Photos by Ginny Kropf: The Rev. Sohail Akhtar, pastor of St. Peter’s Lutheran Church in Medina, gives a blessing at a luncheon Tuesday in celebration of the Medina Food Pantry’s 40th anniversary. “You are exhibiting God’s love by running this food pantry,” he told the volunteers of the pantry.

MEDINA – Forty years ago, three local clergy teamed up to start an enduring program to help the people of the Medina area.

That program would become the Medina Food Pantry, which on Tuesday was celebrated 40 years with a luncheon at St. Peter’s Lutheran Church.

Jane Stroyan, a member of St. Peter’s Church Council, welcomed the volunteers, saying it was amazing that this group kept the food pantry open during a global pandemic.

“Being 77 years old, and with a couple of underlying conditions, I sheltered and stayed safe,” Stroyan said. “But you folks stayed strong. You showed up. You put on your masks protecting yourselves and others, and made sure our Medina residents in need got food and understood they were not alone.”

Stroyan commended Hancock, Robin and Denny Dubai, Sally Grimm, Diane Mazur and the others who kept the pantry staffed and stocked with foods for those who needed it.

Also honored was Jim Hancock, a member of St. Peter’s Church and the only person still involved from the pantry’s early days.

“Jim Hancock has been with the food pantry for the entire 40 years of its existence,” Stroyan said. “Volunteering for that length of time is laudable and quite amazing. The Church Council of St. Peter’s thanks Jim for this accomplishment and so much more.”

In 1982, Hancock said Medina had a Medina Clergy Fellowship which helped people who needed food, gas or money. At that time, three local pastors, the Rev. Ron Haefer of St. Peter’s, the Rev. Benjamin Moss from St. Mark’s Episcopal Church and the Rev. George Yiengst from St. Mary’s started talking about what they could do to help the community.

Jane Stroyan, a member of St. Peter’s Church Council and volunteer at the Medina Food Pantry, presents a gift to Jim Hancock, who was involved in forming the food pantry 40 years ago.

The result was the founding of a food pantry. Their first referrals came from the Medina Clergy Fellowship, Hancock said. Most of their donations of food came from local churches.

As the need for the food pantry grew, they organized and in 1991 formed a board of directors and adopted a constitution and bylaws. It became known as the Medina Emergency Food Pantry. Board members came from different churches, but were overseen by St. Peter’s, Hancock said.

In those years, St. Peter’s had a parsonage next to the church, which was used for Sunday School and the kitchen became home to the food pantry.

From 1982 to 1989, the food pantry was moved to the basement of the church, then moved back to the parsonage until 1999. Then the church was planning an addition and the parsonage was torn down. The food pantry was relocated to Calvary Tabernacle Assembly of God during 2000 and 2001.

“The addition was completed in 2002 and the food pantry moved back from Calvary Tabernacle, and it’s been here ever since,” Hancock said.

The Medina Food Pantry serves needy residents in the village of Medina and the towns of Shelby and Ridgeway. There is no income requirement, only proof of residing in the 14103 zip code. Occasionally, families from Middleport, Lyndonville and Albion will be served on a one-time basis, then they are referred back to their home town.

Sally Grimm reads the names of volunteers who have been dedicated to the Medina Food Pantry in recent years.

Each of those towns also has a food pantry, Hancock said.

The Medina Food Pantry was open Tuesday, Thursday and Friday until the pandemic, and since then, is open from 10 a.m. to noon on Tuesday and Thursday.

“We are very blessed that many people in the community donate generously to us,” Hancock said. “In addition, United Way of Orleans County and Food Link in Rochester have been a big help.”

St. Peter’s pastor, the Rev. Sohail Akhtar, said thousands of people have benefitted from this food pantry.

“You are exhibiting God’s love by running this food pantry,” he said. “Jim has done wonderful work – for the pantry and the church.”

Sally Grimm said some of the volunteers have been the glue which kept the food pantry going. She named Robin and Denny Dubai, Diane Mazur, Bob Hoffman and Michelle Capstick.

Hancock called Tuesday “a momentous day in the life of this church.”

“Forty years later, we are here celebrating our history,” he said.

Jimmer Szatkowski and friends have raised $265K for ALS research

Provided photo: Jimmer Szatkowski has on boxing gloves to show he plans to fight ALS.

MEDINA – Friends and family of Jimmer Szatkowski will be selling #teamjimmer wrist bands and T-shirts on Saturday at the Canal Village Farmers Market in Medina.

The pop-up event from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. will raise funding for ALS research and trials.

Andrew Szatkowski, Jimmer’s brother, is leading the event on Saturday. Besides the merchandise, “we will be giving out hugs, happiness, and good vibes!” Andrew said.

The event is in May, which is ALS awareness month. All of the proceeds go directly to the Healy Center for ALS research, Andrew said.

His brother Jimmer was diagnosed with ALS in April 2021. Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, also known as Lou Gehrig’s Disease, is a progressive neurodegenerative disease that affects nerve cells in the brain and the spinal cord.

Jimmer, 49, is a Medina native. He now lives in the Syracuse area and owns two Chick-fil-A restaurants, with sites in Cicero and Clay.

Jimmer has already raised over $265,000 for ALS with donations through the Tackle ALS website.

“I was  diagnosed with ALS in April 2021,” Jimmer writes on his fundraising page. “God is good always, and I am still climbing by his Grace. I accept nothing besides His greatness. I intend to fight this disease and to help a whole lot of people along the way. Please join me in the fight.”

Provided photos: The Medina Lions Club sells hot dogs from their roving “Hotdogmobile” during last year’s Community Yard Sale. This year’s sale is June 4.

MEDINA – Bargain hunters get ready: the annual Community Yard Sale and flea market returns on June 4.

Sherry Wheatley, who started the Community Yard Sale, will again head the 15th annual sale.

This will be the 15th year for the yard sale in the village of Medina. The event is sponsored by Medina Lions Club.

Founded and organized by Sherry Wheatley, the yard sale has become a popular event, featuring community-wide yard sales, and a flea market and chicken barbecue at the Pickle Factory, 711 Park Ave.

A near record 52 vendors have already signed up and spaces are still available by contacting Wheatley at (585) 735-5135. Cost is $15 for a 20’ x 30’ space.

Wheatley recommends buying chicken barbecue tickets in advance, as they usually sell out. Tickets may be reserved by calling Tim Moriarty at (716) 417-0079.

The chicken barbecue will be served from 11 a.m. until sold out. The yard sales and events at the Pickle Factory run from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.

The Lions will also have a food tent at the Pickle Factory, selling hot dogs and hamburgers.

Another feature of the yard sale is a traveling hot dog wagon, which the Lions call their “Roving Hotdogmobile.”

“This is a convenient way for shoppers to grab a bite to eat and get on to the next good deal,” Wheatley said.

Shoppers can buy a hot dog and drink by waving down the hotdogmobile as it drives through the streets.

The day begins early, when Lions members will be on the four corners of Main Street by 8:30 a.m., handing out maps of yard sale locations for a donation.

Wheatley reminds everyone that every dollar earned by the Lions goes back for services to help the community.

Lance Mark, a member of Medina Lions, hands out maps with the location of yard sales in the village of Medina at last year’s Community Yard Sale. This year’s sale is June 4. Maps are provided for a donation.

Photo by Ginny Kropf: Barrels containing hazardous materials were moved at the site of the former Starlite Cleaners. They were moved away from the sidewalk to the back of the lot on Friday. The DEC is seeking a qualified company to take the barrels away and properly dispose of them.

MEDINA – Business owners on North Main Street will be happy to know the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation is making arrangements to have half a dozen barrels of hazardous waste removed from the former Starlite Cleaners property as soon as possible.

The site was home to Starlight cleaners from 1952 to 2004. The building was badly damaged in a fire in 2004.

The DEC began extensive studies and cleanup two years ago.

It has removed the former building. A $490,000 remediation plan includes removing 8 feet of soil and other work.

The location is a State Superfund Site and is listed as a Class 2 site in the State Registry of Inactive Hazardous Waste Sites. A Class 2 site represents a significant threat to public health or the environment, with action required, the DEC said.

When Mayor Mike Sidari learned area business people were expressing concerns about the barrels containing hazardous waste and left sitting there, he contacted the DEC. Thursday he received a reply from Gail A. Dieter, environmental chemist with the Division of Environmental Remediation.

Dieter’s e-mail stated the drums on the site contain purge water and soil boring wastes from the pre-design investigation conducted several years ago. In order to dispose of the contents properly, waste characterization samples were collected and sent to a laboratory for analysis. According to Dieter, the data has recently been received and DEC is in the process of contracting with a waste removal company to pick up the drums and dispose of them safely and in a timely manner.

She added the drums have been inspected on a monthly basis, and as an added protection, they have been arranged on pallets over plastic sheeting, as well as being covered with plastic sheeting.

At the mayor’s request, consulting engineers who visited the site on Thursday moved the barrels from the fence near the sidewalk to the back of the lot, until they can make final arrangements for their disposal.

Photos by Ginny Kropf: Runners, walkers and families pushing strollers start off from Junior Wilson Club on the 3.1 mile trek in the Medina 5K Run/Walk.

MEDINA – A 5K run/walk Saturday morning at Junior Wilson Club brought out 50 participants to support the event, which will benefit a Medina family and the Mary Kay Ash Foundation.

Event coordinator Michelle Sidari of Farmington, daughter-in-law of Medina Mayor Mike Sidari, is a senior sales associate with Mary Kay and organizer of several runs/walks to benefit charity.

Brady and Dominique Meakin walked with son Koleson in the 5K run/walk held for their benefit this morning.

When she heard about Koleson Meakin, infant son of Brady and Dominique Meakin of Medina who was born with a rare genetic disease called TPK1 Leigh disease, she knew she wanted to help.

In addition to a basket raffle, Lynn Winters Woodruff sold candy bars, with proceeds going toward the benefit. Candy bars will continue to be sold at Genesee Feeds in Batavia, a business owned by Woodruff’s brother.

Saturday’s race started with a prayer of healing for Koleson, now 9 months old, by Pastor Virginia Thomas from the River at Orleans County, NY Church in Knowlesville.

Many families pushed their young children in strollers in support of the Meakin family.

“This is a family event,” Michelle said.

Koleson’s parents also pushed him in his stroller, while he slept. Dominique said this was Koleson’s second walk, as they participated with him in the ARC walk when he was two and one-half weeks old.

The first male runner to complete the race was Henry Rigerman of Medina, with a time of 21.47. The first woman was Rhonda Marciano of Medina, with a time of 23.44.

Proceeds of the event were not available, but Michelle guaranteed every penny will be donated to the Meakin family and Mary Kay Ash Foundation. The Mary Kay Ash Foundation helps fight domestic violence and cancers affecting women.

She thanked all of the business sponsors who made donations. These included Avanti’s Pizza, Bent’s Opera House, Case-Nic Cookies, Della’s Chocolates, Fitzgibbons Pub, Genesee Feeds, Hartway Chevrolet, Herbalty Cottage, Junior Wilson Sportsmen’s Club, Kustom Kreations, Mark’s Pizzeria, Mary Kay, 810 Meadworks, Ontario Shores Federal Credit Union, Rotork Controls, Rudy’s, Sourced Market and Eatery, Specialty Lawn Rx and Zambistro’s.

There is also a Cruisin’ for Koleson car show and basket raffle from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. on May 28 at the Orleans County 4-H Fairgrounds in Knowlesville. There will be food vendors and live music.

Kathy Jurs of Medina with her 10-month old son Mason is the first walker to be registered for the Medina 5K run/walk for a Medina family.

Medina Mayor Mike Sidari holds his grandson Micah, 2, while daughter-in-law Michelle Sidari, left, prepares to register participants in the Medina 5K run/walk Saturday morning at Junior Wilson Club.

MEDINA – Staff at Orleans Community Health have come up with a way to help the families of the recent shooting victims in Buffalo.

OCH CEO Marc Shurtz and Scott Robinson, director of Marketing, Communication and Outreach at OCH’s Community Partners, met over the weekend to discuss what they could do.

“We agreed whatever we decided to do had to be actionable,” Robinson said. “We just couldn’t comment on social media.”

Heather Smith, director of Orleans Community Health Foundation, joined the discussion and helped facilitate a plan of action. Several other members of the OCH team reached out asking if the hospital could get involved with donations for “Buffalo Strong.”

“Our hearts ache for that community,” Robinson said. “We view the city of Buffalo as our neighbor. Whenever your neighbor is grieving, you do too.”

They plan they settled on was to place barrels at Medina Memorial Hospital, the Albion Healthcare Center, Middleport laboratory and Lake Plains Dialysis centers in Medina and Batavia.

“Our hope is that by placing these barrels at each of our locations we’re expanding the number of people that will be able to help contribute to the families and community in Buffalo,” Robinson said.

Recommended items to drop in the barrels include non-perishables, hygiene products, baby food and baby products, such as diapers.

In addition, the hospital is making contributions internally to the Thurman Thomas Family Foundation and others.

Photos by Tom Rivers: This banner of Kevin Kaderli Jr. is on East Center Street near Bates Road in Medina. It is one of 240 that will be on utility poles in time for Memorial Day.

MEDINA – The banners of Hometown Heroes are already going up in Medina, and 240 will be hanging on utility poles in time for Memorial Day.

This is the fourth year Medina has the banners up. There were 38 the first year, with 69 more the second year, and 133 new ones last year. This year 40 new ones will be up. The 38 from the first year won’t be included this year.

Medina has the banners on a three-year cycle. After three years they are returned to the families or sponsors. The banners also are displayed in different areas for each of their three years on the public landscape.

Mary Woodruff is coordinator of the Hometown Heroes. She wants to keep adding banners for as long as community members and families want to recognize someone who serve din the military.

She thanked the village officials for backing the effort, and the Medina Department of Public Works for hanging the banners which are 5 feet tall and 2 ½ feet wide.

“It’s history,” Woodruff said about the banners with portraits of soldiers and veterans from Medina. “These people made a difference. Some gave their lives. They’re all heroes to me.”

Families and sponsors pay $200 for each banner, and they receive the banner after its three-year cycle.

Woodruff said she knows many residents look forward to the banners going up each year. They will be displayed until just after Veterans’ Day in November. One woman told her she sees the banner outside her window, and it’s a reminder to say a prayer for soldiers every day.

Woodruff would like to add a fund with donations from the community to help cover most of the costs for a banner for families under financial pressure.

She is pleased to see many other nearby communities have added banners. She encourages other communities to start with a small and manageable number the first year, and then grow.

“It’s not a race,” she said.

Applications for new banners in 2023 will be available in late August 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, a Ridgeway town councilwoman, has coordinated the banners in Medina after seeing a similar display in Alfred. Her late father-in-law Willis Burr Woodruff was among those recognized with a banner in Alfred.

Mary Woodruff, coordinator of the Hometown Heroes effort, is pictured in June 2019 with banners of showing Mitchell Mason and the late Vincent Cardone. They were among 38 included in the first group of banners. Those initial banners in 2019 have completed their three-year cycle and won’t be back out this year.

MEDINA – The school district’s proposed $39,884,316 budget passed easily today with 247 voted in favor and 45 against.

That’s an 84 percent approval rate despite a budget with a 2 percent tax increase, the first in a decade in Medina.

Mark Kruzynski, the district superintendent, said the “runaway escalation of utility costs” is the biggest factor in the tax increase. The district still remains below the state-imposed tax cap, he said.

He is grateful the budget passed by a more than 5-to-1 ratio.

“We are very appreciative of the community’s continual support of our district,” he said this evening after the votes were counted.

The budget maintains all programs and staffing, increases student support services, purchases three large school buses and one wheelchair bus, adds new cafeteria tables for Oak Orchard Primary School, and returns a high school musical to the Medina auditorium.

Two candidates – Scott Robinson and Debra Tompkins – ran for two three-year terms on the Board of Education. Robinson received 239 votes and Tompkins had 236. Tompkins is a current board member and Robinson is new. The terms start July 1.

Provided photo: Dozens of items are on display at Case-Nic Cookies in Medina which are part of a basket raffle to benefit Genesee-Orleans Ministry of Concern.

MEDINA – During the month of May, Case-Nic Cookies is displaying information on services provided by the Genesee-Orleans Ministry of Concern.

A basket raffle is also taking place through May 31, and tickets are on sale at Case-Nic for $10 for a sheet of 20.

Items included in the fundraiser are gift certificates to local stores, family fun for adults and children, household items and two July 4th celebration baskets.

Gretta Smith, director of GOMOC, urges the community to support this fundraiser.

GOMOC has been serving residents of Genesee and Orleans counties for more than 50 years, Smith reported. The non-profit organization is known as the “Agency of Last Resort,” as it often provides assistance to individuals who are struggling and don’t have other resources available to them. The agency offers emergency services to many of the working poor in the two counties.

In-house advocates work on behalf of clients with utility companies, landlords and other entities as necessary, Smith said. Eligible individuals and families can receive help with personal care items, short term emergency housing and financial assistance with prescriptions and utilities.

The Furniture Program accepts donations of gently used furniture and non-gas appliances which are subsequently delivered without cost to people in need.

GOMOC encourages clients to become independent, self-sufficient and contributing members of the community, Smith added.

Anyone wishing help or more information on services available can call (585) 589-9210.