev Gonnella of Marcellus and Debbie Curtis of Clarence. They are volunteering to drive a supply truck one day, then they ride their cycles the alternating day.

Gonnella said he decided to volunteer for the ride because some of his friends told him it is a wonderful time with wonderful people and a great organization.

“I wasn’t with them 30 minutes when that all proved to be true,” he said.

Curtis is taking part partly to prepare for a bicycle trip she is taking alone cross country next year to raise funds for mental illness.

(Left) Dave Waldburger of Connecticut looks at a map on which cyclists are writing their names on the states they come from. Cyclists participating this year come from 40 states and Canada. (Right) Len and Patty Policelli of Nazareth, Pa. relax by their tent after arriving in Tent City on Sunday afternoon. Len made the ride in 2012, but this is Patty’s first time.

The cyclists began their journey Sunday morning in Buffalo, riding the Shoreline Trail north along the shores of the Niagara River to Tonawanda, where they encountered the western entrance of the Erie Canal. From there, the followed the trail through Amherst into Pendleton, arriving in Lockport around lunchtime.

The locks were pretty impressive to Patty Policelli, who is riding with her husband Len from Nazareth, Pa.

“This is a real adventure,” Patty said. “Most of the work is done for you. All you have to do is ride. The neatest thing was riding along the canal and seeing the locks and bridges.”

Continuing east, cyclists passed through Gasport and Middleport, arriving in Medina early afternoon and throughout the rest of the day. After setting up camp, where volunteers unloaded gear, the cyclists had the option to relax, have an on-site massage or take a shuttle downtown to view different sites, such as the Sandstone Hall of Fame, Visitors Center, Medina Historical Society Museum, Erie Canal Basin and a concert in State Street Park.

North Star Cruises was also available to give a one-hour canal cruise.

The Author’s Note book store had canal history books available in the school auditorium, where Jonathan Duda gave a presentation on “Who we Are and What we Do” from 6 to 6:30 p.m. , followed by Craig Williams talked about “Mapping the Erie Canal” in time and space from 7 to 8 p.m.

A buffet dinner was served by Zambistro from 5 to 7 p.m.

Also on site were vendors, including Della’s Chocolates and Case-Nic Cookies, and live music from 7 to 9 p.m. by Pocket Change.

“We are so thankful to share such a meaningful experience with all our riders, not to mention the amazing towns along the way who really go above and beyond, year after year,  to roll out the red carpet for our riders,” said Paul Steely White, executive director of Parks and Trails New York, in a press release. “With more of the Erie Canalway Trail completed year after year, and an even greater sense of celebration and joy from the towns and cyclists, Cycle the Erie Canal truly just keeps getting better and better.”

Cyclists will depart Monday morning enroute to their Monday night campsite in Fairport. They will be greeted in Albion in the morning and Holley is an official rest stop.

The cyclists will spend subsequent nights camping in Seneca Falls, Syracuse, Rome, Canajoharie and Schenectady.