MEDINA – Honoring veterans has been a tradition for the American Legion and VFW posts in Medina for decades.

Each Veterans Day, several dozen members of the local posts visit all the memorials in Medina, including the Vietnam Veterans Memorial at the American Legion, the Company F Memorial in front of Medina Armory (now the YMCA), the Korean War Memorial on Park Avenue, the tank in front of Oak Orchard Elementary School and the Butts-Clark Memorial in Butts Park on South Main Street.

This is the first year the veterans haven’t visited the veterans’ plot at Boxwood Cemetery. Also, for the first time this year, the veterans fired a tribute at the historic cannon in State Street Park, which was restored a year ago.

The ceremony at each memorial included a reading by David Kusmierczak, playing of Taps by Don Hinman, and a three-gun salute.

Typically, Veterans’ Day would begin with breakfast at the VFW, but because of Covid, that was discontinued this year.

Jim Freas, front, addresses the Honor Guard as they prepare to fire at the Vietnam Memorial at the American Legion in Medina. The Legion and VFW have fired at all the memorials in Medina on every Veterans Day for years.

Dave Kusmierczak salutes after reading a tribute to veterans in front of the Company F Memorial on Wednesday morning.

Don Hinman plays Taps for ceremonies at the veterans’ memorials in Medina on Memorial Day. He plays here at the cannon in State Street Park.

Members of the American Legion and VFW in Medina fire a tribute at the Company F Memorial in front of Medina Armory (Orleans County YMCA) on Wednesday morning.

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MEDINA – The Vietnam Veterans Memorial next to the Butts-Clark American Legion Post in Medina has recently undergone an updating, with the addition of a flower bed and sandstone edging.

The work was done by Vietnam veteran David Walker and his friend Tom Beach, who have been friends since before the Vietnam War era.

“When I returned from Vietnam, Tom was the first one to recognize my service,” Walker said.

Walker lives across the road from the American Legion and didn’t like the way the memorial was looking.

“I got tired of sitting on my porch and watching the grass grow up around the monument,” Walker said. “I asked the Legion why they didn’t take better care of it, and they said it belonged to the village.”

The monument consists of a large stone with a plaque of the names of the seven soldiers from Medina who were killed in Vietnam. They are Rolland Shubbuck, who is buried in Arlington National Cemetery, Roger Cook, Charles Seefeldt Jr., LeRoy Keller, Nicholas Natale, John Albanese and George Underdown.

“I went to school with all of them except Shubbuck,” Walker said. “I came home alive and intact and these guys didn’t. People don’t realize the brotherhood of those in the military. “

For that reason, Walker wanted to see their memorial taken care of.

The memorial sits at the north end of the Legion on the bank of the Erie Canal. It is backed by a large American flag and bullets from a cannon stand on either side.

Photos by Tom Rivers: Jeremy Bradenburg, left, and two of his skateboarding friends look over the design of a new skate park in medina during an open house on Saturday at Lee-Whedon Memorial Library in Medina.

MEDINA – The Medina Skate Society presented the designs for a new skate park to the community on Saturday during an open house at Lee-Whedon Memorial Library.

Construction on the new skate park is expected to start in the spring and be complete in the summer.

The Skate Society has secured a matching grant to upgrade the park with up to $250,000 from the Ralph C. Wilson Jr. Foundation. Medina has $230,000 raised so far and has until Nov. 30, 2020 to see if it can fully maximize the grant.

The Tony Hawk Foundation, now known as the Skate Park Project, also has approved $50,000 towards the project.

The Medina Skate Society has approved the $550,000 design and build proposal from Spohn Ranch Skateparks in Los Angeles, California. The new skate park will replace one at Butts Park. It will be at the same location.

Vincent Onel, VP of Skatepark Development at Spohn Ranch, designed the Medina skate park and discussed the project through video conferencing on Saturday at Lee-Whedon.

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.
• 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 will also bare the name of The Luke Nelson Skate Park, said Alex Feig, president of the Medina Skate Society.
• The most prominent feature facing south Main Street is a functional art installation (steep slant) standing approximately 9 feet tall and 24 feet wide, Feig said. “This is where our sponsors will be displayed so it’s the first thing visitors see when they pull into the Butts Park.”

The skate park will be named for Luke Nelson, whose family has helped with many fundraisers and provided an inspiration on the project.

The park will be named for Luke Nelson, a skateboarder from Middleport who often used the park. He was 23 when he passed away on April 22, 2017. His family has donated to the park and helped organize the fundraisers to upgrade the site.

Jeremy Brandenburg, 26, of Medina was among the community members who attended the open house. He said the new park will be a big attraction for skaters.

“It’s going to be amazing,” Brandenburg said. “It’s definitely got a little bit of everything.”

Village Trustee Owen Toale thanked Feig and the Skate Society for doing the fundraising, securing the grants and pushing the project forward.

Toale was pleased to see one of the features mimics the Canal Culvert. Feig suggested that and Onel included it into the design.

“It’s obviously an iconic structure in the area,” Toale said about the Canal Culvert. “To incorporate it is brilliant.”

Chris Goyette discusses the Medina Skate Park with Alex Feig, president of the Medina Skate Society, which has spearheaded the $550,000 project.

The new public concrete skate park will have a smooth surface and new equipment for skaters, bikers, scooters and in-line skaters. The park will also be an architectural work of art, Feig said.

For more information on the Skate Park and the Medina Skate Society, click here. Donations can be made directly to the Medina Skate Society. Larger tax-deductible donations should be made out to the Orleans Renaissance Group Inc. PO Box 543 Medina, New York 14103 specifying in the subject line “Skate Park Project.”

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First from WNY to receive DeMolay of the Year since 2006

MEDINA – Medina High School senior Aedan C. Bunch recently received an award from NYS Masons for his achievements in DeMolay. The DeMolay is a nationwide  program sponsored by Masons to guide young men of all backgrounds toward good citizenship, community service, and personal responsibility.

The last time a young man from Western New York received this honor was in 2006. The award, known as the Order of the Tribune, was conferred in a ceremony by leaders from each York Rite Masonic Body and the Grand Master of Masons in New York, William M. Sardone. The award includes an emblematic medal and a knightly sword of honor.

Aedan Bunch is pictured in his DeMolay regalia. This award also includes a knightly sword and medal.

Aedan also received other DeMolay awards, including the ”Representative DeMolay Award” for leadership, and a “Distinguished Service Award” for his efforts in helping his peers during the pandemic.

Each DeMolay Chapter nominates a young man by submitting a recommendation to The New York Grand Chapter of the State of New York, Royal Arch Masons through the offices of the Grand Chapter Masonic Youth Committee who coordinates and presents the award each year under the control of the New York DeMolay Executive Officer.

To be considered for this award the candidate can not be a current or past State Master Councilor or Deputy State Master Councilor and he must clearly demonstrate that he lives by the virtues taught in DeMolay through demonstrated outstanding service to his Chapter, to DeMolay, to his community, his faith community, and to his school. Above all these virtues a candidate for this award should be an example and mentor to his peers, in his DeMolay Chapter and the community.

Aedan, a son of Steven and Ann Webster Bunch of Medina, represents the virtues and tenants of Order of York Rite Tribune through his unyielding kindness and unyielding quiet strength of character. Aedan set an example through his extreme ownership to challenges he faced. It is through this discipline, commitment, and hard work he shows his peers and community what commitment looks like.

Currently Aedan competes for Medina on the varsity cross country team. He attends The Norman Howard School in Rochester, New York through a placement from the Medina Central School District.

He has been recognized by his school as an example by scoring a school all time high score for the Pacer Test. In addition to his school, Aedan was selected by the leadership of Camp Talisman, North Carolina, to attend a session as mentor and planner tasked with helping those campers leaving home for the first time as well as planning and leading activities for an entire day.

He has been selected to return to Camp Talisman this coming summer as a member of Crew where he will be part of team assigned to lead and mentor a group of youth in the wilderness of the Blue Ridge Mountains.

This year’s Order of York Tribune was preceded by an awards ceremony for awards for merit and achievement. Aedan received numerous awards for merit so much that he was awards a “three-bar” hanger for his achievement pennants. He was also awarded with the Representative DeMolay Award which is a merit award earned through a reflective process where a young man provides examples of how he is improving his character, challenging himself, achieving his goals, and leading by example.

Aedan also receive a Distinguished Service Award for his efforts in helping his peers during the pandemic whereby he organized “Operation Cookie Drop” sending a few homemade cookies through the mail during the shutdown.

Aedan also was installed as the Lakes Region Master Councilor for New York DeMolay by the Grand Master of DeMolay International and the New DeMolay Executive Officer, Peter Brusoe.

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MEDINA – Boxwood Cemetery will again be the site of the annual Wreaths Across America ceremony, a program started at the cemetery in 2015 by Kathy Blackburn.

The first year, there were 15 wreaths placed at Boxwood on graves in the veterans’ section at the front of Boxwood Cemetery. Last year, Blackburn and other volunteers placed more than 100.

They have had support from the American Legion, VFW, Junior Wilson Club and Sacred Heart Society, and are looking for a corporate sponsor this year. Ideally, Blackburn would like to see a local company step up to sponsor the program and have its employees volunteer to help. Last year local Girl Scouts volunteered and this year both Girl Scouts and Boy Scouts from Troop 28 will volunteer.

Assemblyman Steve Hawley, left, greets Dave Barhite of Lyndonville prior to last year’s Wreaths Across America ceremony at Boxwood Cemetery in Medina. Kathy Blackburn, right, started the program and is looking for donations for wreaths this year.

“We appreciate the Scouts volunteering, and are excited to have them helping again this year,” Blackburn said.

The deadline for donations is Nov. 30, and anyone may send a check for $15 to Village of Medina, marked for “Wreaths Across America,” 119 Park Ave., Medina NY 14103. Donors may specify if they want their wreath placed on a certain grave.

Volunteers are also needed to place the wreaths during the ceremony Dec. 19. They may contact Blackburn at kblackbu@rochester.rr.com, and should arrive at Boxwood Cemetery at 11:45 a.m. The ceremony will begin at noon.

“This is a great program,” Blackburn said. “I am happy to be involved, because my father and uncles all served in World War II.”

Wreaths Across America was started in 1992 by Morrill Worcester, owner of the Worcester Wreath Company in Harrington, Maine, who found his company with an abundance of wreaths near the end of the holiday season. Worcester had visited Washington, D.C. as a 12-year-old and seeing Arlington National Cemetery made a lifelong impression on him.

The experience followed him throughout his life, reminding him his good fortune was due in part to the veterans who made the ultimate sacrifice for their country.

So Worcester contacted his local senator and arrangements were made for wreaths to be placed on graves at an older section of Arlington, which had been receiving fewer visitors each year.

As Worcester made plans to donate wreaths for those graves, other individuals and organizations stepped up to help. A local trucking company offered to provide the transportation to Virginia. Volunteers from the local American Legion and VFW posts, along with members of Worcester’s community, gathered to decorate each wreath with red bows. Members of the Maine State Society of Washington, D.C. helped organize the wreath-laying, which included a special ceremony at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier.

The annual tribute went on quietly until 2005, when a photo of stones at Arlington, adorned with wreaths and covered in snow, circulated around the internet. Suddenly, the project received national attention. Thousands of requests poured in from all over the country from people wanting to help with Arlington, to emulate the Arlington project at their national and state cemeteries or to simply share their stories and thank Worcester for honoring our nation’s heroes.

Unable to donate thousands of wreaths to each state, Worcester began sending seven wreaths to every state, one for each branch of the military and for POW/MIAs. In 2006, with help from the Civil Air Patrol and other civic organizations, simultaneous wreath-laying ceremonies were held at more than 150 locations around the country. The Patriot Guard Riders volunteered as escort for the wreaths going to Arlington, which began the annual “Veterans Honor Parade” that travels the east coast early each December.

Groups of volunteers eager to participate in the wreath-laying event grew each year, and according to Worcester’s website, it became clear the desire to remember and honor the country’s fallen heroes was bigger than Arlington, and bigger than this one company.

In 2007, the Worcester family, with help from veterans and other groups and individuals, formed Wreaths Across America. The next year more than 300 locations had wreath-laying ceremonies in every state, Puerto Rico and 24 overseas cemeteries. And that year, the U.S. Congress unanimously voted Dec. 13 as “Wreaths Across America Day.”

From more than 100,000 wreaths in 2008, volunteers laid more than 700,000 memorial wreaths in 2014 at 1,000 locations, including Pearl Harbor, Bunker Hill, Valley Forge and the site of the World Trade Center tragedy of Sept. 11. The goal of covering Arlington National Cemetery was met in 2014 with the placement of 226,525 wreaths.

Blackburn first heard about Wreaths Across American when Medina resident Shirley Whittleton suggested it at a meeting of the Boxwood Cemetery Association, of which Blackburn is president.

“I looked into it and decided it wouldn’t be that difficult to do,” Blackburn said.

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MEDINA – The Medina Area Association of Churches Red Barrel program has been a Christmas tradition for decades, and in spite of the Covid-19 pandemic, organizers were determined to do it again this year.

“We thought we could safely make it happen,” said Sherry Tuohey, who has headed the program for the past several years. “It has taken much more thought than in prior years.”

Tuohey also said MAAC anticipated, because of Covid, the need in the community would be greater this year.

On Wednesday, members of the Medina Fire Department delivered a record 38 barrels to various locations in the Medina area.

One thing which was different this year is MACC didn’t serve breakfast to the firefighters at the Grove United Methodist Church. Instead, Tuohey said they are going to put together a “goodie” bag to show their appreciation to the firefighters for volunteering to deliver and pick up the barrels every year.

Because of Covid, the schools could not accept a barrel this year, so Tuohey had to find some new locations. In addition to all the usual locations, such as several downtown businesses, Lee-Whedon Memorial Library, YMCA and churches, barrels have been put at all local banks, Ace Hardware, Valu, Dollar General, Country Club Family Restaurant, Avanti’s Pizza, Della’s Chocolates, AJ’s Play Date and Filomena’s Favorites.

“We couldn’t do this without the support of many local businesses,” Tuohey said. “This is a wonderful community to be part of.”

Medina Fire Department lieutenant Steve Cooley, left, and firefighter Donato Rosario get instructions from Sherry Tuohey, who heads the Red Barrel program for Medina Area Association of Churches. Last year, Tuohey was responsible for redesigning the barrels with colorful holiday decals.

The Red Barrels accept donations of toys, gifts and new hats, mittens, gloves, scarves and socks for all ages.

Because of Covid, there will be no mitten trees this year.

Precautionary measures will be taken. After the barrels are picked up Dec. 9 by the firefighters, the items will be quarantined for a minimum of three days before volunteers start unloading and sorting. After boxes are packed for families, they will be quarantined for another three days before they are given out.

In addition to a gift box, families will receive food for their Christmas meal. This will include a ham, potatoes, stuffing, vegetable, fruit and dessert.

Last year, the MAAC Christmas giveaway served 262 individuals, including 153 children in the Medina community. This also included 15 senior citizens.

Tuohey stressed that all donations received in the MAAC Red Barrels stays in Medina and goes to families in the Medina school district who live in Medina and Knowlesville zip codes. Gift boxes will be delivered by Medina firefighters on Dec. 19.

Monetary donations are also needed and welcome by sending a check to Christmas Box Program, in care of MAAC, 536 Orient St., Medina.

To be eligible for a gift box and holiday meal, applicants must apply from 10 a.m. to noon on Nov. 10 and Nov. 17 at St. Peter’s Church at 1355 West Ave. or from 5 to 7 p.m. Nov. 10 and 17, and 10 a.m. to noon Nov. 12 and 19 at Calvary Tabernacle Assembly of God at 324 Catherine St. Use the Ann Street entrance.

To be eligible, applicants must bring proof of household (birth certificates or Social Security card), proof of residence (any utilty bill) and proof of income. Income guidelines apply.

Covid-19 guidelines require a mask and social distancing.

From left, Medina firefighters Bob Urtel, Steve Long and Adam Fisher are ready to deliver 38 Red Barrels to local businesses to be filled with donations of toys and winter outerwear for children in the Medina school district.

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