The committee would like to see a pedestrian bridge across Glenwood Lake, from Boxwood Cemetery to near Gulf Street Park.

MEDINA – A committee working on a plan to better utilize Medina’s waterfront has identified 18 projects that would better capitalize land near the canal, Oak Orchard Creek and Glenwood Lake for economic development, tourism, recreational and residential development.

The Medina Local Waterfront Revitalization Program has been meeting for the past year to discuss ways to bolster the waterfront areas in the village. The group has worked with consultant Bergmann Associates in Rochester for a community survey and other public outreach.

The group has identified 18 projects in three categories – trail networks, community use of public land, and private investment:

• Streetscape improvements – Adding more crosswalks, benches and ways to make the downtown area more walkable.

• Wayfinding signs would direct people to sites and services in the community. The signs should be cohesive in their design and should note public parking.

• Gateway signage at the four main entrances leading into Medina.

• Façade improvements on the back sides of the buildings facing the Erie Canal. That could include awnings, benches, tables and chairs, which would make the sites more appealing.

• Trail enhancements – improve the surfaces that are in disrepair and fill other gaps so trails are continuous. Add signs to point people to services and tourism sites. Add benches and seating opportunities.

• Trailhead improvements especially at Bates Road trail which is on state-owned land.

The back side of buildings facing the canal in the Canal Basin could be more appealing with awnings, façade improvements, more landscaping and benches, as shown in this rendering by Bergmann.

• Gulf Street Park is currently underutilized. The site could use parking, sidewalks and a clear entrance. The park needs recreational opportunities, which could include a pickle ball court and soccer field.

• Pedestrian bridge over Glenwood Lake that would connect Boxwood Cemetery trail to Gulf Street Park. The bridge could also have a kayak launch nearby.

• Canal Basin Park – remove current retaining wall to create slope to water which would then have natural amphitheater seating, add more greenspace, improve parking, create an alleyway at back of buildings that connects to trailways.

Putting lights on the Glenwood Avenue canal bridge would draw more attention to these structures that are more than a century old.

• Butts Park is highly visible and accessible on Route 31. The committee recommends a new skate park, improved ball fields, a concession stand, better parking areas, and a trail and pedestrian bridge over Oak Orchard Creek from the park to the neighborhood on other side of creek.

• State Street Park has the benefit of being close to the downtown and is next to the canal. A new bandstand recently was completed at the park. The committee would like to see State Street Park become a year-round destination with an ice skating rink and a cohesive trail that connects to Laurel Street on the other side of the canal.

• Medina Falls Access Improvements – currently there is limited access and many people take a chance using an unsafe ladder to get near the falls. The committee would like to see an overlook that extends from the towpath to the falls. The project would need Canal Corp. approval and more analysis.

• Lions Park enhancements – This park on the northern side of the canal would benefit from trail enhancements, an improved towpath with lighting and benches. The committee also suggests a fitness trail at the park. The committee also would like to see lighting on the canal bridges at night.

A large municipal lot off East Center Street should be redone with more trees and an improved layout.

• Downtown public parking with more planters and greenspace to make the area more inviting.

• Pedestrian connections on Orient Street, East Center Street and from Medina Railroad Museum to downtown. That could include better sidewalks and patio seating in some locations.

• Boater amenities at State Street Park and Lions Park including tie-ups for motor boats and kayak launches.

• Private investments with tourism and hospitality development, including glamping (glamorous camping) and more camp sites so visitors would stay longer in the community.

• Mixed use development along canal with the current building used by Snappy Co. on Commercial Street. Snappy is looking to relocate. Its building could be converted into a site with retail shopping and residential apartments upstairs, with a boat launch on the canal.

• Residential development with the vacant space north of the canal along Ryan Street. This site is the area of the first Medina Sandstone quarry and also the former Sweet Ironworks. One of the Sweet buildings remains on site and could be used for a farmers’ market or gathering space. There is lots of room of site for new housing opportunities.

The committee picked projects to capitalize on Glenwood Lake.

The committee for the Medina Local Waterfront Revitalization Program will be submitting a draft of the plan for the state to review. It also needs a final local approval.

The document can be used to help Medina secure grant funding from the state for some of the projects.

Medina Mayor Mike Sidari thanked the committee members, Bergmann and residents who participated in the project. He said it gives Medina a good blueprint for the future.

“Just remember it’s a marathon and not a sprint,” he said.

Kathy Blackburn served as the committee chairwoman.

“We’re very excited about all of the projects,” she said.

Many of the projects are in the downtown area, Canal Basin, State Street Park and near the waterfalls.

Return to top

MEDINA – A local business is tapping into a hot trend by opening an indoor axe throwing facility. 810 Meadworks had an open house on Sunday where people were welcome to try out 810 Axes.

Indoor axe throwing has become very popular at bars throughout the country. 810 Axes will be forming leagues in September and also welcomes people to give it a try.

“We thought it would be a fun thing to do in Medina,” said Tim Elliott, the axe range manager for 810 Meadworks.

Tim Elliott, left, and Josh Cogovan are focused on the target as they compete in axe throwing.

Elliott helped Bryan and Larissa DeGraw, owners of 810 Meadworks, turn a back room at 810 Meadworks into the axe throwing range. The site at 113 West Center St. is next to the Beegarten, 810’s performing arts venue that hosts concerts most Saturday evenings.

810 put in two lanes for axe throwing. Each lane has two boards with a bullseye worth 5 points. Other close throws are worth 1 to 4 points, depending on how close they are to the bullseye.

They also put a metal roof on the area and added fencing in each lane. Elliott said safety is a top priority for participants.

Orleans Hub editor Tom Rivers gave axe throwing a try on Sunday and took a few throws before getting close to the bullseye.

810 made the lanes to meet the rules for the World Axe Throwing League.

Participants need to stand 12 feet away. The center of the bullseye is 5 feet up from the ground.

Josh Cogovan, 37, of Middleport tried axe throwing on Sunday and was sticking bullseye after a few throws. He can see why people like the activity.

“It’s something different,” he said. It’s user-friendly. Just about anyone can do it.”

Mary Dooley of Waterport, a former nationally ranked lumberjack and axe thrower, met with the public on Sunday at 810 Axes to talk about the sport. 810 Axes is different from her competitions, where there is a longer distance to throw and it is based outdoors. Dooley competed in ESPN’s “Outdoor Games.” She holds six world records and is a two-time women’s overall champion.

She liked the energy at 810 Axes on Sunday.

“It’s an amazing thing,” Dooley said watching the young adults give axe throwing a try. “This new generation is more extreme and adventurous.”

She praised the DeGraws and Elliott for developing the facility in Medina and for wanting to bring a popular pastime to Medina.

“Why not be on that edge where it is new and exciting?” Dooley said. “You don’t have to be athletic to do it.”

When someone hits the bullseye, 810 Axes rings a bell.

810 Axes will soon have league signups available on the 810 Meadworks website. The axe throwing is a new addition to the meadery which is celebrating its five-year anniversary next month.

Teams for the leagues will require four people and must be co-ed with at least one woman. The cost is $20 per person for about an hour of axe-throwing to be in the league. The matches in the league consists of three sets of five throws for each team member. The most points a participant can get in one set is 25 (5 points each for five bullseyes).

The winner of each set during league play will get a free drink from 810 Meadworks. Elliott said there will be other pop-up tournaments and chances for the public to play.

Return to top

MEDINA – After graduating from Medina High School in 1974, Donna Graves sat around a year, wondering what to do.

Out of the blue, she decided to join the Navy, but the day she went to the recruiting office, they hadn’t come back from lunch, but the Air Force recruiter was there and said, “You don’t want to join the Navy.”

This picture from the 1950s is the gas station formerly owned by Donna Graves’ parents, George and Gertrude Williams. It hangs on the wall of Rudy’s Restaurant on West Center Street in Medina, where the Sinclair Station was located.

So even though she had never seen an airplane up close, she joined the Air Force.

She grew up in Medina, a daughter of George and Gertrude Williams. The Williams were well known in Medina as owners of the Sinclair Station on West Center Street, now Rudy’s Restaurant.

Graves left Medina in January 1976 for Lackland Air Force Base, where she did her basic training. She completed four years in the Air Force.

After retiring from the military, Graves took a job as a budget analyst for the government, working in England. There, she met her first husband, an American military man. After they divorced, she married a man who worked for General Colin Powell in Georgia.

When both bases in Georgia were closed, Graves went to work for Delta as an international customer service agent out of Atlanta. She was working with Delta when 9-11 occurred, she said.

Graves was 52 when Delta was trying to downsize and offered her a package “I couldn’t resist,” she said. “I still had a few years until I could get my pension from the government, so I put my name out to the whole world and got a Civil Service job with the Air Force.”

She was sent to Elmandorf Air Force Base in Anchorage, where she worked as a budget analyst for three years, until she was transferred to Leavenworth.

Donna Graves, a Medina native, has always had an interest in aviation. Here, she holds a picture of a World War II-era plane whose owner uses it as a crop duster.

“I retired for the second time from there,” she said.

Her career path has always thrust her toward aviation. While she was working for Delta, she met a Georgia cropduster, who let her ride with him for two years in his Stearman.

“That was my first time in a small plane, and I learned a lot about radial engines,” Graves said.

She said Delta Airlines actually started as a crop services company called Delta Air Service.

When she came home after her second retirement to attend a funeral of a co-worker, she met the owner of Rochester Air Center. He runs a flight school and told her, “You’re always talking about airplanes, why don’t you come and volunteer at the Rochester Air Center.”

She did, and that probably influenced her to pursue and received her student pilot’s certificate.

Graves’ retirement was short-lived.

After returning to Medina, she was contacted in the spring by the government and offered a job with the U.S. Army Central Command as a systems accountant. USARCCENT, which is responsible for all of the Middle East activities, is known as “Patton’s Third Army.” She is working with the Third Army and many World War II veterans marched through Europe with General George Patton. Graves ex-father-in law was one of them.

Medina native Donna Graves has this envelope in which the widow of General George Patton sent a letter to Graves’ ex-father-in-law after the general’s death in December 1945. Charles Graves served with Patton and marched through Europe with the Third Army during World War II.

“After General Patton died in December 1945, my father-in-law wrote a letter to his widow Beatrice Patton about his passing,” Graves said. “She wrote a wonderful letter back to him and I have a photo of the envelope. I am not sharing the letter, which is beautiful, because I want to respect my ex-husband’s family. The stamp on the letter is sideways, which meant ‘friendship, thinking of you.’ It means so much to me that I even have the envelope, and now I work here where his portraits and memorabilia are housed.”

“I share my birthday with General Patton on Nov. 11,” Graves said.

When Graves, now 62, was hired it was for a six-month deal, she said. She left Medina in June to begin her new job in Georgia in a federal budget contracting position supporting operations in Kuwait. When she arrived, she learned her company had won a contract for an additional five years. She is now being transferred to South Carolina, but will come home at the end of the month to attend her 45th high school reunion and close her apartment.

“I need to work a few more years while I’m able to do so, and this will put me in a good position to buy a house when I’m ready to retire – for the third time,” she said.

Return to top

MEDINA – A unique business in Medina with a goal to provide peace and hope to those who walk through the door has opened a Himalayan salt room.

Bonnie Heck started Herbalty Cottage at 415 Main St. in 2015, after finding inspiration for the business following an automobile accident.

Her path of purified eating actually began back when her mother started an herb garden.

“I know traditional medications don’t always work and often leave side effects,” Heck said.

She was a piano teacher for 19 years, but after sustaining serious injuries in an automobile accident, she required treatment by a chiropractor. She eventually went to work for the chiropractor.

“I used to see patients come in for treatment and saw how small changes they made were improving their health,” Heck said. “But people had to travel to the city for many services and not all could do that.”

Heck decided to become a certified herbalist, a decision she doesn’t regret.

When she talks about the benefits of herbal remedies, she is talking from experience.

Several years ago, she was slicing vegetables on her mandolin when she slipped and cut off the end of her finger. Her husband immediately wanted to take her to the emergency room, but instead she made a list and sent him to her store. She made up a mixture of herbs and began drinking them daily, after securely bandaging her finger back on with gauze and tape.

“In a few days, I could see the finger was beginning to re-attach itself,” Heck said.

Now she extends her finger for anyone to see, pointing out there is barely a scar.

Herbalty Cottage at 415 Main St., Medina, recently opened this Himalayan salt room, in which 45 minutes results in the same health benefits as three days by the sea.

The Himalayan salt room is her latest addition of services.

Herbalty Cottage already offered Far Infrared saunas with light therapy, nutrition and wellness consultations and interactive wellness classes. Her daughter Lindsay is a certified reflexologist and performs reflexology, an ancient practice which helps professionals determine health and wellness of clients by working the hands and feet.

“By massaging the hands or feet and working the vita-flex points, a reflexologist can determine what is going on with every system and organ in your body,” Heck said.

Herbalty Cottage carries a full line of purely organic herbs, teas, gourmet olive oils, balsamic vinegars, essential oils and body butters, soaps and scrubs, in addition to the Himalayan salt products, which Heck imports from Pakistan.

The salt comes from rock mined near the foothills of the Himalayas, and some people say it is one of the purest salts available. Himalayan salt has 84 percent of trace minerals, which everyone is lacking in, Heck said. It is not only used like regular salt for cooking, but is used in bath salts, which claim to improve skin conditions and soothe sore muscles.

Heck carries salt lamps, which she claims remove air pollutants and relieve asthma, allergies, sinus and COPD.

“No matter how you use our products – whether eating, drinking or breathing them, it is going to help in some way,” Heck said.

She is excited about the Himalayan salt room. A 45-minute session in the salt room brings the same benefits as being on the beach for three days, Heck said.

“It brings peace and relieves depression,” she said.

Heck said Medina is a wonderful community in which to do business.

“The businesses are amazing and everyone works well together,” she said.

Herbalty Cottage is open from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Tuesday through Friday and from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday. Extended hours are available on Tuesday and Thursday evenings for the salt room.

For more information or to book sauna or salt room appointments, call 798-5800.

Return to top