By Catherine Cooper, Orleans County Historian

MEDINA – Orleans County has some unique associations with pharmaceutical innovations. The corporate names Eli-Lilley and Burroughs-Wellcome both have their origins here.

Silas M. Burroughs Jr. was born in Medina in 1846. He died in Monte Carlo in 1895. He and Henry Wellcome pioneered the use of Empirin Compound for headaches. They also developed a technique to make powdered medicine more palatable by making pills.

Burroughs is the subject of a new biography recently published by the Lutterworth Press, of Cambridge, England. The author, Julia Sheppard, has long had an interest in the life and career of Burroughs.

She visited Medina on two occasions previously to conduct research on the Burroughs family. She consulted with local historians Richard Nellist, Todd Bensley and the late Ed Grinnell and used the resources at Medina’s Lee-Whedon Memorial Library.

Sheppard will return to Lee-Whedon on Friday, September 9, at 7 p.m. to launch her newly published book, Silas Burroughs: the Man who Made Wellcome.

Burroughs was an energetic businessman and a progressive thinker who supported profit-sharing for employees as well as the 8-hour working day. Sheppard will discuss his life in the context of contemporary social and pharmaceutical developments.

Burroughs was instrumental in the foundation of the Wellcome Trust, a global charitable foundation which specializes in biomedical research. His generous bequests to his hometown benefitted the Presbyterian Church, John Proctor, a boyhood friend as well as Boxwood Cemetery. The iconic sandstone chapel at Boxwood was built in his memory.

Copies of this new biography will be available for purchase at the program, courtesy of the Author’s Note bookstore. This program is presented by the Medina Historical Society.

Photos by Tom Rivers

MEDINA – Members of the Buffalo-based Pyromancy performed with fire on Friday night during the SteamPunker’s Ball at Leonard Oakes Estate Winery.

Leonard Oakes for years held a Steampunk Festival but has split the event over several days throughout the year. The winery started putting on “the festival of bizarre proportions” in 2011.

This costume won “Best in Show.” Most of the attendees at Steampunk wear futuristic costumes with a Victorian theme. They wear outlandish costumes, with top hats, goggles and robotic arms as accessories.

This costume won for “Best Mechanics.”

Potter Dee from Pyromancy blows fire after spewing Steampunk Cider over a flame.

This vendor sell her creative wares as one of the vendors at Leonard Oakes. About 150 people attended the SteamPunker’s Ball.

The band Stone Circle from Buffalo entertained with traditional and contemporary Irish Pub music.

Here are more photos of the Pyromancy performers:

Lessons planned to be offered monthly at upstairs ballroom

Photos by Ginny Kropf: Swing dancers begin with the basic steps on the first night of swing dance lessons at Bent’s Opera House. After a 45-minute lesson, even beginners can join in the dancing for the rest of the evening.

MEDINA – A dance craze popular in big cities throughout the United States may soon be a regular attraction in Medina.

Phil and Julie Berry encountered swing dancing while living in Los Angeles.

Dance instructors Mike Moll and Leah Twomey ham it up prior to Thursday’s swing dance lessons at Bent’s Opera House.

Phil said he has loved swing dancing since the first time he saw someone doing the Lindy hop.

“I thought, that looks like great fun and I want to do it,” he said.

After moving back to Medina to purchase the Book Shoppe, now Author’s Note, the first thing Phil did was go online and look up where it might be offered in Western New York.

He found Swing Buffalo and Ballroom Revolution in Buffalo, then started thinking about where he could find a place big enough to have dances in Medina.

“The Lindy hop belongs here,” Phil said.

Then he met Heather Hungerford, whose husband Roger restored the Bent’s Opera House, and when she asked Phil how they could better use the opera house for the community, he had an answer.

“She absolutely loved the idea and said, ‘Let’s make it happen,’” Phil said. “And here we are.”

Julie has been promoting the dance lessons at Author’s Note, giving customers a poster or pamphlet on the event and it has been posted on Facebook, where more than 100 people said they were interested. Jeff Baker with Swing Buffalo has also been promoting it.

Almost 50 showed up Thursday night for dance lessons, and by the time the night ended, another 30 had arrived to enjoy the dancing.

The evening began with a 45-minute dance lesson.

“If you’ve never danced before, by 7:30 you’ll learn all you need to do a swing dance,” Phil said.

Phil Berry of Medina puts on his dancing shoes in preparation for the first night of swing dancing lessons at Bent’s Opera House on Thursday evening. He hopes to make the lessons a regular event.

Phil recruited disc jockey Tommy Darlington from Buffalo and dance instructors Mike Moll and Leah Twomey.

“I want to make Medina a dance destination,” Phil said.

Phil and Julie’s children also came along to dance. Son Adam, 22, said when his parents first asked him to go to a dance he said no.

“Then I finally said yes, and my brother David and I had fun,” he said. “I had a real good time. There were a lot of people there who were quite young – college age. I encountered two young people who were engaged and had met there two years ago. It’s a fun way to meet people. Swing dancing is a very social event because you have to dance with a partner. Young people who haven’t done it would really like it if they tried it.”

Ande Niedzwiecki from Seattle is visiting friends in Rochester and saw the dance advertised online. She said the dance studios in Rochester are still shut down from Covid and she was looking for something to do and was happy to drive to Medina. She said a Swing Club in Rochester used to have 50 to 60 dancers every week before Covid.

The swing dance class is the first public event at the opera house this year, Hungerford said.

The Berrys are planning to have swing dancing every third Thursday of the month. Tickets can be purchased online on the Bent’s Opera House website or Facebook page or at the door.

The public is also invited to come and listen to the music and watch if they don’t want to dance. A cash bar is also available.

Almost 50 dance enthusiasts showed up at Bent’s Opera House Thursday night for the first of planned swing dance lessons. Here, they warm up by practicing a few basic moves. By the time the lesson ended, another 30 had arrived to dance.

Teen center at Pearl Street site among projects in the works

Photos by Ginny Kropf: Jesse Cudzillo stands next to the play area for young children at the YMCA. He has announced plans to build a teen center in the building, beginning in the fall.

MEDINA – With a new director, new programming and the promise of new funding, GLOW YMCA is looking forward to an exciting year.

Jesse Cudzillo took over the reins June 6 after Greg Reed accepted the position as district director of Orleans and Genesee YMCA in Batavia.

Cudzillo grew up in Buffalo and after his family moved to Eden, he graduated from Eden High School. He followed school by joining the Air Force in 1996, retiring from there after 20 years.

He is married to Katie Smider from Gasport and the has four children. Their youngest son is a junior in high school, the next attends Brockport State College, their daughter works and goes to college in Virginia and the oldest son works for Isaac Heating and Cooling.

Cudzillo said each time they had to move while he was in the Air Force, they made a practice of looking for a good place to send their kids to school and then bought a house in that area. That is also how they ended up in Medina.

Cudzillo held various jobs after retiring from the Air Force, the latest being with the Department of Veterans’ Affairs.

When he saw the ad for a director at the GLOW YMCA, he had already been a member since 2019.

“I always looked for a job where I could best use the talents I’d been given and the experience I’ve gained in life,” he said. “I saw an opportunity to impact the community where my children live, in hopes some of them will settle here and raise their kids here.”

His goal as director of the YMCA is to create a place where the community can come for health, wellness and recreation.

Jesse Cudzillo, new director of GLOW YMCA in Medina, points out one of the murals in the Y, painted by local artist Brandi Zavitz.

“I see this place as a central hub for the entire community,” Cudzillo said. “As I read about the history of the YMCA in Medina, I see it used to the place to go. I want to continue that. I want the Y to be the first place people want to go when they think of family fun.”

The YMCA is so much more than a gym, he said. He said he is amazed at how many people don’t realize all the YMCA has to offer. The Y offers a summer camp, and child care before and after school in four locations – Medina, Lyndonville, Albion and Akron. They offer “drop and shop,” where parents can drop their children off while they go shopping.

Looking to the future, Cudzillo said there is exciting news in the works regarding new projects. One is building a teen center downstairs on the north side of the building. This will focus on the 12-18 age group.

“Our vision is to give them a safe place to hang out after school,” Cudzillo said. “There will be sports, tutoring if they need it and special events, or they can just relax. We also plan to build a teaching kitchen.”

Remodeling will begin this fall, he said.

“Our hope is youth will continue to come in and join, and thereby give back to the community,” he added. “Being in the military and moving so often, every place we went we had to create new space in the community. I believe this place can be such a space.”

He is working with Job Development to host a job fair and has a blood drive scheduled on Thursday. He is eagerly awaiting the announcement of a grant which will fund an exciting new program never offered in Orleans County before.

Photos courtesy of Lee-Whedon Memorial Library: Repco Wildlife brought in reptiles for the kids to learn about on Aug. 5 as part of the “Oceans of Possibilities” summer reading program.

Press Release, Lee-Whedon Memorial Library

MEDINA – The Lee-Whedon Memorial Library concluded its six-week summer reading program this week. Attendance is estimated at 1,550 for the six weeks, which is up about 200 from last year’s summer program.

The library’s children and teen programs included wildlife visits, a visit from Santa, weekly STEM activities, magic, crafts, story times and a giant water slide.

Programs focused on connecting children and teens with nature. Miss Sharon offered interactive outdoor movie nights with a water theme.

Miss Kelsie and Miss Sam enriched the lives of our community’s kids. Both received grants to offset the cost of this year’s summer programs.

Miss Kelsie offered two reading challenges for children in addition to her weekly programming. Miss Sam offered a teen and an adult reading challenge for the summer. They gave away lots of great swag including books, games, and toys to participants who reached their reading goals. Summer Reading challenges run through August 26 so there is still plenty of time to spend reading a good book!

The library hosted weekly STEM programs that drew a crowd of children.

The Medina Parks program brought groups over for Miss Kelsie’s bubble mania.

An inflatable slide was available for the kickoff of the summer reading program.

Global supply chain crisis disrupting many industries

Photos by Tom Rivers: U.S. Majority Leader Chuck Schumer holds a medical infusion pump produced by Baxter International in Medina at left and a component of the pump requiring 70 microchips.

MEDINA – A company with nearly 300 workers in Medina has put employees on paid furloughs three times due to a supply chain shortage, where Baxter International didn’t have all 20 components for their medical infusion pumps.

Baxter International produces about 100,000 pumps a year and each one needs 70 microchips. The company was forced to put some of its Medina workforce on paid furloughs due to a shortage of microchips.

Baxter continues to struggle to locate enough microchips. The company currently will run out in three to four weeks in Medina. If more don’t come in, company CEO José (Joe) E. Almeida said workers will again have to go on furlough until all the needed parts come in.

“I’m very proud of our employees,” Almeida said today after a news conference at Baxter with U.S. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer. “They’ve worked heroically.”

Almeida said the company manufactures infusion pumps used at hospitals and healthcare sites.

“It’s about saving lives,” he said.

Schumer said there will be a long-term answer to the microchip crisis with the signing this week of the bipartisan CHIPS & Science Bill. That will provide $50 billion in incentives to increase microchip manufacturing in the United States and ease the supply chain problems.

He said the nearby STAMP site in the Town of Alabama, Genesee County, is being pitched to businesses to manufacture microchips and other advanced manufacturing. He said the site could employ thousands of workers, with many living in Orleans County.

He also is working his contacts for a short-term solution for Baxter. He will be asking Texas Instruments to supply microchips to Baxter, and has teamed with the federal Health and Human Services Department to prioritize the need for Baxter, which he said is a healthcare manufacturer that saves lives with the infusion pumps.

Schumer said he has personally advocated to companies before, including Qualcomm, to help with a microchip shortage.

“There is a desperate shortage of chips,” Schumer said. “We don’t want to have a shortage again. We want to build the chips here in America.”

Schumer praised the Baxter facility for producing the medical technology, such as infusion pumps, that are used in the treatment of Covid-19 and other illnesses.

“Orleans County’s Baxter International facility worked nonstop through the pandemic to get medical equipment out to the hospitals and frontline works that needed it most,” Schumer said. “My just passed CHIPS and Science Bill is just what the doctor ordered to help cure America’s long-term supply chain woes, by bringing microchip manufacturing back from overseas to places in Upstate New York like the Western New York STAMP campus. We should be making semiconductors in Batavia, NY, not Beijing.”

Baxter International CEO and President José (Joe) E. Almeida stands next to Sen. Schumer near the production floor of Baxter’s Medina plant in the Olde Pickle Factory. Almeida said the company has a three- to four-week supply of microchips and is reaching out to many suppliers. Schumer said he would strongly urge Texas Instruments to help fill the need at Baxter.

Schumer said that the microchip shortage is impacting everything from wait times for people to buy cars and computers, to healthcare providers.

Before coming to Baxter, Schumer was in LeRoy at the Bob Johnson Chevrolet, where the auto dealer said a shortage of microchips has slowed inventory. That problem has pushed up the cost and wait times for new vehicles. It also has made the cost of used cars skyrocket, Schumer said.

Gabrielle Barone, vice president of business development for the Orleans Economic Developer Agency, told Schumer that Medina has 300 acres of certified shovel-ready land that would be a good fit for a company looking to produce microchips. She is joined by, from left: Michael Dobell, Orleans EDA executive director; County Legislator John Fitzak; Lynne Johnson, chairwoman of the Orleans County Legislature; and Medina Mayor Mike Sidari.

Schumer highlighted the CHIPS & Science Bill

• $39 billion for the CHIPS for America Fund to provide federal incentives to build, expand, or modernize domestic facilities and equipment for semiconductor fabrication, assembly, testing, advanced packaging, or research and development to help attract major chip manufacturers to shovel ready sites like STAMP in Genesee County.
• $11 billion for Department of Commerce research and development including creating a National Semiconductor Technology Center (NSTC) a public-private partnership to conduct advanced semiconductor manufacturing, with Albany Nanotech primed to be a top contender to serve as a major hub for the NSTC, and other specialized R&D programs that universities across the state are in a strong position to compete for.
• $2 billion for the DoD CHIPS for America Defense Fund.
• $200 million for the CHIPS for America Workforce and Education Fund to kick start development of the domestic semiconductor workforce, which faces near-term labor shortages, by leveraging activities of the National Science Foundation.
• A new Investment Tax Credit for semiconductor manufacturing facilities and equipment.

U.S. Sen. Chuck Schumer walks into the production floor at Baxter International with company CEO and President José (Joe) E. Almeida. Schumer said he and the federal Health and Human Services have pushed to make Baxter designated as a “critical need” for micro chips to manufacture infusion pumps.

Schumer’s Office shared this copy of the letter he sent to Rich Templeton, CEO of Texas Instruments:

Dear Mr. Templeton,

I write to request Texas Instruments’ (TI) assistance to continue to provide the required computer chip components to Baxter International to ensure it can continue to manufacture lifesaving medical devices that the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has determined are in “critical need” including Baxter’s Spectrum IQ Infusion Pump which is manufactured in Medina, New York, as well as the PrisMax and PrismaFlex renal replacement therapy (CRRT) devices.  These pumps and devices are critical in the clinical treatment of COVID-19 patients, providing lifesaving care in our nation’s efforts to combat the pandemic.

As such, I understand TI recently received a copy of a letter from HHS’ Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response that indicated HHS has now “identified a critical need” for these lifesaving products and urged Baxter to prioritize the manufacturing of these medical devices.  Furthermore HHS wrote, “it is critical that Baxter’s supply chain is not impacted so we also request that any work, services, and materials requested by Baxter be prioritized in any possible way.”  

As you know, TI is Baxter’s supplier for several critical components required for the manufacturing of these devices. Recent inconsistent delivery of these TI components is now threatening the continued manufacturing of these critical medical devices. Ensuring the availability of these component parts is not only vital to Baxter’s Medina, NY workforce, but to hospital patients and medical personnel throughout the country who depend on these lifesaving devices.

Therefore, I ask that TI honor this HHS request and work with Baxter to deliver necessary TI components for their medical devices as quickly as possible. I appreciate your quick attention to this matter and your assistance in making these components available.