Photo by Ginny Kropf: This is the bomber jacket Scott Cielewich had made to duplicate one worn by his father Don, a B-17 pilot in World War II.

Editor’s Note: This is the third in a  three-part series about the Jack, Don and Scott Cielewich. 

MEDINA – By 2000, Don Cielewich’s son Scott’s interest in his dad’s service during World War II had peaked and he and his wife Jamie set out to find some answers.

He had tracked down Don’s co-pilot Leonard Moen in California and called him. Scott and Jamie were invited to visit him in California, and they spent several days there. The man owned a machine shop and took Scott and Jamie there. Then he went through the entire story of their mission.

“It was like it was yesterday,” Scott said. “The details were amazing. Later, he sent me an e-mail, so I had that for reference. I’ve kept it with all of dad’s memorabilia.”

Then he began thinking about what he was going to do with all the stuff, and that’s when the idea hit him about retracing his father’s last mission.

In 2018, Scott and Jamie left Orlando and flew to London, where a bus tour awaited them. One of the places they visited was Thorpe-Abbotts field, where his dad had flown out of. It was also the same place featured in the Tom Hanks/Steven Spielberg series, “Masters of the Air.” Thorpe-Abbotts was a regular Air Force base when Don was there. The Corps of Engineers had built it out of farmland, and it had kind of reverted back, except for the runway and a World War II Museum.

The Bloody 100th Bomb Group flew out of there and were involved in all the big bombing missions of 1942, ’43 and ’44.

“They lost a lot of men and planes,” Scott said. “Leonard said when you were assigned there, it was a death sentence.”

As Scott and Jamie were getting off the bus, a man came up and asked if he was related to Don Cielewich.

“I told him that was my dad, and he said he wanted to show me something,” Scott said. “The English were so grateful for American support and intervention and what we did for their country. They still do archeological digs and find all kinds of things soldiers lost. At the end of the tour, we went in a control tower where there were little offices in back, and over one doorway was Dad’s and Mr. Moen’s names, with ‘Hard Luck’ burned into the wood. It was like a miracle.”

The men had leather jackets with a lamb’s wool collar and “Hard Luck” on the back.

“I am having one made now just like it,” Scott said.

Scott said he couldn’t believe the things that happened during their trip. They flew from England to Germany, where they discovered the tour agent had got in touch with a retired German officer who was a military historian.

“We went to the town where Dad’s plane went down, and we learned it didn’t just land in the forest, it hit a barn and exploded, killing 10 people,” Scott said.

With the help of the historian, they located kin of some of the deceased and met them.

“They opened their houses to us,” Scott said. “We weren’t sure how they’d welcome us. The community has a remembrance ceremony in the cemetery every year on the anniversary of the plane going down, and we send flowers every year.”

From there, Scott and Jamie were taken to the spot where his dad was captured by the German farmer, then to where he was interrogated. Moen told Scott that was where he and Don were reunited. Next they went to Stalag Luft III, which was Germany then, but it is Poland today. They visited the prison where Don was a POW. They have a museum there and Scott saw his father’s ID cards, with his picture and fingerprints.

“The guide took us on an extensive tour, including where the march started in January 1945. It was snowing and there were little provisions for the prisoners,” Scott said. “The first night the prisoners stayed in a church and we were taken there.”

They next flew to Munich, where they got to go to Moosburg and learned the full story of what happened there.

“The prison camp was built for 10,000, but by the time Dad got there, they had more than 70,000,” Scott said.

During their trip, they were interviewed by a German newspaper.

“What shocked me most during the trip was the fact Dad’s plane crashed into that barn, and meeting the families of those killed,” Scott said. “The lady of the house we met and I both cried, and Jamie gave her her scarf.”

Scott has since donated all his memorabilia to the World War II Museum in New Orleans.

He and Jamie collect antique automobiles and they have consigned a 1955 MG TF1500 to be sold and the proceeds donated to the World War II Museum, to pay for the two hotel rooms there which they have dedicated to the memory of their fathers.

In addition to Don’s service flying B-17s in World War II, Jamie’s father was a bombardier on B-24s in North Africa and Italy. He flew 50 combat missions and received the Distinguished Flying Cross. Instead of returning home, he volunteered to become a B-51 pilot and completed his training as the war ended.

The rooms at the Higgins Hotel, part of the World War II Museum, each have a plaque with a picture of the men in uniform and a second plaque with a summary of their war service.

“My wife and I have made it our mission to keep the stories of these brave men alive to remind future generations of the debt we all owe that generation for responding to the call of service at our nation’s most vulnerable moment,” Scott said.

Click here to see the first part of the series: “The last ‘smithy’ in Medina served in World War I”

Click here to see the second part of the series: “WWII pilot from Medina survived being prisoner of war after bailing out of plane”

Photos by Ginny Kropf: (Left) Rob Klino, owner of Thistle Ridge at 418 Main St., Medina, pours a cup of hot cocoa for shopper Donna Irneweine of Albion, during his Shop, Sip and Win days on Friday and Saturday. (Right) Rob Klino stands among his collection of MacKenzie-Childs home decor in his Main Street store.

MEDINA – When it comes to creative marketing, Rob Klino has hit on the perfect way to entice customers out in the cold weather, while helping to promote a similar business in Medina.

Klino, owner of Thistle Ridge, came up with a unique idea to spruce up business in January, when things are usually slow.

He contacted Danette Oakes, who owns Filomena’s Favorites at 4237 South Gravel Rd., and is really a competitor, and asked her to join him in a new, fun way to drum up business.

He devised “Shop, Sip and Win,” in which he and Oakes each set up a hot cocoa bar in their stores. Shoppers walk in either store, shop, look around, have a cup of hot chocolate and a sweet snack and then fill out an entry, which they take to the other store and deposit in a drawing to win a $20 gift card.

“The customers loved it and it has been very productive,” Klino said.

Both he and Oakes said business has been unusually brisk both Friday and Saturday.

Danette Oakes, founder of Filomena’s Favorites at 4237 South Gravel Rd., holds portraits of her mom and dad, in whose store in Perry she learned how to treat customers as a child. The Walt’s Men and Boys Wear sign, under which she is standing, was the sign that hung on her parents’ business. Oakes partnered with Rob Klino in his Shop, Sip and Win event this weekend.

Donna Irneweine of Albion came into Thistle Ridge with her friend, Vickie Robinson of Lyndonville.

“We have been doing business with Rob for a long time and love to come in here and shop,” Irneweine said. “We are big followers of his estate sales. There are lots of treasures here, and we usually find something we want.”

Saturday was no exception, when Robinson spotted to antique metal boxes, which she had to have.

After enjoying a cup of hot, delicious cocoa, they were on their way to Filomena’s Favorites.

Klino opened Thistle Ridge in May 2023. He is planning to expand the consignment business and his line of MacKenzie-Childs home décor, which he describes as “primitive, farmhouse fabulous items.”

At Filomena’s Favorites, named after Oakes’ grandmother, she explained she got her first taste of working in a store when she was 8 or 10 and helped in her parents’ store, Walt’s Men and Boys Wear, in Perry.

“I started doing crafts and selling them when I was 21 and I’m 60 now,” she said. “I was on East Center Street and ran that for four years, then I purchased this building, which will be five years in August. I just love it here,” she said of the location, which used to be the Mill Run Restaurant.

Oakes was overjoyed that Klino reached out to her to participate in his promotion.

In May, June and July, Oakes runs a big flea market there, followed by an antique and homemade primitive show in September. She has added a mini shed with collectibles, she calls “Crabapple Creek,” and eventually wants to have a little village of single shops.

“I love Rob’s idea of ‘Shop, Sip and Win,’” Oakes said. “It is the first time in the eight years I’ve been in business someone has asked me to participate with them.”

She said she always tries to help anyone who needs it, so it is heartwarming someone wanted to help her. She sells candy bars to benefit PAWS Animal Shelter and spring bouquets for Hospice.

It’s a sure bet both Klino and Oakes will be receptive to trying Shop, Sip and Win again on a cold January day.

Plaque for Jack Cielewich will be restored noting Medina’s last blacksmith shop in the Canal Basin

Provided photos: This was the blacksmith shop owned by the late John “Jack” Cielewich, the last blacksmith in Orleans County, before it was demolished in 1979. Jack’s grandson Scott Cielewich of Florida has agreed to pay for restoration of the plaque.

Editor’s Note: The following story will run in three parts, highlighting the career of Medina’s last blacksmith, John “Jack” Cielewich; his son, the late Don Cielewich, who became top executive for Marine Trust, was a B-17 pilot and POW in World War II; his son Scott’s journey to retrace his father’s last mission in Europe; and efforts to restore a historic plaque in the Canal Basin paying tribute to Don’s father, Jack Cielewich.

MEDINA – A Medina native who recently reached out to Mayor Marguerite Sherman about restoring a historic plaque paying tribute to his grandfather has brought back a lifetime of memories for the family and friends.

Scott Cielewich, who lives in Florida, is the son of the late Don and Ruth Cielewich, both Medina natives. Don was the son of John Cielewich, a well-known and much-loved Medina businessman, who ran a blacksmith shop in the Canal Basin.

This story was brought to light by Chris Busch, the Godson of Don Cielewich, and whose parents were lifelong friends of Don and Ruth.

Busch was in junior high school when he became acquainted with John “Jack” Cielewich. He and his friend Randy Holbrook wandered into the blacksmith shop one day after school. By then, Jack had stopped blacksmithing, but would craft an occasional piece out of iron, and his craftsmanship fascinated the young boys.

Jack had created an antique shop there by then, and had a lot of military items, which captured Busch’s eye. He and Randy visited the shop almost every day. The interests fostered there resulted in Busch beginning to collect memorabilia from both World War I and II.

The plaque will be refurbished. It highlights the last blacksmith shop in Orleans County.

Jack had served in World War I and the stories he told Busch and Holbrook kept them wide-eyed and rapt with fascination, Busch said. Jack was drafted in April 1918 and served as a lanyard man on a French 75mm gun with the 308 Battalion Field Artillery. He spent 122 straight days on the front and participated in many of the great actions of the war. He endured gas attacks and constant shelling.

“We absolutely loved him,” Busch said.

John “Jack” Cielewich was the son of William Cielewich, who immigrated in 1889 from Poland, where he had been a blacksmith for 63 years. Jack began as a blacksmith in 1922, and bought the business from his father in 1946, when they built the shop in the basin. He retired from blacksmithing in 1956 and began buying and selling antiques and collectibles.

On Aug. 2, 1979, an editorial in the Medina Daily Journal paid tribute to the blacksmith shop’s final day.

It read, “It took only an hour or so to reduce it to kindling wood and cart it away, but with it went centuries of an industry that once was one of Medina’s most needed and frequented.

“The former Cielewich blacksmith shop became the victim of the bulldozer and the debris was carted away to make room for additional parking space in the canal basin area. It was the last reminder of a half dozen or more ‘smithy’ establishments that were a flourishing necessity back in the horse and buggy days.

“The small building on Mill Alley was donated to the village by Don Cielewich, son of the last of the ‘smithies’ in Medina. The late Jack Cielewich, who in his later years forsook the anvil to pursue his hobby of antique collecting, was the last of the family to be identified with the profession.”

This story continues with Scott’s offer to pay for restoration of John’s deteriorated historic marker in the canal basin.

Because of his connection to the family, Busch, who is president of Orleans Renaissance Group, told the mayor ORG would coordinate the restoration of Jack’s plaque.

“It’s in pretty rough shape,” Busch said. “Once it has been fully refurbished, we will hold off on reinstalling it in the basin until the New York Forward grant work unfolds. We’ll then make a determination as to how and where we might display it in a more suitable manner.”

Busch reached out to Scott to let him know he would be overseeing the restoration.

“During the e-mail exchange, I told Scott I had watched ‘Masters of the Air,’ and while watching the combat scenes, I thought emotionally about Don’s experience. Our dads were both World War II pilots. It was then Scott shared with me his journey to retrace his father’s flight and capture.”

Regarding Don, Busch said Jack once told him the conditions in the POW camp were desperate.

“He recounted one story where the guards would receive potatoes, boil water and pour it over them, then give the water to the prisoners as their ‘potato soup,’ and eat the potatoes themselves,” Busch said.

Don made a name for himself in the banking world and rose to a prestigious position with Marine Trust. Starting as a mail clerk in 1947 at Medina’s Marine office, he retired in 1987 as president and chief executive of Marine’s Delaware Bank. He won numerous awards in Delaware and in 2009 was named to Medina High School’s Alumni Hall of Fame. Wherever he lived throughout his life, he was a pillar of his community.

It was Don’s service in World War II and Scott’s desire to retrace his father’s military experience which the next two parts of this series will highlight.

In addition to Don’s military service, Jamie’s father was a B-24 pilot in World War II. Before his death, Scott said a B-24 was touring the country and came to Florida. They wanted to take her father for a ride, but he declined.

“I just can’t do it,” he told them. “I still have nightmares about those planes.”

Like Jamie’s dad, Don never talked about the war.

“I heard bits and pieces when I was young, but I just thought my dad went to war,” Scott said. “I was always in awe of him. He died of a heart attack at the age of 67, and I wish I could have had more time with him.”

Note from Ginny Kropf: As a Medina native, I knew Don and in 2011, I wrote a column about him, after receiving a letter from Robert Emens of Batavia, who had saved a clipping of the Rochester Democrat and Chronicle dated Sept. 30, 1946, in which there was a lengthy article about Don and a letter he received from the German who befriended him when his plane went down.

Photos by Tom Rivers

MEDINA – These kids are delighted at watching Elena, a hula hoop performer, on Friday night when Billy Martin’s Cole All Star Circus came to Medina Wise Middle School Gym.

Billy Martin welcomes a crowd of 400 to the Medina gym on Friday evening. A second show was added later because there were so many people waiting to get in.

Martin, an Olean native, is in his 48th year in the circus business. The circus performs in about 150 schools each year. It started the season on Jan. 11 in Lyons.

An enthusiastic crowd filled the gym at Wise Middle School.

The group performed in Albion on Thursday and Medina on Friday. They will be back in Orleans County later next week. They will be in Holley on Jan. 23 at 6:30 p.m. in the elementary school gym, and then Kendall on Jan. 24 at 6:30 p.m. at jr.-sr. high school gym.

Elena Aristov dazzled the crowd with the hula hoops are the first act in the circus.

Elena Aristov performs with light up hula hoops. The circus had dramatic lighting during the performance.

Kaya Bloom of Medina gets an inflatable Spider Man for her son, Chancellor, 4.

These aerial performers were up high in blacklight outfits.

This performer juggled and balanced many plates during his routine.

Brylee Holloway, 8, of Medina is delighted with the face painting by Elena Aristov.

Neal Keirn relished ‘dream job’ past 18 years, especially train excursions for Medina Railroad Museum

Photo by Brody George, conductor: Neal Keirn of Middleport waves from the engine as he passes the Medina Railroad Museum on Friday, his last day as engineer before retirement. He began his dream job exactly 18 years earlier on Jan. 17, 2007.

MIDDLEPORT – Neal Keirn began his dream job with the Falls Road Railroad on Jan. 17, 2007.

On Friday, exactly 18 years to the day, he climbed into engine #2035 for the last time.

Keirn has had a passionate infatuation with the railroad since he was a little boy, growing up across from the tracks in Middleport.

“As a kid I hung around the railroad,” Keirn said. “I’d be watching them switch cars and the engineer would let me climb in the engine with him. I got the idea that would be a fun thing to do.”

As he grew older and reached his teens, he began to understand how the railroad worked and about becoming an engineer.

“But in the mid ’70s, Penn Central had gone bankrupt, four other railroads that served the area went bankrupt and the other railroads weren’t hiring,” he said. “Conrail was the major railroad, made up of seven bankrupt railroads.”

Realizing a career on the railroad didn’t look promising, Keirn went to work for Middleport Lumber (Rhinehart’s).

“I was happy working there,” he said. “I eventually delivered coal for them. I ended up there for 20 years.”

When GVT took over the Falls Road line, Keirn got to know the guys through Rhinehart’s, he said. When the train would be switching cars for Barden Homes, Keirn would go out and talk to them.

Engineer Neal Keirn is shown at the controls of Engine 2035 last summer when he was featured on WKBW Channel 7 by feature reporter Mike Randall, shown here blowing the whistle as they went through Medina.

A couple of years later, Keirn met the general manager of the railroad, Matthew Ronski, who said he wanted to see Keirn.

“How would you like to come and work for the railroad,” he asked Keirn.

Keirn’s reply was, “Let me think about it,’” followed by an immediate, “yes.”

About two weeks later, Keirn was at the engine house in Lockport when he was told there was going to be a big increase in traffic on the Falls Road Railroad, which goes from Lockport through Orleans County to Brockport.

“We are going to need more help,” the manager told Keirn. “Get your training going.”

Keirn started his engineer’s training and received his license when he turned 40.

A short time later, Keirn learned what the increase in traffic was when the announcement came out that Western New York Energy was building an ethanol plant in Medina. That would end up requiring as many as 65 grain cars brought in and out every week and a half. Tropicana’s expansion in Brockport now requires 15 to 18 tank cars in and out every week. More business resulted when Helena Chemical relocated to Allis Road, just east of Medina.

“When I first started, we ran on Falls Road two days a week, now we’re running three days,” Keirn said. “The other days, we are in Batavia. The way it sounds, more business is coming for Falls Road.”

He has loved nearly every minute of his job, especially being engineer for Medina Railroad Museum’s excursions. Praise from Rick Henn, Museum board member and head conductor on train excursions, has meant the world to Keirn, he said.

“I tried very hard to do a good job, starting slowly and stopping smoothly with all the young passengers,” Keirn said. “It was very rewarding to hear I was doing my best.”

“We can always tell when you’re running the train,” Henn once told Keirn.

Photo by Ginny Kropf: The sign on the front of the locomotive signals Neal Keirn’s last day as engineer on the Falls Road Railroad, before he begins retirement.

For 10 years, Keirn has trained locomotive engineers and numerous conductors, in which he took a lot of pride, he said.

The only downside to his job has been four incidents at grade crossings, Keirn said, none of which were his fault. Two occurred on Hulberton Road; another was when a woman skidded onto the tracks in Batavia on a snowy day; and another last June when a truck stalled on the tracks on Fancher Road. Fortunately, none of the incidents resulted in any serious injuries.

Keirn is married to the former Roberta “Gilly” Blount of Medina and they have two daughters.

Keirn turned 67 last July and he began to think about retiring at the end of the year.

“I was exploring my retirement options when the representative from the railroad’s retirement fund asked me how firm I was on that date,” Keirn said. “He told me if I stayed into 2025, it would mean more in my retirement.”

That’s when he realized if he stayed until Jan. 17, he would have completed exactly 18 years on the job.

He has lots of things planned for his retirement, not least of all is working on his model trains. His wife does all sorts of crafts and he helps her when she needs something built. In September they are planning a family wedding in San Diego.

“I’ve enjoyed what I accomplished with the railroad and I’d do it again in a heartbeat,” Keirn said.

On Friday, one of his daughter’s made him a sign for the front of his engine, which read, “Last Run, Engineer Neal Keirn, 1/17/2025.”

He had a special whistle which he blew, along with the traditional warning blasts at each crossing along the way. In Medina, he slowed the train and waved out the window to well-wishers who came out to give him one final goodbye wave.

Photos by Tom Rivers

MEDINA – It was the biggest crowd yet this season for the Finally Fridays! Concerts at Lee-Whedon Memorial Library.

More than 200 people attended this evening’s concert by the rock and roll band Stanton.

Dillon Hirsch sings with the band this evening. He is filling in for the band’s usual singer, Greg Stanton. Mike Zelazny is playing the guitar at right.

The Stanton band playing cover tunes from Doobie Brothers, Tom Petty, Tragically Hip, the Byrds, Joe Cocker, Traveling Wilburys, Barry McGuire, J.J. Cale, America, Allman Brothers, Eric Clapton, the Who, Beatles, Steppenwolf, Roy Orbison, Kiss, Rolling Stones, Monkees, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Bad Company, Marshall Tucker Band, Van Morrison and John Mellencamp.

The band includes Dillon Hirsch on vocals (usually Greg Stanton), Matt Stanton on bass (back left), Frank Sarchia on drums, Rick Braham of guitar (lower left) and Mike Zelanzy on guitar (lower right).

This group worked together on a puzzle while listening to the music.

Finally Fridays! is a free musical series during the winter months of January and February.

The series started in January 2002. Concerts start at 7 p.m., with doors opening at 6 p.m.

The series kicked off with Creek Bend on Jan. 3, followed by 2nd Time Around on Jan. 10.

The schedule the rest of the series includes:

• Jan. 24 – Stone Circle, playing Irish folk
• Jan. 31 – “A” Blues Band, playing blues
• Feb. 7 – 104 Country, playing country
• Feb. 14 – Batavia Swing, playing swing music
• Feb. 21 – Hocus Polkas, polka
• Feb. 28 – Salvatore, playing classic rock
• March 7 – snow date

MEDINA – Two trustee positions are up for election in the Village of Medina. The spots are for two-year terms that are currently filled by Jess Marciano and Diana Baker.

Village residents can circulate petitions that need to be signed by at least 100 registered voters in Medina. Those petitions can be picked up at the village clerk’s office and must be turned in the week of Feb. 6-11.

The Village Board on Monday set the election for March 18 with voting from noon to 9 p.m. at the Senior Center on West Avenue.

The winners in the election will start their terms on April 1.

The board on Monday also named the election inspectors for the election. Judy Szulis, Norma Huth, Linda Deyle and Mary Ann Ander will be the election inspectors with Szulis as the chairwoman. Szulis will be paid $18 an hour while the other three inspectors are to be paid $17 an hour.

MEDINA – The Medina Village Board approved a 3-year contract with the union representing employees in the Department of Public Works. The 12 members of the union will receive 3 percent annual raises, and longevity bonuses will be boosted by another $100.

The agreement is effective from June 1, 2024 to May 31, 2027.

The longevity bonuses starts after seven years of service, and has been $825. It will now be at $925. The bonus increases each year after seven years.

Village Trustee Jess Marciano was on the negotiating committee, talking with the DPW union.

“It was a give and take,” she said at Monday’s board meeting.

The contract doesn’t include the DPW superintendent, Jason Watts.

The board on Monday also appointed a new mechanic in the DPW. Daniel O’Connor will start on Feb. 3.

The board accepted the resignation of Dustin Wells as a motor equipment operator. The village is accepting applications to fill that vacancy until Jan. 27.

Village board members also voted to give Police Chief Todd Draper permission to call for the Civil Service list so he can fill three vacancies in the Police Department.

Press Release, Medina Fire Department

Photo courtesy of Medina Fire Department: Medina firefighters helped bring a male ashore who was stranded on a small island on the Oak Orchard Creek this morning.

MEDINA – Today at 9:46 a.m., the Village of Medina Fire Department was dispatched to Butts Park for a male stranded on a small island in the middle of Oak Orchard Creek.

Medina Police arrived on scene prior to the Fire Department and they kept the male calm. Medina Engine 11 and a Medina ambulance arrived on scene within three minutes with rescuers already suited up in surface ice/cold water rescue suits.

Due to extremely cold temperatures and a fast current, the Shelby and Ridgeway Fire Departments were dispatched to the scene for manpower and cold water rescue gear.

Under the command of Medina Fire Chief Matt Jackson, following all safety precautions, including safety lines, two rescuers entered the water. Upon reaching the island, a rescue ring was firmly secured around the patient’s chest.

After a few minutes of calming and reassuring the patient, the rescuers and patient were pulled safely to shore 25 minutes after the time of dispatch. Subsequently, the patient was transported to a hospital to be treated for probable hypothermia.

Thanks to our dispatchers, Medina Police, and the Shelby and Ridgeway Fire Departments for all their assistance this morning.

This emergency reminds us that frigid water is unsafe water. A person falling into frigid water can be quickly incapacitated by the effects of hypothermia and drown.

Vitality Village will have 18 upscale one-bedroom and studio apartments

Photo by Ginny Kropf: The former Applegate Manor at left and medical building at right are being repurposed by new owners, Joe and Jacquie Morgante. Applegate will reopen this summer as upscale one-bedroom and studio apartments, while the other building will house medical professional offices.

MEDINA – A former assisted living complex on Ohio Street is seeing new life, as renovations progress to turn it into high-end apartments.

Applegate Manor closed after Covid-19 in 2020 and was sold to Eric Watson Enterprises, whose intentions were to develop it, until Joe and Jacquie Morgante of Clarence made an offer to buy it.

The Morgantes had already bought The Willows, which they run with her niece Jordan.

“Jacquie and I have been investing in real estate in Niagara, Orleans and Genesee counties for the past five or six years, including The Willows,” Joe said.

The Morgantes purchased Applegate in August 2023, and spent six months planning a design. Relentless Construction of Holley was hired to do the work.

As an assisted living complex, Applegate had 24 rooms. The new space will be called Vitality Village and offer 18 upscale one-bedroom and studio apartments.

Courtesy of Vitality Village: This rendering shows the design for Vitality Village, which is expected to open in July.

The interior has now been gutted down to the studs, Joe said. Each apartment will be named after a Medina landmark, such as the Sandstone Suite, Oak Orchard Retreat and Boxwood Garden Loft.

An artist’s rendering of the rooms and prices can be found on the website www.vitalityvillagemedina.com.

A separate commercial building next to the residential unit, nearer the street, will be called Vital Village Feel Your Best Center and will house medical offices. Joe hopes to fill it with medical professionals, such as a chiropractor, physical therapist, dentist, etc.

The plan is to open the residence first, hopefully by July, followed by the office complex in September.

“It has been great so far being in business in Medina,” Joe said. “The town has been very supportive, helping us with construction.”