Photo by Tom Rivers: Crikwater, a band from South Buffalo, performed on Jan. 17 at Lee-Whedon Memorial Library in Medina as part of the Finally Fridays concert series. The library has offered the series the past 19 years. Crikwater performed Irish-American traditional folk songs for about 200 people.
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 1 October 2020 at 2:50 pm
MEDINA – Lee-Whedon Memorial Library won’t be offering its Finally Fridays concert series this winter.
The library made the announcement today, citing concerns over the Covid-19 pandemic. The concerts are Friday evenings from early January to early March. The events typically attract about 200 people to the library.
The library was looking forward to offering the series for the 20th year.
“We waited as long as we could, hoping for months, that we would not have to make this sad announcement,” Lee-Whedon posted on its Facebook page. “Unfortunately, we are not going to be able to offer our Finally Fridays concert series next year. We will wait until 2022 when we can hopefully come together as a community and enjoy our local musicians once more.”
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 30 September 2020 at 12:38 pm
Photos by Tom Rivers: Medina Mayor Mike Sidari, center, holds the Bible while Village Trustees Marguerite Sherman and Tim Elliott takes their oaths of office on Monday evening at the Medina Senior Center.
MEDINA – The village’s newly elected officials took the oaths of office on Monday – about six months later than planned.
Mayor Mike Sidari and Trustees Marguerite Sherman and Tim Elliott were all re-elected on Sept. 15. The village election was pushed back from March 18 due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
The new terms will last about 18 months instead of the usual 2 years.
Mayor Mike Sidari is sworn in as mayor while his wife Brenda holds the Bible.
Sidari is an active member of the Medina Fire Department. He is retired as the food service administrator for the Orleans Correctional Facility in Albion.
Sherman is a special education teacher at Medina. Elliott is co-owner of Brushstrokes Studios in Medina and other small businesses.
Sidari said the village is fortunate to have several active committees and volunteers spearheading projects, from a new dog park, upgraded skate park, overhaul to Pine Street Park, and many significant private investments.
On Monday the Boxwood Commission shared ideas to improve the cemetery, possibly with a pet cemetery section and also a columbarium, a structure with niches to hold funeral urns.
Sidari said the Commission is another group of citizens committed to making Medina a better place. The Commission’s proposal will be considered by the board in the coming months.
The mayor said some village committees need to reorganized. The board approved the following appointments:
• Parks Committee: Jessica Marciano, Kimberly Kennedy and Chris Goyette.
• Tree Board: Jacob Hebdon, Bob Sanderson, Nick Mroz, Lisa Tombari and Kathy Blackburn, who will be a temporary member of the Board while it gets restarted.
• Zoning Board of Appeals (terms through March 31, 2023): David Berry and Reinhard Rogowski.
• Planning Board (terms through March 31, 2025): John Dieter and Kathy Blackburn.
• Boxwood Cemetery Commission (terms through March 31, 2023): Gabrielle Barone and Jacob Hebdon.
• Tourism Committee (term through March 31, 2022): James Hancock.
Mayor Sidari also assigned trustee to different committees and urged them to be in contact with department heads at least once a week.
Trustees Owen Toale, Tim Elliott, Todd Bensley and Marguerite Sherman were assigned the following committees: Fire/Code, Toale and Elliott; Police/DPW, Sherman and Bensley; Employee Relations, Toale and Bensley; Clerk-Treasurer, Sidari; Town of Ridgeway, Bensley; Medina Area Partnership, Elliott; Boxwood Cemetery, Bensley; Tourism Committee, Sherman; Town of Shelby, Sherman; Orleans County, Toale; Joint Recreation, Toale and Elliott; and Waterfront Development Committee, Elliott.
MEDINA — The American Heart Association’s Kids Heart Challenge has awarded $3,500 to Oak Orchard Elementary School in Medina for a socially distant fitness trail.
Awarded to schools across the country, the grants continue the American Heart Association’s commitment to help educators make whole-body wellness a priority.
“We are very excited about this opportunity,” said Julie Webber, principal at Oak Orchard Elementary. “Our hope is to install a fitness trail that can be used by the students during the day and also the community after school hours.”
The American Heart Association’s Kids Heart Challenge and American Heart Challenge awarded more than $400,000 to more than 180 elementary, middle and high schools who participated in either the in-school or digital programs for the 2019-2020 school year.
Kids Heart Challenge offers physical activations to get elementary students’ hearts pumping such as hoops or jumping rope paired with digital missions to learn life-saving skills like Hands-Only CPR.
The American Heart Challenge is a service-learning program for middle and high school students. The program helps boost heart health and self-esteem, while reducing stress and anxiety through programs feature dance and obstacle courses. Both program curriculums help prepare kids for success by supporting physical and emotional well-being, while offering new learning resources and physical activities to meet the needs of today’s youth and educators.
According to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ 2018 Physical Activity Guidelines for Americans only 20% of kids get enough activity to meet physical activity recommendations. Both the Kids Heart Challenge and American Heart Challenge are rooted in proven science which has shown that kids who are regularly active have a better chance of a healthy adulthood.
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 29 September 2020 at 9:17 pm
File photo by Tom Rivers
MEDINA – The snail, a popular part of the playground at Pine Street Park for decades, remains at the park after recent upgrades, including new playground equipment and a spray park.
Other older equipment was removed as part of the improvements but the community spoke in favor of keeping the snail.
Volunteers on the village’s Parks Committee have offered to paint the snail in colors matching the new equipment.
The Village Board gave its blessing on Monday evening during its board meeting.
“First we saved the snail, and now we’re going to paint the snail,” said Medina Mayor Mike Sidari.
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 29 September 2020 at 8:56 pm
MEDINA – The third annual Operation Honor 5K is planned for Nov. 14 and will start at the Junior Wilson Sportsman Club on Bates Road.
The race, unlike most others during the Covid-19 pandemic, won’t be cancelled or held virtually without a group run.
Jennifer Thom is one of the organizers. She said the previous two races haven’t drawn big crowds. She said the participants will be spaced out during the event.
Last year’s 5K raised $4,000 for the van service operated by the Orleans County Joint Veterans Council.
The first year the race raised $3,000, which was given to the Warrior House in Shelby. The Warrior House provides a hunting retreat for veterans.
Jennifer Thom said she would like to see proceeds from this year’s race help veterans with rent and other bills.
“Our goal is to help any veteran in Orleans County,” Thom told the Village Board on Monday.
She asked the board to see if the Medina Police Department could provide a presence during the event.
Operation Honor is seeking sponsors and participants for the 5k. For more information, check the group’s Facebook page by clicking here or click here for a race entry which is $25.
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 29 September 2020 at 8:55 am
Photo by Tom Rivers: Julian Montague of Buffalo has completed this mural on two walls of a building at the corner of Pearl Street and West Avenue in Medina.
MEDINA – The Village of Medina, which approved a 60-day moratorium on Aug. 24 on new applications for public arts projects, is discussing if the village codes need to be updated.
Two Village Board members – Tim Elliott and Todd Bensley – have met with Planning Board representatives. They will be meeting again on Oct. 8 and the group looking at the issue could be expanded to include artists and others with expertise in public art, Bensley said on Monday during the Village Board meeting.
The group is looking at the current village ordinance for public arts projects and also will consider whether Medina should create a Public Arts Commission to review such projects.
Two murals have recently been completed in Medina, with one in the historic district on Proctor Place and another on a cinder block building outside the historic district at the corner of West Avenue and Pearl Street.
Two more murals have been approved with both on Proctor Place.
The murals have all been coordinated by the Form Foundation, which is led by Tim Hungerford and Teresa Misiti.
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 25 September 2020 at 9:36 am
Walk to benefit Alzheimer’s Association goes virtual this year
Provided photo: Nicole Tuohey is pictured with some of the links she sells for $1 to support the Western New York chapter of the Alzheimer’s Association. She has raised about $10,000 in the past decade selling the links. She has 1,170 links so far this year. The chain of links will be displayed later today on Main Street in Medina.
MEDINA – The Walk to End Alzheimer’s is going virtual this year with supporters urged to walk on their own and collect donations for the Western New York chapter of the Alzheimer’s Association.
The group has hosted walks in Medina with fundraising topping $20,000. The Alzheimer’s Association won’t have a community walk like it normally does in Medina, with about 100 people participating at once.
But the Alzheimer’s Association will be displaying flowers at Medina’s Rotary Park on Saturday to signify people battling the disease.
The park will have bright pinwheel flowers in colors that represent reasons people walk: purple to honor someone they lost to dementia, yellow for care partners, blue to honor those living with dementia and orange to show general support of efforts to end Alzheimer’s disease.
One Medina woman also is continuing her annual fundraiser for the organization. Nicole Tuohey sells “elephant links” for $1. She adds a link to a chain that will be displayed later this afternoon on Main Street. That chain is usually displayed at the start of the Alzheimer’s walk.
Tuohey is up to $1,170 or 1,170 links so far and will keep selling links until the end of October. On Thursday an anonymous man came into her mother’s cookie business and donated $500 to the cause. Nicole stayed up late last night making the 500 links.
Nicole has Triple X Syndrome. She hasn’t let that disability prevent her from being a tireless advocate against a disease that took the lives of her grandparents, Don and Jane Bradley.
Mary Lou Tuohey, Nicole’s mother, is owner of Case-Nic Cookies and has a raffle fundraiser for the Alzheimer’s Association until 5 p.m. today where people can win several different packages. The winners will be announced on Saturday.
About 100 people walked in Medina in October 2018 in an event organized by the Western New York chapter of the Alzheimer’s Association. This year the walk will be virtual with participants walking on their own, and not in a community event.
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 24 September 2020 at 10:18 am
Floats will be stationary with spectators doing drive-through at Medina school campus on Nov. 28
Photo by Tom Rivers: Spectators lined Main Street in medina on Nov. 24, 2018 to watch 45 floats, including a Lyndonville fire truck (pictured). This year, there won’t be a crowd standing to watch the parade. It will be drive-through on Nov. 28.
MEDINA – The 12th annual Parade of Lights is planned for Nov. 28. It will be a different, “a reverse parade,” said organizer Jim Hancock.
Instead of thousands of people lining a parade route on Park Avenue and Main Street, the spectators will be on the move this year. The floats will be stationary on the Medina school district campus. People can drive along the district’s access road, from West Orchard Street to Maple Ridge Road, to see the lighted floats.
“Instead of the parade going by you, you will go by the floats,” Hancock said this morning.
The parade committee wanted to keep the event going. It has become a popular holiday tradition in Medina on the first Saturday after Thanksgiving.
Hancock and the committee have reached out to last year’s participants and 60-70 percent already agreed to participate. Hancock welcomes more participation.
The committee will continue to give out prizes to the top floats.
The parade is usually at 6 p.m., but Hancock said it might start earlier this year to give people more time to see the displays.
“Medina has a very large campus that is spread out,” he said. “We’re still working out the logistics for how it will all happen.”
For more information, call Hancock at (585) 798-2118.
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 24 September 2020 at 8:51 am
Village holds first forum for residents to comment on police reform
Photos by Tom Rivers: Cheryl Brady Thompson speaks during a public meeting today about police reform in the village of Medina. About 30 people attended the session at the Medina Theater. The trio on stage are members of the Committee on Police Reform and Reinvention Collaborative. They include Jacquie Chinn, Scott Robinson and Pastor Jovannie Canales. Thompson said she would like to see more diversity and viewpoints on the committee which includes 14 members.
MEDINA – The Medina Police Department needs to do more community policing, where officers build relationships with residents outside of responding to complaints, a committee was told on Wednesday during a forum on police reform and reinvention.
Gov. Andrew Cuomo and the state have mandated all police departments engage the community about reform and department policies, as well as community resources devoted to policing.
Medina Mayor Mike Sidari said the village is committed to “due diligence” in a state-mandated process looking at police reform. He addressed the group at Medina Theater on Wednesday evening. Sidari holds a manual that must be completed by Medina and submitted to the state by April 1.
Medina’s committee was told the Medina Police Department should reflect the racial makeup of the community and officers need to build more trust with residents.
“We’re not anywhere where we need to be,” Cheryl Brady Thompson said at the forum at the Medina Theater. “We all need to feel safe in Medina.”
She said she worries for her Black sons and biracial grandchildren that any interactions with police could escalate with her family being shot.
She said she was pulled over one time in Medina, and the officer responded by walking up to her car with his hand on a gun.
She said she has been depressed over the incidents of police brutality, which have resulted in nationwide protests, including in nearby Rochester.
“I need to stop watching the news because I see so much hatred out there,” she said. “This has been so heavy on my heart. I talk to God daily about it.”
Scott Robinson is one of 14 members on the committee for Police Reform and Reinvention Collaborative. He said the group is the early stages of reviewing Medina PD policies and perhaps offering recommendations for changes. He expects a survey will be available for residents to share their views on what they want in a police department.
Robinson said he has no doubt there is racism in Medina, and didn’t dispute claims from Black residents that they are often treated differently by police.
The committee needs to complete its plan by April 1 and submit it to the state. Cuomo is requiring all 500 law enforcement agencies in the state to go through a review of department policies, engage the public in the process and submit a plan – or risk having state aid cut off to their municipality.
Village Trustee Owen Toale, left, said the Medina Police Department has tried to do more community policing in recent years, but officers need to make more effort to connect without residents.
Cuomo said many departments may already be meeting expectations in a community and don’t need to make any significant changes. They still need to send a plan to the state, going through the process of engaging with the community.
Village Trustee Owen Toale said he has been on the board for 10 years and community policing has been discussed often. He said Medina officers do car-seat checks, give away bike helmets and try to connect with residents at community events.
But Toale said the department needs to do more.
“We need a solid plan that incorporates everyone in the community,” he said.
Betty Garcia Mathewson of Albion said Medina could be leader for the county and state in how the police department serves its community.
She urged Medina’s committee to look a best practices for departments around the country. She said the village and county may need to shift some resources from police to mental health services. She urged the group of about 30 at the forum to acknowledge everyone carries some racism or sexism that should be acknowledged and worked on.
Committee member Scott Robinson began the forum by saying this was the first of several meetings with the community. Residents will have plenty of chances to comment about Police Department policies and possible changes. Pastor Jovannie Canales is at right.
Garcia Mathewson has lived in Orleans County for 35 years. She said there are many “beautiful people” in the county but it is also “the most racially hostile place I’ve lived in.” She said Western New York has been compared by some experts to the Deep South for racial attitudes.
“We need a long-term plan but it starts with us first admitting the mess we are in,” Garcia Mathewson said.
She urged Medina to expand the committee to include more diversity and “be more reflective of the community so it can be a successful process.”
Mayor Mike Sidari, a member of the committee, said the Village Board would be open to adding more members. He would welcome more events in Medina to foster good relationships between police officers and residents. That include include a community day at the State Street Park.
Sidari said the village is committing to doing “its due diligence” with police reform.
“We are going to do our part as a community to make this work,” he said. “We all have a voice in the process.”
Committee members include Daniel Doctor, Jacquie Chinn, Scott Robinson and Pastor Jovannie Canales, Mayor Michael Sidari, Jacquie Chinn, Lt. Todd Draper, Scott Robinson, Sherry Tuohey, Chief Chad Kenward, David and Cynthia King, District Attorney Joe Cardone and Public Defender Joanne Best.
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 21 September 2020 at 6:40 pm
MEDINA — A committee looking at policies of the Medina Police Department will take comments from the public during a meeting on Wednesday from 6 to 7:30 p.m. at the Medina Theater, 603 Main St.
The Medina Committee on Police Reform and Reinvention Collaborative was formed last month to review the operations of the Medina PD and determine if reform is needed.
The 12 members of the committee include Daniel Doctor, Pastor Jovannie Canales, Mayor Michael Sidari, Jacquie Chinn, Lt. Todd Draper, Scott Robinson of the Medina Area Partnership and owner of the Shirt Factory Cafe, Sherry Tuohey, Chief Chad Kenward, David and Cynthia King, District Attorney Joe Cardone and Public Defender Joanne Best
Robinson will provide an overview of the committee and its plans during the meeting on Wednesday.
Gov. Andrew Cuomo is requiring all 500 municipalities in the state that have law enforcement agencies to form committees with local elected officials, the police leaders and citizens and study the operations of the departments and determine if reform is needed.
The municipalities must adopt a plan by April 1, 2021 to be eligible for state funding for any part of the municipalities’ budgets. The plans could show that no changes are needed in a police department.
“With more than 500 law enforcement agencies in our large and diverse state, there is no ‘one size fits all’ solution,” Cuomo said in August. “To rebuild the police-community relationship, each local government must convene stakeholders for a fact-based and honest dialogue about the public safety needs of their community. Each community must envision for itself the appropriate role of the police. Policies must be developed to allow the police to do their jobs to protect the public and these policies must meet with the local communities’ acceptance.”
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 21 September 2020 at 9:40 am
Provided photo: Pictured from left include Chad Kenward, Medina police chief; Marc Graff, assistant superintendent for Medina Central School; Melisa and Jovannie Canales, Pastor of Segunda Iglesia Fieles Discipulos de Jesucristo Medina; and Daniel Doctor, community outreach liaison for Medina Central School.
MEDINA – A church in Medina, Segunda Iglesia Fieles Discípulos de Jesucristo, normally throws a big party before the start of the school year, distributing back-to-school supplies. Medina police officers and firefighters stop by for the event, which was at Butts Park last year.
The Covid-19 pandemic and restrictions on public gatherings forced the church to cancel the event this year.
But the church leaders decided they still wanted to donate back-to-school supplies. Segunda Iglesia partnered with the Medina Police Department to donate backpacks, school supplies and helmets to the school district.
“We thank God for this opportunity and also give special thanks to the Medina Police Department and Chief of Police for their generosity and for collaborating with us on this,” said Jovannie Canales, the church’s senior pastor.
By Ginny Kropf, correspondent Posted 21 September 2020 at 8:04 am
Market shifts to winter season after October
Photos by Ginny Kropf: Medina’s Canal Village Farmers’ Market manager Gail Miller, right, and her husband Dave put up a tent for a vendor early on Saturday morning. The market will continue at the corner of West Avenue and West Center Street through the end of October.
MEDINA – Medina’s Canal Village Farmers’ Market has had a difficult summer, with the Covid pandemic and the restrictions in place.
The market has coped, however, and plans to continue its regular operation from 9 to 2 p.m. Saturdays until the end of October, said market manager Gail Miller.
“We still want to get the word out we will be here with all our vendors until the end of October, and then the winter market season will begin,” she said.
Regular vendors include Roberts Farm Market of Medina with a variety of fruits and vegetables, Hannah Pollard of Medina with home-baked goods, Human Farms of Appleton with fruits and vegetables and Baker Farms of Medina with meat.
Each week shoppers can expect to find various other tables selling their goods or, in the case of non-profits, providing information on the services they provide. The market welcomes non-profits to set up free of charge.
Last week found Heather Smith, director of Orleans Community Health Foundation, and several representatives from United Way of Orleans County promoting their agencies. United Way was selling tickets to its first-ever chicken barbecue, which is scheduled Oct. 9 at the 4-H Fairgrounds. The barbecue will be drive-thru and will include announcement of United Way’s 2021 campaign.
John Klingler was doing business at his booth for Black Button Distilling in Rochester. He was selling the company’s bourbon, gin and moonshine. Klingler shared his company’s policy is to use local sources wherever they can. All their grain comes from Edgewood Farms in Groveland. He is scheduled to be back at the market on Oct. 31.
Dean Bellack, director of United Way of Orleans County, had chicken barbecue tickets for sale at Saturday’s Canal Village Farmers’ Market in Medina. The market allows non-profits to set up a table free of charge.
As the season changes, so will the produce offered at the market, Miller said. Baker Farms offers beef and pork all year, as well as garlic, eggs and goats’ milk soap. The winter market will feature winter squash, cabbage and potatoes, as well as wreaths and holiday decorations.
This is the sixth season for the market, which started in 2015, as the result of an idea by Chris Busch, Cindy Robinson and Gail Miller.
“We wanted to keep a market going after the market in the canal basin closed,” Miller said. “We started talking about it and I ended up as market manager.”
Miller admits it is a big commitment, but one to which she is dedicated. She is at the market every Saturday, usually as early as 7:45 a.m. She provides tables and a tent for any non-profit who doesn’t have one.
Her goal is to expand the market to attract crafters. She would also like to see any small business just starting up come in and promote their new venture.
“This would be a perfect place to get their name out there,” she said.
She added she has a number of great volunteers who help the market run smoothly.
She also reminds the community that the market has a double benefit. Anyone eligible for SNAP (formerly Food Stamps) can get tokens to spend at the market. When they ask for their SNAP tokens, they are eligible for double coupons, up to $20 to spend at the market.
By Ginny Kropf, correspondent Posted 20 September 2020 at 8:35 am
Participants urged to cover the distance in their own neighborhoods
Photo by Ginny Kropf: Participants in the 2019 Knights-Kaderli Walk/Run head for the starting line last October. This year’s event will take on a different look, due to the Covid pandemic. For the 32nd annual 5K Walk/Run, participants are being asked to walk in their own neighborhoods and make a donation to the Knights-Kaderli Fund.
MEDINA – For 31 years the community has gathered for a walk/run to support patients living with cancer in Orleans County.
The Knights-Kaderli 5K Walk/Run was started in 1988 by the families of two lifelong Medina residents who both died of cancer – Richard Knights and Sue Kaderli. Since then, the event has raised thousands of dollars to help cancer patients and their families with bills accumulated because of their illness.
This year’s 32nd annual walk/run will take on a new look, due to the Covid pandemic, according to Stacey Pellicano, daughter of Richard Knights and a board member of the Knights-Kaderli Fund.
Participants this year are being asked to walk in their own neighborhoods, which has gone virtual. Registrants are being asked to make a donation to the fund. For every $20 registration, walkers and runners will receive a Knights-Kaderli cloth mask. Participants are asked to register online or from a mask pick-up location.
Masks may be picked up from 4 to 7 p.m. Oct. 2 in front of Mike Zelazny CPA, 511 Main St., or from 9 a.m. to noon Oct. 3 at the East Shelby Fire Hall. There will be a special raffle at each of the pickup locations in memory of Elaine McPherson.
Pellicano asks registrants when picking up masks and purchasing raffle tickets to please remember to wear their mask and maintain social distancing.
“The safety of our supporters is our top priority,” she said. “Also please remember to photograph your event and tag us on Facebook and Instagram at #KnightsKaderliVirtual5k for some fun prizes.”
She added they were disappointed they couldn’t gather together this year as a large group.
“Even though our event is outside, we have to abide by the non-essential gathering rule of no more than 50 people, which is still in place in New York State,” Pellicano said. “Anyone who has participated in our event understands the energy of that day. It gives us hope and unites participants. This is one of our major fundraisers for the year. We lost the David Millis Golf Tournament in June due to the same restrictions on non-essential gatherings. We know the community will gather behind us this year. Cancer does not stop for a pandemic. Our neighbors need us, especially now as they fight their disease and are sometimes isolated from their own families to protect their health.”
Supporters can run their usual 5K route, run in their own neighborhood or surf Netflix from their couch.
“We’ll never know,” Pellicano said. “We just need your support.”
The Knights-Kaderli Memorial Fund is a tax-exempt organization, which is run by a board of directors. There are no administrative costs. All money raised is used for the benefit of Orleans County cancer patients.
Funds thus far have assisted families with nutritional supplements and prescriptions, as well as medical supplies and bills.
For more information on the fund or for financial assistance, contact Mary Zelazny (Sue Kaderli’s daughter) at (585) 746-8455, Melissa Knights Bertrand (Richard Knights’ daughter) at (716) 983-7932 or Stacey Knights Pellicano at (716) 998-0977.
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 19 September 2020 at 9:24 pm
‘It’s playful and a little weird’ – artist Julian Montague
Photos by Tom Rivers
MEDINA – Julian Montague, an artist from Buffalo, is working on a mural in Medina on two walls of a building at the corner of Pearl Street and West Avenue.
Montague started painting on the back wall of the building on Friday. He is mostly done with that wall which is 14 feet high and 80 feet long. He also will be painting a second 14-by-80 wall of the building, which is being used as a gym. That second wall faces the main parking lot for the building.
Montague said most of the work went into designing the geometric patterns and determining the colors. He will be adding eyes and mouth to give the mural some added personality.
“It’s playful and a little weird,” he said.
Montague was a featured artist during the PLAY/GROUND art exhibit in 2018 and 2019 inside the former Medina High School. He painted the hallways with the geometric patterns.
Montague works as a graphic designer, photographer, illustrator and installation artist. This is his first outdoor mural. He has developed a big audience on social media with nearly 70,000 followers on Instagram.
Tim Hungerford of the Form Foundation reached out to Montague for one of four new murals in Medina. The first one, the “Canalligator,” was completed in July on Proctor Place. Two more are planned for Proctor Place and have been approved by the Village Planning Board.
Montague said the new mural will transform what has been a boring cinder block building. He said the design will really jump put as people turn from Main Street onto Pearl Street.
“This is a pretty mundane building,” Montague said. “But it has great sight lines as you turn the corner.”
John Montague is helping his son with some of the painting. John is using the paint brush to fill in some spots with small pits and holes on the wall where paint didn’t stick from the roller.
The father and son will be back on Sunday working on the project. They expect to be mostly finished with the mural by tomorrow evening.
By Ginny Kropf, correspondent Posted 19 September 2020 at 4:54 pm
Photos by Ginny Kropf: Medina Fire Chief Matt Jackson stands next to a Medina fire truck during a boot drive in Medina to benefit the Make-A-Wish Foundation.
MEDINA – Holding a boot drive to benefit a charitable organization is an annual tradition for firefighters in the Western Battalion, which includes Medina, Ridgeway, Lyndonville, Shelby and East Shelby.
For several years the drive was done for the Muscular Dystrophy Association, but for the last few years, the drive has benefited the Make-a-Wish Foundation, said Medina Fire Chief Matt Jackson.
The group collected $9,000 today for Make-A-Wish, which topped last year’s amount by about $2,000, said Tim Petry, president of the Shelby Volunteer Fire Company.
He thanked the community for being generous, especially during the Covid-19 pandemic.
Medina firefighter Lt. Jacob Crooks gets a donation from a driver at the four corners in downtown Medina Saturday morning, during a boot drive to benefit the Make-A-Wish Foundation.
The fire companies joined efforts on Saturday from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. to conduct their book drive at the four corners in downtown Medina, Route 63 and Maple Ridge Road in Medina and Routes 63 and 104 in Ridgeway.
Jackson and Petry spearheaded efforts to have a boot drive.
“There’s nothing more important than making a difference in our kids’ lives,” Jackson said.
Georgia Thomas came running out of a store this morning to make a donation to Medina Fire Chief Matt Jackson.
