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.

Photos by Tom Rivers

MEDINA – Christian Drisdom, 18, does an ollie today at the Luke Nelson Skate Park at Butts Park in Medina. The site opened this week after being built the past three months by Spohn Ranch Skateparks.

Drisdom just started on a skateboard a few days ago when the park opened. He started by riding around the park on a skateboard and is trying some tricks with the board.

“When you learn something new, there is nothing like it in the world,” he said today.

The $550,000 park is named in memory of the late Luke Nelson of Middleport. He often came to Medina as a kid and young adult to use the former skate park, which was on a former tennis court. He was 23 when he passed away on April 22, 2017. His family has donated to the park and helped organize fundraisers to upgrade the site.

Ian Oppel, 10, of Medina zooms on a scooter in a  bowl of the new skate park.

There will be grand opening celebration of the skate park this Saturday from noon to 5 p.m. with a ribbon-cutting, music and food trucks.

The Medina Skate Society lined up nearly $550,000 to build the new site at Butts Park. That includes $250,570.53 raised through local fundraisers and donations. That allowed the Skate Society to maximize a $250,000 matching grant from the Ralph C. Wilson Jr. Foundation.

Alex Feig, president of the Medina Skate Society, rallied the community to support the project.

The Skate Society also has been awarded $42,000 for an Environmental Impact Award grant by The Skatepark Project, formerly the Tony hawk Foundation. The $42,000 will be used for storm water management and bioswales.

David Rhim, 18, does a drop-in at the skate park. He started skating today and picked up the sport pretty quickly.

Kaleb Hungerford, 11, of Medina takes off in the bowl.

The park includes areas and features for beginner, intermediate and advanced levels.

Some of the features include:

• 2.5-foot to 4-foot quarter pipes lining the southern edge of the park.
• A 2.5-foot mini-ramp/beginner bowl section that waterfalls down to a 4-foot section along the north eastern edge.
• A fun box with a hip and an inventive street sized curb (for doing slappys).
• There are hubbas (grind ledges) and grind rails for beginner, intermediate and advanced skaters and riders.
• The intermediate kidney shaped bowl begins at 5 feet and waterfalls down to 7 feet.
• The most prominent feature facing South Main Street is a functional art installation (steep slant) standing approximately 9 feet tall and 24 feet wide.
• When entering the park from the walkway stretching from the main parking lot past the pavilion/seating area, there is 9-inch manual pad with a 20-inch ledge that bares the name of The Luke Nelson Skate Park.

Jeff Anderson, 39, of Tonawanda brought his skateboard out after taking a break for several years. He is in Medina today with his fiancé. He is shown on a steep slant that is about 9 feet high.

Anderson said the skate park will be an asset for the area.

“They did a great job,” he said about the park. “I’d rate it a 10 out of 10.”

Photos by Ginny Kropf: Medina Lions who helped moved props for their annual Scarecrow Fest from Forrestel Farm to the Orleans County 4-H Fairgrounds on Saturday are, from left, Dean Bellack, Sherry Wheatley, Tom Beach, Jim Punch and Howie Gardner.

KNOWLESVILLE – The Medina Lions Club’s annual Scarecrow Fest will celebrate its 10th year with a new location and a lot of new features.

Scheduled from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Oct. 9, the Scarecrow Fest will be moved to the Orleans County 4-H Fairgrounds this year, which gives the Lions a lot more opportunity for new features and events, said Sherry Wheatley.

During its nine-year history, the Scarecrow Fest has taken place in Medina’s canal basin, Robert’s Farm Market, the YMCA and lastly, at Forrestel Farm.

After learning that Forrestel Farm was sold and the riding camp closed, the Lions had to find a new location.

Sherry Wheatley and Tom Beach, members of Medina Lions Club, carry out T stakes from Forrestel Farm’s barn, where they have been stored since last year’s Scarecrow Fest. The Scarecrow Fest on Oct. 9 will be moved to the Orleans County 4-H Fairgrounds this year.

The fairgrounds was a perfect solution, Wheatley said.

“This opens up new doors for us,” she said, dragging a giant stuffed scarecrow out of her truck on Saturday.

Wheatley and Lions Dean Bellack, Tom Beach, Jim Punch and Howie Gardner met at Forrestel on Saturday morning to move their props out of the barn where they had been stored since last year. This included 300 T-stakes which are used for bodies of the scarecrows.

The Scarecrow Fest was an idea pitched to Medina Lions nine years ago by Wheatley, who has headed the event ever since. This includes annually scouring local thrift shops, especially the MAAC Thift Shop, for donations of clothes, ties, belts, scarves, hats and purses, as well as sheets.

The Scarecrow Fest has become a community event, Wheatley said.

First, Wheatley’s mother Pauline Lanning cuts 300 heads for scarecrows out of sheets and sews them up. Then they were transported to Medina High School, where the Art Department paints faces on the heads.

Iroquois Job Corps has stepped up to have their Carpentry Class cut T-posts out of donated plywood for the standing or sitting scarecrow bodies, and Albion dairy farmer Ed Neal donates bales of straw to stuff the scarecrows.

“Without the help of everybody, there is no way we could have done this,” Wheatley said.

She also said Craig Lacy did them a big favor by allowing them to store bags of clothing in the basement of his former NAPA store on North Main Street in Medina.

“Now that we’ve moved our event to the fairgrounds, we have a lot more space for events,” Wheatley said. “My goal is to have at least 300 scarecrows, maybe 350.”

For the first time, the Scarecrow Fest will feature an indoor flea market and craft show, all under cover in the barns.

“If it rains, we will be inside,” Wheatley said.

The Boy Scouts will be selling homemade corn chowder, chili, smores, hot dogs, hamburgers and pop. Chiavetta’s will have a drive-thru chicken barbecue. The Boy Scouts will also be doing camping demonstrations and the Conservation Club will have the Log Cabin open.

Jim Punch ties down a load of T stakes which he helped Medina Lions move from Forrestel Farm to the Orleans County 4-H Fairgrounds on Saturday. The stakes are used for bodies of scarecrows at the Scarecrow Fest, which will take place Oct. 9 at the fairgrounds.

4-H Clubs will have a big role in having demonstrations, Wheatley said. She is talking with the horse clubs to have them give rides to children during the event.

Another new event prompted by the location on the fairgrounds is a kids’ pedal tractor ride through a straw maze.

Wheatley said she has access to four barns to use for the event, and encourages everyone to consider renting a space for the flea market.

“It’s the end of summer and everybody wants to get rid of unwanted items,” she said.

A 25’ x 25’ space costs only $25 and vendors can have their vehicle parked next to their booth. A space can be rented by calling Wheatley at (585) 735-5135.

There will be plenty of parking available.

“This is a win-win situation,” Wheatley said.

She stressed all money earned by the Lions goes back into the community.

The Scarecrow Fest is a lot of fun for a $10 donation, Wheatley said. There is no age limit to come and build a scarecrow. Participants pay their fee, then walk down rows to pick out their clothing and accessories.

They next go to the straw pile and stuff their scarecrow. Lastly, they take them to the “operating table,” where “surgeons,” otherwise known as Lions Club members, will tie off the ends of the legs with baler twine and make suspenders to hold the scarecrows together.

No two scarecrows look alike, Wheatley said.

Chicken barbecue tickets can be ordered on the Medina Lions Facebook page, from any Lions member or at Filomena’s on South Gravel Road, the Bank of Castile on South Main Street or Revival Beauty Parlor on Main Street.

Photo by Tom Rivers: Students in Medina High School art classes painted the faces on the scarecrow heads in this photo from Oct. 13, 2019. Iroquois Job Corps students made the stakes for the bodies. The scarecrow fest will be moving to the Orleans County 4-H Fairgrounds on Oct. 9.

Photo by Tom Rivers: This banner displayed in May 2020 by City Hall features Dell Stork, who served with the Marine Corps during the Korean Conflict. He later served as Medina’s fire chief.

MEDINA – A new group of Hometown Hero banners will go up in Medina next year. Mary Woodruff, coordinator of the effort, is planning for 40 new banners.

Those ones will replace the 38 in the first group of banners that went up in 2019 as well as two others. The ones being cycled out after three years will be given to the original sponsors.

After 38 were displayed in the first group in 2019, 69 were added in 2020 and then 132 this year for 231 total. Most of the banners are on a three-year cycle, and they are in different spots each of the three years.

The banners go up in May before Memorial Day and come down in November just after Veterans’ Day.

The 38 original banners will be given back to the sponsors on Nov. 15 from 9:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. at the Village Office. Those unable to stop by to pick up the banner can have it mailed to them at cost.

Applications for new banners in 2022 will be available by Aug. 31 through heroesofmedina.com. That website includes options for people to donate to the Hometown Heroes, with funds going to some of the costs beyond the expense of the banners and to help pay some of the cost of a banner and hardware for families and friends who don’t have the full amount.

Woodruff also is working on a printed yearbook of Medina Hometown Heroes.

Last year’s season was cancelled due to Covid restrictions

Photos by Tom Rivers

MEDINA – The Medina Marching Band is in action Thursday evening during a performance for parents and the community as part of this week’s band camp.

The band’s show this year is “Together Again.” Last year’s season was cancelled statewide. Medina is the defending state champion in the small school division. It won the Small Schools 1 Division at the Carrier Dome in Syracuse on Oct. 27, 2019.

This year will be Medina’s 54th season competing as a marching band. There are 55 schools in the program and Medina is the fourth smallest school, said Jim Steele, Medina’s marching band director for 30 years.

Jim Steele, Medina’s band director, said he looks forward to the upcoming season. He said the band is in a rebuilding effort, especially with the younger grade levels.

This year the numbers are down in Medina to 87 students in the band in grades 7-12. Steele said the group typically has at least 105 students. Statewide the marching band numbers dropped with the pandemic wiping out a season and also making it difficult to run a normal band program with social distancing at 12 feet for bands most of last school year, and many students going to remote education.

Band camp returned this week with students at the school outside from 1 to 9 p.m. They will be back today from 1 to 5 p.m. Students received the music months ago and have been learning the notes on their own this summer. With band camp, they learn the marching formations and to play while on the move.

The season’s first competition will be Sept. 18 in Hilton. Medina hosts its Fall Festival of Bands show on Sept. 25.

The band goes over its program on Thursday evening. Kaylee Lacey, up high, is drum major this season.

Other band leaders include TJ Burgess and Megan Zakes as assistant drum majors; Jaxon Phillips (head of percussion); Color Guard captains, Gabby Flores Medina and Aries McMurray; Color Guard managers, Ava Chambers and Madison Owens; Trombone, Julio Doval; Front end ensemble (pit), Mia Hobbs and Paige Dix; Trumpet, TJ Burgess and Ben Griffin; Mellos, Seagan Majchrzak; Saxophone, Megan Zakes; Clarinets, Gracelin Mahnke; Flutes, Dakota Alexander and Emma Wagner; Uniform managers, Regan Timmer and Victoria Potter; and 6 band managers, Phallon Rivera, Bailey Clare,  Kayleigh Wright, Henry Rigerman, Gabe Mark and Lillian Wilson.

Steele said he appreciates the “amazing” support of the Medina community for the band and the dedication of the students.

He is hopeful there won’t be any disruptions to the season.

“I told the students to just enjoy the moment,” he said. “We’re hoping we can get through the season without any hiccups.”

Steele hugs Jeff Pask who is stepping down from working as the drum instructor for the band the past 12 years. Pask wants to spend more time with his grandkids. Steele said Pask is always welcome back, even if its just to ride the bus with the band.

Photos by Tom Rivers

MEDINA – The staff of the Medina Literacy Zone held an open house today at the education center of the Holy Trinity Church at 211 Eagle St. They also gave out backpacks and back-to-school supplies.

The staff members include, from left: Julie Johnson, case manager and job readiness training instructor; Carolyn Graff, literacy instructor and TASC examiner; Shelly Smith, literacy instructor for TASC; and Melinda Grimble, literacy instructor for TASC.

TASC stands for Test Assessing Secondary Completion Examinations, a program formerly known as the General Education Development Program (GED).

The Medina literacy Zone is program through the Orleans/Niagara BOCES. Today’s program included representatives from some of the zone’s 40 partners in the community. Some of those organizations include Community Action of Orleans & Genesee, the Orleans County Mental Health Department, Orleans County YMCA and United Way.

There were 55 backpacks available for students. The Medina Area Association of Churches paid for 25 of the backpacks and staff at the Medina Literacy Zone paid for 30. The Orleans/Niagara BOCES paid for the school supplies.

“We know many of the parents are struggling financially due to Covid and we wanted to take some stress off of them,” said Melinda Grimble, a literacy instructor in the program.

This is the classroom for Shelly Smith, a literacy instructor for TASC. She hangs stars from the ceiling with names of recent students who completed the program and passed the TASC.

Her students range in age from 16 to 60. Last year during the Covid pandemic the Medina Literacy Zone distributed 30 laptops so students could do online learning and attend Zoom videoconferencing sessions.

“Our first goal is to build confidence and hope that they can do this,” Smith said. “Then we build their skills.”

The program has a coffee cart and a $500 donation from MAAC keeps that stacked for much of the school year.

For more information on classes at the Medina Literacy Zone, call (585) 798-1420.

Photos by Tom Rivers

MEDINA – Four of the Medina Village Board members are out visiting downtown merchants today to hear how from them how they think the village could better assist the business owners.

This photo shows Mayor Mike Sidari in front crossing Main Street, followed by trustees Jessica Marciano, Marguerite Sherman and Owen Toale.

The merchants on the south end of Main Street were very positive so far, the board members said. They were expecting to hear concerns about parking, but Sidari and the trustees said the merchants on this end of Main Street seem happy with the municipal and private lots for parking.

The board is looking at an overall parking plan for the downtown. Sidari and the board members also said they are optimistic Medina will be awarded a $10 million grant through the state’s Downtown Revitalization Initiative, which would provide funding for several projects, including with Medina’s waterfront.

The board members will be out again next Wednesday to meet with more business owners in the downtown. Pictured from left include Mayor Mike Sidari and trustees Marguerite Sherman, Jessica Marciano and Owen Toale. They are wearing new shirts that they paid for themselves.