By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 27 March 2019 at 3:51 pm
Photo by Tom Rivers: Jonathan Oakes, the winemaker at Leonard Oakes Estate Winery in Medina, serves wine during the third annual Farm-to-Table dinner last Aug. 2 in downtown Medina.
MEDINA – Medina’s restaurant and cultural scene is getting a big spread in the Gusto section of The Buffalo News. It’s the kind of publicity that should bring more people to visit the community’s restaurants and businesses.
An article posted online today by Francesca Bond has the headline, “Inside Medina’s Small-Town Culinary and Cultural Renaissance.” Click here to see the article.
It highlights Mariachi De Oro, the Shirt Factory Café, Zambistro, 810 Meadworks, Fitzgibbon’s, Sourced Market and Eatery, and Mile 303. The article also highlights the efforts to renovate the former Bent’s Opera House, turning it into a restaurant, hotel and cultural center.
Many of the restaurants and projects are led by young adults like Alix Gilman and her husband Scott Robinson, owners of the Shirt Factory Café, a coffee and cocktail bar. Gilman and Robinson are described as two people who grew up in Medina, went away for college and a career, and returned to open a business in their hometown.
The article also notes Medina’s very popular farm-to-table dinner that sells out within an hour every year. The Orleans Renaissance Group organizes the dinner on a block-off section of Main Street. Last year 220 people attended the event.
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 27 March 2019 at 11:42 am
MEDINA – Legislation has been introduced in State Senate and Assembly to allow the Village of Medina to impose a 2 percent occupancy tax for room rentals in the village.
State Sen. Robert Ortt, R-North Tonawanda, and State Assemblyman Michael Norris, R-Lockport, both introduced legislation on March 11.
Norris’s proposal, Bill No. A06537, is cosponsored by Assemblyman Steve Hawley-R-Batavia. The legislation has been referred to the Assembly’s Ways and Means Committee.
Ortt’s proposal, Bill No. S4451, is in the Senate Investigations and Government Operations Committee.
The bills seek to give Medina permission to impose a hotel/motel occupancy tax of up to 2 percent. Medina village officials say the funds will towards promoting tourism and economic development in the community.
The legislation says the tax shall apply to any “tourist home, inn, club, hotel, motel or other similar place of public accommodation.” The owners of the properties will be required to impose the tax. The village’s chief fiscal officer will then collect the tax.
The tax does not apply to people who are considered “permanent residents” of a hotel or motel, those staying at least 30 consecutive days.
Orleans County also imposes a 4 percent occupancy tax that generates about $35,000 a year and is used solely by the county for its tourism promotion efforts.
Medina will see an increase in rooms with the renovation of the Bent’s Opera House to be partly used as a hotel. A new chain hotel, Cobblestone Inn & Suites, also is expected to break ground this year on Maple Ridge Road.
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 26 March 2019 at 11:08 am
File photo by Tom Rivers: Members of the Medina Lions Club decorate State Street Park for the Christmas holiday on Nov. 29, 2014. The Lions put lights on Christmas trees and set up a Nativity scene at the park every year.
MEDINA – The Village Board is being asked to change the name of State Street Park to recognize the Burroughs family.
Before it was State Street Park, the land was a grand estate with a magnificent Victorian mansion owned by the Burroughs family, Chris Busch, chairman of the Village Planning Board, wrote in a March 18 letter to Mayor Mike Sidari and the Village Board.
Silas Mainville Burroughs was a member of Congress who lived in Medina. He died at age 49 on June 3, 1860.
Before Congress, he worked as an attorney in Medina, was a member of the State Assembly and was a brigadier general in the New York State Militia for 10 years.
His son was a prominent businessman who founded Burroughs & Co., which is now part f the pharmaceutical giant, GlaxoSmithKline. Silas Mainville Burroughs, the son, died at age 48 on Feb. 6, 1895 after getting pneumonia on a cycling trip. He left $20,000 to Boxwood Cemetery, which used some of the funds to build the Medina sandstone chapel in his honor at the cemetery.
Busch said this is a good time to change the name, considering the upgrades to the park. A new pavilion/bandstand has been built at the park, and the World War I artillery/memorial is being restored. Many new trees are also being planted at the park, and other improvements are being considered as part of a Local Waterfront Revitalization Plan.
Busch said the park is the “jewel” of Medina’s park system.
“It is the ardent opinion of the Municipal Planning Board that, taking into account the architectural history, Burroughs family history, the current developments of the site, along with Medina’s burgeoning role as a historic destination, that it would be altogether right and proper to forever memorialize and promote the historic significance of the place by changing the name of State Street Park to Burroughs Park,” Busch wrote in his letter to the mayor and Village Board.
Village Trustee Todd Bensley, who is the village historian, said at Monday’s board meeting that the board needs to take time to consider the request.
“We haven’t had time to discuss it,” Bensley said.
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 26 March 2019 at 7:47 am
MEDINA – The Village Board voted to spend about $40,000 to buy a new police vehicle on Monday, less than a month after a police car was totaled.
An officer was driving a 2017 Ford Explorer on March 6 when the vehicle slid on an icy street and hit a tree.
The village’s insurance company is paying $20,550 towards the wrecked vehicle. Medina will use that money plus pay an additional $18,863 to buy a new 2019 Ford Explorer.
The village will also have to spend about $6,300 in other changeover costs, putting in a cage and electronics.
Police Chief Chad Kenward said there aren’t many police vehicles on the market. The 2020 police cars won’t be ready until November, at the soonest. There were only two new vehicles he could find that could soon be ready for the Police Department.
Besides the Ford Explorer which is in Easton, Pa., Kenward said there is a pickup truck in Niagara Falls that could be used for police.
That vehicle was $300 more than the Explorer. However, Kenward said no other police agencies in the county use the pickup truck. He has pushed for continuity in the Medina PD’s equipment.
“I really don’t want to be the guinea pig,” he said about trying a “police truck.”
Photos by Tom Rivers: Dan Passalacqua, co-owner of Avanti, cooks a pizza last week in a new wood-fired oven at the Medina location. Dan and his brother Maurizio also own an Avanti in Albion.
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 25 March 2019 at 1:45 pm
MEDINA – A business that was among the first to make a significant investment in Medina’s recent Main Street renaissance has made another improvement to its business.
Maurizio and Dan Passalacqua, brothers and co-owners of Avanti, about a month ago debuted a new wood-fired oven for cooking pizza, chicken wings, pasta and other food. The brothers say it’s a more authentic way of cooking the food, and gives it a distinctive taste.
Angelo Passalacqua holds a finished pizza out of the wood-fired oven. Angelo has been in the pizza business for more than 50 years. He accidently drove through Medina about two decades ago and told his sons the downtown had lots of potential.
“People are becoming more sophisticated,” Dan Passalacqua said last week at Avanti. “They don’t want the ordinary.”
Maurizio built the wood-fired oven and the brothers have been experimenting with it since last August. After several months of trial and error, they felt like they had perfected the process, learning the best temperatures for cooking the pizza, wings, appetizers and pasta.
“Nothing happens by chance,” Dan Passalacqua said. “It’s trying, trying and trying until you find the right thing.”
In a conventional gas-powered oven, the heat is about 500 to 550 degrees. With the wood-fired oven, the temperatures hit about 750 to 900 degrees. The 12-inch pizzas only take about 1 ½ to 2 minutes to cook.
Dan demonstrated last week. The pizza required constant vigilance in its short time in the oven, with Passalacqua checking temperatures and turning the pizza to get even color on the edges. He wanted a slight charred look.
“The feedback has been incredible,” he said about the pizzas. “It’s the new craze out there.”
Passalacqua said the pizzas in the wood-fired ovens are all made with about five ingredients. The pizza he is shown cooking was made with dough, tomatoes, mozzarella cut that day, and basil leaves. The flour for the dough comes from Naples, Italy, and the salt is from Trapani in Sicily.
The brothers grew up in Italy. Their father, Angelo, split time in Sicily and Niagara Falls, running six pizzerias in both locations. Angelo’s owned Leon’s Pizza at a mall in Niagara Falls for decades.
Dan and Maurizio both earned college degrees locally and they pursued careers as stock brokers. They spent their youth working for their father in the pizzerias.
A pizza cooks inside the wood-fired oven at Avanti.
They pursued white-collar careers, but they didn’t like the unpredictability of life as a stock broker. And they missed making Italian food.
Angelo was driving through Medina about 20 years ago. He was lost and didn’t intend to drive down Main Street. At the time the downtown was struggling with empty storefronts. Angelo liked the look of the historic Main Street and he urged his sons to come take a look.
“He fell in love with the town,” Dan said. “He saw the potential.”
Maurizio decided to open Avanti, an Italian expression that means “welcome.” He sold gourmet pizza, subs and breads from a storefront with about 2,400 square feet. Avanti opened in 2001 with about 15 employees.
The business was an immediate success. Dan decided to join his brother after six months.
“We decided right away to stick with higher quality,” Dan said. “We’ve stuck by our guns.”
It didn’t take long and the brothers wanted more space for the business and to expand the dining area. They purchased the former Mark & Dale’s clothing store at the corner of Main and West Center streets. It was a major renovation that took three years. It opened in 2006, nearly quadrupling their space.
That ambitious project inspired others to take a chance on downtown Medina, said Cindy Robinson, the Medina Business Association president.
“They’ve had a big role in the rebirth of downtown Medina,” Robinson said. “They were one of the first big investors in downtown. They purchased a building and didn’t just lease. They showed it’s worth the money to buy a building and fix it up.”
The brothers and their father opened Avanti in Albion in December 2012, renovating a former Pizza Hut on Route 31.
They now have about 50 employees working at the two sites.
Dan Passalacqua and his father Angelo make a pizza at the new oven at Avanti in Medina. The oven is fed oak wood, and gets up to 900 degrees.
Angelo Passalacqua, 78, has been in the pizza business since 1966. He continues to work full-time, making the dough and sauce for Avanti, and getting the cold cuts ready. He said consistent quality is the key to success.
Robinson praised the Passalacquas for pushing for excellence in the building projects, and with their menu. The latest project with the wood-fired oven will draw people to Medina, which she said is gaining a reputation in the region for its many restaurants.
“The foodies are coming to Medina as a destination,” she said. “There is definitely a foodie paradise in Medina, and they (Avanti) were the start of that.”
Dan Passalacqua said the family is pleased to see how the entire downtown has been transformed in the past 15 years or so. The businesses work well together, and they promote the area as a destination, which benefits all of the merchants, he said.
“All of these businesses on Main Street have shown that we can compete with the best of them,” Dan Passalacqua said.
Photos courtesy of Medina Band Boosters: The Varsity guard consists of students in grades 9-12. This year the show is “I Can Only Imagine.”
Photos courtesy of Medina Band Boosters
All three of Medina’s guard units competed in Corning-Painted Post on Saturday at the last competition before the championships next week at Gates-Chili.
In the Novice class Medina earned 1st place followed by the Hinsdale Starliners in 2nd place.
In the RA class, Medina Junior Varsity earned 1st place with a score of 77.50 followed by Dundee with 73.26 and Corning-Painted Post Black with 72.65.
The JV guard consists of students in grades 4 thru 9 with many returning members who have moved up and accepted a more challenging show. Their show is “Imperfect.”
In the SA class Medina earned 2nd place with a score of 85.94, bested by Corning-Painted Post Gold with a score of 86.62, a mere 0.68 difference.
Winners in the other classes were Gates Cadet with 66.92; in the Senior class Dare TBD with 73.15; in A1 class Gates-Chili with 78.06; in IA class Gates-Chili Independent with 89.61; in SO class Phoenix with 87.90. The ARC of Yates performed in exhibition.
The Championships are Saturday at the Gates-Chili High School, 1 Spartan Way, Rochester. The gates open at 11 a.m. and the show starts at noon. Medina’s Novice guard performs at 12:14, the Junior Varsity at 1 p.m. and Varsity at 4:05 p.m. The entire show will be done by 6 p.m.
The Novice Pony guard is in their second year and consists of students in grades 5-8. This year their show is “The Queen of Soul – Aretha Franklin.”
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 22 March 2019 at 4:47 pm
Photo from Medina Fire Department
Two lieutenants with the Medina Fire Department have graduated from a 4-week training for at the Fire Department of the City of New York. Steve Cooley, left, and Michael Young completed the First Line Supervisors Training Program (FLSTP) at the FDNY.
The class is required for professional fire officers. They earned their qualifications for NYS Professional Fire Officer along with national certifications for Fire Service Instructor 1 and Fire Officer 1.
The two were promoted to lieutenants during the Jan. 28 Village Board meeting.
Young has worked for the Fire Department for 12 years while Cooley has been with Medina for nine years.
Provided photo: Medina students, from left, Dominic Viterna, Ryan Miller and Dan Squire are pictured with their teacher Mike Lepkyj.
Press Release, Medina Central School
MEDINA – Congratulations to High School Technology teacher Mike Lepkyj and his second place champions Dominic Viterna, Dan Squire and Ryan Miller in their event from the NCCC (Niagara County Community College) Tech Wars.
There were over 400 high school and middle school students from 24 school districts that attended the one-day Technology Education event. There were 17 individual events that were all based on the STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) concept.
The goal of the event is to allow students to take what they learn in the technology classrooms and compete in a hands-on educational, yet fun program. The hope is that the imagination of the students may go beyond the classroom where they develop such a deep interest in technology they will make a career of it.
“Essentially it was a capture the flag, but there are other ways to score points,” said Medina senior Dominic Viterna. “You have to get soccer balls off of buckets which is pretty difficult. There is a two-foot height limit. Ours was one of the few ones who could score points in that way because we could get the soccer balls off, the other ones were not tall enough or did not have the right equipment to do so.”
Teammate Dan Squire, also a senior, said the technology class has been a great experience for him.
“This was my third year at Tech Wars and the team worked hard on their robot for the challenge,” he said. “The robot was just a two motor, four wheel square with a slanted front with a little pole on the back with a piece of wood to knock the soccer ball off the buckets. It was controlled using DEX motor controllers. It felt really good how we competed. We had won every match, but the last one, which was unfortunate.”
The students get to go to three tech wars a year – at NCCC, Genesee Community College and Erie Community College. Twenty to 25 students go to NCCC and 60 students go to GCC and ECC.
“The students will do the boats and trebuchets challenges and some will do the mystery project where they use cardboard and duct tape,” says Mr. Lepkyj. “Freshmen will do the trebuchet and the upper classmen do the robots. In our Introduction to Engineering class, I let them pick what they want to compete in.”
He said he and his students look forward to the tech wars.
“I have had a team in the competitions for the past 10 years starting when I was at the Middle School,” Mr. Lepkyj said. “It was great when I got into the high school because we got to participate in events that were a little more challenging.”
He it doesn’t matter to him if the students win or lose.
“I just want them to have a good experience and get something out of this. We all have a great time every year.”
Provided photo: Members of the Medina Skate Society were joined Sunday by Friends of the Railyard Skatepark out of Lockport. They are all pictured with a ceremonial check for $44,000, which doubles the $22,000 donated so far for the project.
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 20 March 2019 at 9:51 pm
Group needs minimum $50K by March 2020 for matching grant
MEDINA – The Medina Skate Society received a $10,000 anonymous donation to bring its fundraising to $22,000 towards a revamped skate park.
That $10,000 followed the news on March 14 that Medina was approved for a Tony Hawk & Ralph C. Wilson Jr. Foundation Built-To-Play Skatepark Grant. The grant is for a minimum $50,000 if the community can raise that money by March 2020. The grant goes up to $250,000 in matching funds.
The Medina Skate Society is being assisted in the fundraising by the Orleans Renaissance Group, which is acting as our pass-through agency to collect donations and then gift them to the Village of Medina for the construction of the skatepark.
Alex Feig, the Medina Skate Society president, welcomes donations of all amounts. He encourages donors who want to give $100 or more to go through the websites for either the Medina Skate Society or the Orleans Renaissance Group.
The Skate Society also has set up a GoFundMe to facilitate in the fundraising.
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 20 March 2019 at 9:32 am
Musical being staged for first time by a local high school
Photos by Tom Rivers
LYNDONVILLE – Layna Viloria, center, portrays Deloris Van Cartier in Sister Act, which will be performed Friday, Saturday and Sunday at Lyndonville Central School’s Auditorium, 25 Housel Ave.
Deloris is a nightclub singer who is sent to a convent in hiding after she witnesses someone being killed. She takes over the choir and the nuns respond to her high-energy style. She is shown singing, “Raise Your Voice” with Sawyer Wilson, a dancing custodian, and Alissa Klinetob (left), who plays Sister Mary Patrick.
The musical is being performed for the first time by a school in Orleans County. The show times are 7 p.m. Friday and Saturday, and 2 p.m. on Sunday. Tickets are available at the door.
There are 65 students in the cast, stage crew and pit. The musical showcases several strong female leads.
“It has some really great roles,” said Jennifer Trupo, the musical director. “It’s really upbeat.”
Cora Payne is Mother Superior. She is initially concerned that Deloris is a bad influence on the nuns. But Mother later becomes a protector of Deloris when gangsters come looking for her.
Payne, a senior from Medina, said the show is a big change from last year’s musical, The Addams Family.
“The biggest theme is the sisterhood,” Payne said before rehearsal on Tuesday.
The musical begins with Layna Viloria (Deloris Van Cartier) singing in a Philadelphia nightclub. Evie Schultz, back left, is Michelle and Danielle Schmidt is Tina. They are singing, “Take Me to Heaven.”
Ethan Bowie plays Curtis, who leads a gang and wants to eliminate Deloris after she witnesses a murder and talks to police. His gangster friends include Lincoln Pace (back left) as Joey and Brian Cunningham as TJ. They are singing, “When I Find My Baby.”
Sophia Cardone plays Sister Mary Lazarus, a spunky nun.
Layna Viloria embraces the role as Deloris Van Cartier. Vitoria and Cora Payne were both honored by the Stars of Tomorrow last year as outstanding actresses for The Addams Family. They return with lead roles this year.
Jacob Corser (Eddie) wants to be cool and impress Deloris. He sings, “I Could Be That Guy.” Eddie is mostly shown in the musical as a shy police officer, who Deloris remembers from high school when he was known as “Sweaty Eddie.” Eddie decides Deloris needs to be hidden in a safe place and takes her to the convent.
Last year the Stars of Tomorrow recognized Corser, Brian Cunningham and Qasim Huzair as outstanding supporting actors. They return this year for Sister Act.
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 19 March 2019 at 9:28 pm
MEDINA – Village residents re-elected Todd Bensley and Owen Toale to the Village Board today.
The two were unopposed on the ballot for four-year terms as trustee. Bensley, a Medina government teacher, led with 50 votes. Toale, a retired newspaper publisher, received 36.
There were also some write-in votes with Todd Ralph and Nicole Ralph each getting 2, and Peter Huth getting 1.
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 19 March 2019 at 8:17 am
Lyndonville and Medina both have village elections today, with polls open from noon to 9 p.m.
Lyndonville has three candidates running for two village trustee positions that are four-year terms. The spots are currently filled by Darren Wilson and Mary Kage. They both want to continue on the board. Kimberly Kenyon also will be on the ballot.
Kage is running under the Kage Party, Kenyon under the Pool Party, and Wilson picked the Main Street Party.
Voting is at the Village Hall on 2 South Main St.
Medina has two candidates seeking two spots on the board. Incumbents Owen Toale and Todd Bensley are both seeking re-election to two-year terms. They are both running under the Accountability Party.
The election is at the Senior Center, the former railroad depot on West Avenue.
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 18 March 2019 at 2:37 pm
Photos by Tom Rivers
MEDINA – The cast of Arsenic and Old Lace goes over the play during a dress rehearsal on Sunday at Medina High School.
Pictured from left on bottom include Gary Steverson as Mr. Witherspoon, Ray Flugel as Dr. Rev Harper and Lieutenant Rooney, A. Peter Snodgrass as Mortimer Brewster, and Jim Staebell as Teddy Brewster. Top row includes Cathie Borczuch Puleo as Martha Brewster and Gail Ingalsbe Graesser as Abby Brewster.
The two women are sisters and are considered sweet old ladies, but they are actually killers, poisoning lonely old men and having them buried in the cellar.
The upcoming shows will be 7 p.m. March 21, 22, 28 and 29 at Medina High School Auditorium. For reservations and ticket information, call (585) 993-1968 or go to westsideacademy.biz.
Proceeds go to the 2020 European Tour by the West Side Academy of Visual and Performing Arts.
Dan Doctor is director of Arsenic and Old Lace. He works as the community outreach liaison for Medina Central School.
He founded the West Side Academy on Main Street in Medina in 2011, which trains students in dancing, singing and acting. About 17 to 20 students and parents are going on a trip to Europe in the summer of 2020. The students will be performing at five festivals.
Doctor thought one way to raise funds for the trip would be through a dramatic play.
“I would prefer we perform because that’s who we are,” he said. “We’re performers and we wanted to perform rather than sell stuff.”
Some of cast members in the current show worked with Doctor when he directed plays and musicals at the Palace Theatre in Lockport, beginning in the mid-1990s.
Peter Snodgrass plays Mortimer, a dramatic critic who discovers his two aunts’ hobby of poisoning men with a glass of home-made elderberry wine laced with arsenic, strychnine and a pinch of cyanide.
Steve McQueen is Jonathan Brewster and Gail Graesser is Abby Brewster. Jonathan is Abby’s nephew. He is a short-tempered psychopath who has committed numerous murders.
Ray Flugel of Medina has been in local community theater for several years. He is a retired registered nurse. His son, Eric Flugel of Albion, is making his stage debut in the play.
Photo by Tom Rivers: McKenna Callard of the varsity Medina Winterguard is shown during competition on March 9 at Medina’s home show.
JAMESTOWN – Medina’s Novice and Jr. Varsity winterguards traveled to Jamestown on Saturday for competition along with 15 guards from New York and Canada.
In the Novice class, Medina won 1st place after competing against Legacy and Hinsdale. In the RA class, Medina’s Jr. Varsity guard won 1st with a score of 73.75 after competing against Prizm and Legacy.
Winners in other classes were Ventures in the Cadet class with a score of 68.21; Batavia in the A1 class with 75.05; Legacy in SR class with 69.99; Ventures Independent A with 77.45; Jamestown Express in SO with 80.50; Lancaster in IO with 80.6.
Medina will next compete this Saturday in Corning with March 30 the championships at Gates Chili High School.
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 16 March 2019 at 5:42 pm
MEDINA – The village is seeking the community’s input about the Maple Ridge Corridor, including ways to make the busy road safer for pedestrians and cyclists.
A 13-question survey asks community members how frequently they use Maple Ridge, for what purposes and if they would use the road more often if there were designated spots for pedestrians and cyclists.
Click here to see the survey. The survey will be available online until March 29.
The village was approved for a $50,000 grant to study pedestrian and bicycle accommodations on Maple Ridge Road, from Bates Road to the former Ames Plaza.
The study may help Medina make its case for a state grant to help pay for sidewalks on that stretch of Maple Ridge. The $50,000 grant from the Genesee Transportation Council includes a $5,000 local match from the village.
Medina previously has applied for a TAP – Transportation Alternatives Program – grant for sidewalks and a pedestrian bridge over Oak Orchard Creek. The village has been denied TAP funding so far.
The TAP is 80 percent federally funded with a 20 percent local share. The funding is from the federal government, but awarded by the state.
The sidewalk project with a small bridge was estimated to cost $1.3 million, according to initial cost estimates from Labella Associates in Rochester. Medina has found other funds for the bridge, using money from a revolving-loan fund that was managed by the Orleans Economic Development Agency. That fund is being closed out, with the remaining money going to projects in Orleans County that increase handicapped accessibility or serve low-income residents.
Many people walk along Maple Ridge Road or use motorized wheelchairs. Mayor Mike Sidari said the sidewalks would improve safety for many local residents.
Maple Ridge has become busier with GCC, manufacturing plants, chain stores and a residential community. The Orleans EDA also expects construction to start soon for a hotel on Maple Ridge next to the Pride Pak vegetable processing plant.
