Medina urged to add public restroom in downtown

Photo by Ginny Kropf: Officials cut the ribbon on May 29 dedicating a new Visitor’s Center in Medina. The Tourism Committee took over Santa Claus house in Rotary Park, from Memorial Day through Labor Day. From left are Dave Miller, volunteer; Kelly Kiebala, a member of the Tourism Committee; Linda Hansler, volunteer; Alfred Nixon, volunteer; Mayor Mike Sidari; Orleans County Tourism Coordinator Dawn Borchert; Jim Hancock, head of the Medina Tourism Committee; and Maureen Sanderson, Pat Bellucci, Bob Farman, Gail Miller and Barb Filipiak , volunteers.

MEDINA – The Medina Tourism Committee changed the location for its welcome center this summer and the more prominent location in downtown Medina resulted in a big increase in visitors.

Jim Hancock, chairman of the Medina Tourism Committee, shared the news with the Village Board on Monday evening when he gave a report about the season.

The visitor center used to be in City Hall. Last year, only 50 people stopped by the site. This year, with the Tourism Committee at the Santa House at Rotary Park, there were 184 visitors who stopped by for information about Medina, Hancock said. Those visitors were from 28 states and three countries.

“It was really nice to welcome them to Medina,” Hancock said.

The Tourism Committee’s volunteers have been running a welcome center for 10 years now, from Memorial Day to Labor Day. They keep the welcome center staffed from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., Monday through Friday.

“It was so much more enjoyable for them because we actually had visitors,” Hancock said. “We did tremendously better than we have ever done before.”

The Village Board approved the use of the Santa House this year and the board gave the Tourism Committee permission to use it again next year. Hancock said the committee will soon move out its brochures and tourism supplies so the building can be prepared for the upcoming Christmas season.

Visitors also provided feedback about downtown Medina and Hancock said the strongest suggestion was to have a public bathroom. He said the Village of Holley has “a gorgeous setup” at its canal park with public bathrooms and showers.

Hancock urged Medina to add public restrooms, a project that he said could be part of the village’s waterfront revitalization plan.

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Photo by Tom Rivers: This playground at Butts Park will be removed and replaced with a new one this weekend, with volunteers doing much of the work along with the Medina Department of Public Works.

MEDINA – A big turnout of volunteers is expected on Friday and Saturday to help build a new playground at Butts Park, Mayor Mike Sidari said.

Takeform Architectural Graphics, the Medina Fire Department and Medina teachers will all be helping to construct the new playground, as well as other volunteers.

The Medina Department of Public Works is taking out the old playground and will ready the site for the new construction.

Volunteers will be at the park to start work on Friday and Saturday at 10 a.m.

“It will be a great community event, a community build,” Sidari said.

In other action at the Village Board meeting on Monday:

• Renewed an agreement with Medina Central School where the district will pay the village $60,000 to have a police officer dedicated to the school district as a resource officer for 10 months. If that officer has to miss a day at the school to fill in on a regular shift, the district’s cost will be reduced by $350 each day. The $60,000 is the same as 2017-18.

• Hired Donato Rosario as a new firefighter/EMT. Rosario, 19, of Albion participated in a job shadow program with the fire department two years ago when he was a senior in high school.

He enjoyed it so much he switched his career plans from chiropractor to being a firefighter.

“This is exactly what our  shadowing program is all about,” Fire Chief Tom Lupo told the Village Board.

Rosario currently works for COVA with its ambulance service based in Hamlin. He will start with Medina on Oct. 8.

• Approved village water for the Aldi store on Maple Ridge Road, which is doing a small addition and store remodeling, the mayor said.

The company has to pay the village a $175 tap-in fee, and also assume the costs of running  a line to the site. Aldi also has to pay 1 ½ times the water rate as village residents.

• Announced that Beggar’s Night will be from 5:30 to 7 p.m. on Oct. 26, the last Friday in October. Many of the downtown businesses will be handing out treats to children in costume. Police Chief Chad Kenward said regular trick-or-treating hours will be from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. on Halloween, Oct. 31.

• Medina Business Association President Cindy Robinson informed the board that Ale in Autumn will be this Saturday and about 650 people are expected to attend the event, which includes beer tastings at many downtown locations.

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MEDINA – A new 5-kilometer race on Veterans Day will be a benefit for veterans in Orleans County.

Organizers Jennifer Thom and Sarah Levanduski-Surdel are creating Operation Honor, a non-profit organization, to raise money for veterans. Proceeds from the first race will go to the Warrior House in West Shelby, which provides a hunting retreat for wounded vets and children who have lost a parent in war.

The Medina Village Board approved the 5k during its meeting on Monday. The race will start at 11 a.m. on Nov. 11 at the Junior Wilson Sportsmen’s Club on Bates Road. The route goes through village and ends at Junior Wilson.

Operation Honor is seeking sponsors and participants for the 5k. For more information, check the group’s Facebook page.

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MEDINA – The Medina Village Board is planning to add a 2 percent occupancy or bed tax, with the funds targeted to boosting tourism and economic development in the village.

The village wants to promote those efforts in the village, but is limited with its resources right now. The board doesn’t want to raise property taxes.

It also has had its revenue from the local sales tax frozen since 1996 through a formula from the County Legislature. Medina also only gets $45,523 in state AIM (Aid and Incentives to Municipalities), an amount that has been unchanged for several years and is a tiny fraction of what the state gives a city.

Orleans County currently imposes a 4 percent bed tax that raises about $35,000 to support county tourism initiatives.

Medina wants to add an additional 2 percent tax for hotels, bed and breakfasts and other lodging establishments within the village.

Mayor Mike Sidari said he saw where Niagara Falls implemented its own bed tax to help with tourism and economic development projects.

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 soon break ground on Maple Ridge Road.

Before the Village Board approves the bed tax, village officials wants to make sure legally whether Medina has to specify how the money will be used. The proposal right now calls for it to go towards economic development and tourism.

However, Trustee Marguerite Sherman would like some leeway. She said replacing sidewalks and other community projects also could be considered a benefit for tourism and economic development.

The mayor said he will check with NYCOM (New York Conference of Mayors) to see if the village has to be specific in how it uses the bed tax.

Medina also will need the State Legislature to give the village the OK to collect the tax.

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Photos by Tom Rivers

MEDINA – The color guard for the Medina Mustang Marching Band makes its way on to the field on Saturday. The Mustangs hosted the Fall Festival of Bands at Veteran’s Memorial Park.

Medina’s score of 79.30 was the highest score among the top bands, which also included Falconer/Frewsburg, Marcus Whitman, Girard, Le Roy, Pioneer, Webster, Orchard Park, Jamestown and Lancaster.

Maisie Griffin is the drum major for Medina. She is ready to lead the band in its performance of “Together As One.” This is Medina’s 52nd year as a marching ensemble.

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Mustangs have highest score on the night

Photos by Tom Rivers

MEDINA – Anna Halpa, the drum major for the Webster High School Marching Band, practices with the band at halftime during Saturday’s fall Festival of Bands at Medina.

A spectacular sunset appeared in the sky about 7:15.

Webster was one of 10 bands that performed at Veteran’s Memorial Park in Medina. The bands performed for about three hours. Medina had the highest score on the night, although four of the bands were from larger schools.

The color guard performs with the Webster band. Webster’s show this year is called “Heart Strings.”

The Medina Mustang Band performs for the home crowd. Medina’s show is called “Together As One.” Medina had the top score at 79.30.

Here are the scores from Saturday:

Small School 3: 5th place – 60.40 – Falconer/Frewsburg; 4th place – 62.35 – Marcus Whitman; 3rd place – 63.80 – Girard; 2nd – 63.85 – Le Roy; 1st place – 65.00 – Pioneer.

Small School 1: 1st place – 79.30 – Medina.

Large School 2: 3rd place – 74.60 – Webster; 2nd place – 76.40 – Orchard Park; 1st place – 77.80 – Jamestown.

National: 1st place – 79.30 – Lancaster.

The color guard performs with the Medina Mustang Band.

Abigail Brudz, drum major for the Lancaster High School Marching Band, leads the 102 members of the group in their performance of “Path of Totality.”

Lancaster and many of the bands had elaborate sets and choreography as part of their performance.

Orchard Park performed “Mother Nature” and with a message: “That all living organisms are connected on this Earth. We must take care before it is too late!”

Orchard Park performs at Medina.

Jamestown’s band performed “Canon” and won first place among the large schools.

The color guard is a big part of the Jamestown band.

Each band had souvenir buttons for sale with the theme of the year’s show.

The Medina Band Booster Club sold refreshments by the field.

This is Medina’s 52nd year as a marching ensemble. The season concludes with the state championships at Syracuse on Oct. 28.

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Photos contributed by Nicole Goyette

MEDINA – Medina held a pep rally and parade on Friday afternoon. The homecoming court includes, from left: Ray Paull & Erin Dunham, Kody Leno & Jessica Granchelli, Jonathan Peitrafasa & Libby Cook, Dawson Brown & Ashton Laird, and King Isaiah Rhim and & Queen Rebecca Lunden.

Homecoming King Isaiah Rhim is joined by his football teammates during the parade of athletes.

The girls volleyball team is all smiles during the parade.

Cheerleaders from left include Meadow, Bobbie-Sue Fearby, Ashton Laird and Alexis Maron.

A musical chairs competition during the pep rally included Christopher Goyette, Alissa Blount, Caiden Class, Isabella Gray, Payton Denniston and Jackson McGrath.

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Photo by Tom Rivers: The old Medina High School on Catherine Street will host 29 artists next month as part of the “PLAY/GROUND” initiative.

MEDINA – The former Medina High School on Catherine Street, which most recently was used as a church, will host 29 artists next month as part of a new “PLAY/GROUND” initiative on Oct. 12-14.

“This a very exciting project,” said Anna Kaplan of Anna Kaplan Contemporary, a Buffalo gallery. “It’s basically a raw canvas. We’re letting the artists come in and basically play around, to be free and experiment.”

The artists are from Western New York, New York City and Toronto. Kaplan is helping to manage the show. Click here for more on PLAY/GROUND.

The 90,000 square foot school was built in 1924. Kaplan said the school will be radically transformed for the weekend by the artists.

“It will not feel like an old school,” she said. “It will be fun.”

The show is run by RESOURCE:ART, a fine art consultancy group that includes three independent WNY gallerists: Kaplan, Elisabeth Samuels (Indigo Art) and Emily Tucker (Benjaman Contemporary). Kaplan, Samuels, and Tucker each have extensive curatorial experience and professional relationships with artists working in a wide range of media.

RESOURCE:ART also manages the execution of site-specific fine art and considers every project as a unique collaboration between the artist and the site, navigating aesthetic, formal and functional concerns. RESOURCE:ART’s most recent project is “The Corridors Gallery at Hotel Henry,” a rotating exhibition program in partnership with  Hotel Henry in Buffalo. Click here for more on RESOURCE:ART.

Friday on Oct. 12 will be a big party with food and the options for alcohol. Saturday and Sunday (Oct. 13-14) there are ticket options for $10. A portion of the proceeds from all ticket sales will benefit the Orleans Renaissance Group, Inc.

The participating artists include Adam David Brown, Allen C. Topolski, Amanda Besl, Amanda Browder, Bethany Krull, Buffalo Institute for Contemporary Art (Emily Ebba Reynolds/Nando Alvarez-Perez), Catherine Heard, Chambliss Giobbi, Colleen Toledano, Coryn Kempster and Julia Jamrozik, Elizabeth Cooper, Ginny O’Brien, Jim Morris, John C. Santomieri, Jonathan Casey, Julian Montague, Katherine McMahon, Kyla Kegler, Kyle Butler, Lyla Rye, Melanie Fisher, Michael Bosworth, NC Miller, Reinhard Reitzenstein, Roberley Bell, Steven Pestana, Virginia Melynk, Virocode (Peter D’Auria and Andrea Mancuso), and Yvette Granata.

The event has been made possible by all of PLAY/GROUND’s generous sponsors including Agency 15, Bootleg Bucha, Hallwalls Contemporary Art Center, Hotel Henry, Imagine Staffing, Raclette’s, Rochester Contemporary Art Center (RoCo), and WNYBAC.

The school is planned to be redeveloped into unique loft apartments. That project is named “Mustang City” after the Medina High School mascot.

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MEDINA – There will be a ribbon-cutting celebration at 9 a.m. Oct. 1 for the merger of Medina Savings & Loan and Generations Bank.

The ribbon cutting will be at the Medina Savings & Loan site at 11182 Maple Ridge Rd.

The two banking organizations on March 5 announced they would be merging.

Medina Savings & Loan has roots in Medina since 1888. With the merger, Generations Bank will be the surviving entity.

Seneca-Cayuga Bancorp is the holding company for Generations Bank. The merger is expected to increase Seneca-Cayuga’s consolidated assets from $291 million at December 31, 2017 to $344 million.

Medina’s existing branch offices – Maple Ridge Road in Medina and inside the Wal-Mart on Route 31 in Albion – will become branch offices of Generations Bank and are expected to operate under the name “MSL, a division of Generations Bank” for at least two years after completion of the merger, according to an announcement from the banks in March.

Additionally, two members of Medina’s board of directors will become members of the boards of directors of Generations Bank, Seneca-Cayuga and The Seneca Falls Savings Bank, MHC, the mutual holding company of Generations Bank and the 56.9% majority shareholder of Seneca-Cayuga.

Under the terms of the merger agreement, depositors of Medina will become depositors of Generations Bank and members of the MHC, and will have the same rights and privileges in the MHC, as if their accounts had been established in Generations Bank on the date established at Medina.

As part of the transaction, Seneca-Cayuga will issue shares of its common stock to the MHC in an amount equal to the fair value of Medina as determined by a third-party appraisal. These shares are expected to be issued concurrent with the completion of the merger.

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Provided photo: Scott Robinson and Alix Gilman will be the Canal Village Food Tour hosts. The married couple recently moved back to Medina. They are the new owners of the Shirt Factory in Medina. Their blog– In A DC Minute — began in 2013 and served as a lifestyle blog highlighting food, drinks, travel and everything a couple might do and enjoy in the D.C. area. Their focus is now the Medina area and WNY.

MEDINA – The Orleans Renaissance Group, which organized a farm-to-table dinner in downtown Medina last month, is planning another event to showcase local food.

The ORG on Oct. 6 will have its first Canal Village Food Tour – a walking culinary tasting tour of historic downtown Medina.

Chris Busch, ORG chairman, said the event is the latest venture showcasing the village’s culinary scene and historic downtown.

ORG is collaborating with the Canal Village Farmers’ Market and the Shirt Factory for the event, which Busch said is a pilot for future food tours. He expects there will be many more in the future, perhaps near Christmas and definitely next summer.

The first tour is capped at 12 participants with tickets at $25 each. The tour begins at 10:30 a.m. on Oct. 6 at the Shirt Factory, 115 W Center St. Tickets are available, first come, first served at the Canal Village Farmers’ Market in Medina. Tickets will be available on Saturday beginning at 9 a.m.

ORG sees lots of potential in Medina’s growing culinary scene. More than 200 people paid $100 a plate last month for a six-course gourmet dinner prepared by five Medina area restaurants. That event was a quick sellout.

The food tour will feature many of the same chefs and restaurants. For approximately 2-3 hours, guests will enjoy a guided walking tour while experiencing downtown Medina’s rich history and exploring its expanding culinary culture—complete with delectable samplings along the way.

Tour guides are noted food bloggers Scott Robinson and Alix Gilman (In a D.C. Minute and owners of the Shirt Factory). They will share points of interest throughout the tour as guests take in the sights in Downtown Medina’s Historic District.

The tasting stops include: Canal Village Farmers’ Market, Zambistro, Mile 303, Herbalty Cottage, The Bread Basket, English Rose Tea Shoppe, and Della’s Chocolates. Beginning with the Canal Village Farmers’ Market. (Alcohol will be served at some of our tasting stops, so guests must be 21 and over, and present valid ID.)

From there, attendees will experience the interesting local history, culture and amazingly in-tact 19th Century architecture of a definitive Erie Canal town.

Gilman and Robinson will guide their guests through several tasty bites from some of Medina’s best purveyors of cuisine and goodies. As the tour progresses, organizers hope guests will be encouraged to explore Medina’s numerous specialty shops throughout downtown.

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Provided photo: The Medina Mustang Marching Band performs Saturday in Hilton. Medina will host the Fall Festival of Bands this Saturday at Vets Park.

Courtesy of Medina Mustang Band

MEDINA – The Medina Mustang Marching Band entered its first competition of the season on Saturday at Hilton where nine bands in five different classifications performed.

In SS1 Medina took first place with a score of 78.6 followed by East Irondequoit in second place with a score of 76.35. Other winners were LeRoy in SS3 with a score of 61.85; Hilton in LS3 at 68.55; Webster in LS2 with 74.4; and Victor in National class with a score of 82.35.

Medina’s show is entitled “Together As One” and is a play on the word “One” and incorporates its many meanings. Using the concepts of One Note, One Idea and One Section, the show goes on a musical journey that portrays all these simplistic yet profound ideas.

Visually shapes, a square, triangle and circle, were used to weave and spin the show concept.  In the finale the shapes come together as “One”.  The concept is simple and the message is that there is strength in coming together as one in our daily lives.

The show is under the direction of Jim Steele and the band is led onto the field by Drum Major, Maisie Griffin with the assistance of Drum Majors Alissa Blount and Ray Paul. Special thanks go out to the crew who built the props, headed by Shawn Callard.

Medina’s next performance is at their home show on Saturday at Vets Park. The gates open at 4:30 p.m. and the show starts at 6 p.m.

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Photos by Tom Rivers

MEDINA – Jeremy Brandenburg, 24, of Medina goes up a ramp and does a 180-degree turn during the Skate Jam on Saturday at Butts Park.

The event brought together people who enjoys skateboarding and scooters. Organizers also wanted to highlight some of the deficiencies at the skate park, including aging equipment and cracks in the asphalt surface.

Jeremy Brandenburg said some of the metal ramps are starting to separate where the metal pieces are joined. Those small cracks cause many of the skaters to wipe out, he said.

Jacob Neal, 11, of Albion whizzes by on his scooter. Some of skaters and riders received prizes for doing the best tricks during the Skate Jam.

Alex Feig was the lead organizer of the Skate Jam on Saturday. He used the event as an opportunity to survey skate park users. He said there are grants available to upgrade the current park or to build a new one. He is trying to gauge the interest in the community for an improved or new skate park.

The current skate park was built on a former tennis court and the 20-year-old ramps, ledges and quarter pipes. The asphalt is prone to deterioration.

“Skateboarding reaches kids who are not connected to traditional sports,” Feig said. “I want there to be a skate park where they want to come.”

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