Provided photos – Medina flute players practice for tonight’s concert at 7, when 50 students in grades 4 through 12 will perform together.
Press Release, Medina Central School
Medina School District flute students in grades 4 through 12 have been preparing a special piece for the district concert at 7 this evening at the High School.
An ensemble of more than 50 flautists have been working on a trio arrangement of the popular song “Twist and Shout” first recorded by the Isley Brothers in 1962 and later covered by many different groups including The Beatles.
The trio was arranged by flute player Tammy Rohring, who is the elementary band teacher for the Wilson Central School District. She arranged the music to have three different levels of playing ability for elementary, middle, and high school aged players.
“This is a wonderful opportunity for younger students to work with older students,” said Jeanette Sheliga, Medina elementary band teacher. “They see and hear what they can accomplish with continued practice.”
Sixth grade flute students also commented on their experience of playing in the Flute Ensemble.
“It was cool hearing high schoolers play,” said Hannah Kenward.
Brooklyn Brown enjoyed hearing different ages playing different parts, and Amanda Woodruff said the opportunity allowed her to meet other flute players.
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 23 March 2015 at 12:00 am
Mark Irwin, a village official the past 18 years, attends his last Village Board meeting tonight after opting against re-election on March 18. Irwin has been a village trustee the past six years, and was on the Village Board for 12 years before that. Trustee Mike Sidari is at right.
MEDINA – Two Village Board members were praised for their service tonight, the final meeting of their terms as village trustees.
Both Mark Irwin and Mark Kruzynski opted against re-election on March 18, when Todd Bensley and Owen Toale were elected.
Irwin served three terms over six years. He favored the dissolution of the village government, seeing it as an effective way to lower the tax burden on village residents. A referendum to dissolve the village failed, 949-527 on Jan. 20.
“The dissolution vote was good for the community,” Irwin said during tonight’s Village Board meeting. “It was a good airing out.”
He regretted the Medina community continues to have the highest combined tax rate – village, town, county and school district – in the Finger Lakes region at $57.27 per $1,000 of assessed property. Irwin said that high tax rate devalues homes and drives away potential residents and businesses.
Mark Kruzynski
“Sadly, Medina is still the highest,” Irwin said about the tax rate. “I don’t think that’s anything any one of us can be proud of.”
He wished the incoming board success in bringing down the tax rate. The Village Board will meet with officials from the towns of Shelby and Ridgeway at 7 p.m. on April 15 to discuss shared services. The session will be at the Shelby Town Hall.
“There’s been much talk about shared services,” Irwin said. “I hope it comes to be. So far those talks haven’t been too fruitful.”
Irwin is a retired corrections officer. In his outgoing remarks tonight he mentioned the late Ernie Orgar, Tom White and Marcia Tuohey as dedicated village officials who influenced him, offering encouragement even when they differed on issues.
Kruzynski, Medina’s high school principal, has been on the board for four years, following two years as an alternate on the Planning Board. Kruzynski thanked the village employees and the board members for their dedicated service to the community.
Trustees Marguerite Sherman and Mike Sidari thanked Irwin and Kruzynski for their countless hours on the community’s behalf the past several years.
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 23 March 2015 at 12:00 am
MEDINA – The Village Board has been told it has violated Civil Service rules by having temporary paid firefighters for an extended period.
Jack Welch, the Orleans County director of personnel, advised the Village Board members last week that the village needs to address the situation.
The village created a temporary paid firefighter position 18 months ago. It was first created for a year and then was extended another six months. The Village Board created a second temporary paid position about six months ago.
Fire Chief Todd Zinkievich asked the Village Board tonight to make the two positions permanent. He estimated the two positions, as permanent full-time jobs, would cost about $4,000 to $4,500 more each annually than the temporary positions. That doesn’t include health insurance costs.
Zinkievich said the two positions have helped reduce overall overtime costs for the department, and also allows the department to answer nearly every call on a speedy basis. He said revenue increases in the ambulance service – higher mileage reimbursement rates and increased out-of-district charges – should more than cover the added expense for the two full-time permanent positions.
Village Trustee Marguerite Sherman said the board would likely request a little more time from Welch to resolve the issue. The board briefly discussed the matter during its meeting tonight, before going into executive session behind closed doors.
Zinkievich urged the board to reach a decision soon.
“We need to have serious dialogue,” he said. “We can’t let this drag out.”
The fire chief said the union for firefighters is willing to make concessions in its new contract if the village would make the two positions permanent.
Zinkievich also reported that firefighter Ashton Lang passed the test to serve as a paramedic.
“We have another paramedic on staff so that is excellent,” Zinkievich said.
Contributed Story Posted 20 March 2015 at 12:00 am
Photos courtesy of Erin Mufford
LYNDONVILLE – Thomas Follman of Lyndonville plays Shrek and Regan Stacey of Medina is Fiona in “Shrek,” which will be performed in Lyndonville 7:30 p.m. today, 7:30 p.m. on Saturday and 2 p.m. on Sunday at the Stroyan Auditorium. Tickets are available at the door.
Leif Isaacson of Lyndonville plays Lord Farquaad. Based on the animated film of the same name, Shrek features a story about becoming who you are truly meant to be, said Jennifer Trupo, director of the musical in Lyndonville.
Shrek the Ogre (Thomas Follman) wants to rid his swamp of the fairytale creatures who were dumped there by Lord Farquaad’s henchmen. Shrek and his sidekick Donkey (Joe Mangiola of Medina) set out to rescue Princess Fiona from her Dragon-guarded tower and return her to her “one true love,” Lord Farquaad. (Jessie Harling of Lyndonville plays the Dragon.)
Along the journey, Fiona and Shrek begin to fall in love, but many complications arise.
Pinocchio is played by Victoria Carter of Medina.This year’s production features a cast and crew of over 60 Lyndonville and Medina students. They have been working tirelessly since the beginning of November to prepare a production full of singing, dancing and special effects.
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 18 March 2015 at 12:00 am
Tuk, Covell re-elected in Lyndonville
Photo by Tom Rivers – Owen Toale, left, and Todd Bensley were elected to two-year terms on the Village Board today. The terms begin on April 1.
MEDINA – Todd Bensley and Owen Toale were elected to two-year terms to the Village Board today.
Only 311 voters came out, down from the nearly 1,500 that voted on Jan. 20 public referendum on the village dissolution.
Bensley led with 285 votes followed by 180 for Toale, who was a write-in candidate. Jeremy Hogan, co-owner of O’Brien’s, also was a write-in and received 98 votes.
The two-year terms will start on April 1. Bensley and Toale will replace Mark Irwin and Mark Kruzynski, who didn’t seek re-election.
Bensley and Toale were both outspoken against dissolution leading up to that vote. They believe cost savings can be achieved by working with the towns of Shelby and Ridgeway.
“I don’t think enough effort has been put in with the towns to find common ground and solutions to problems,” said Toale, a retired newspaper publisher and public transportation manager.
Toale has served on the Village Board before. He believes his management experience will be an asset to overseeing village services.
Bensley is a teacher at Medina. He teaches AP government and participation in government.
“I teach the kids about civics and about giving back to the community,” he said.
Bensley has been active in the village as historian, and a member of the Boxwood Cemetery Commission and Planning Board. He will have to give up his appointed positions on the Planning Board and Commission to become a Village Trustee. He expects he will also step back from historian to devote more time to village trustee.
Bensley said he will continue to promote Medina history and work on projects at the cemetery, which was recently named to the National Register of Historic Places.
He would like to see more economic development for the community, more attention on vacant houses, and more aid from the state for the village and a greater share of the local sales tax from the county.
The village also needs to work on its infrastructure. “That’s on everyone’s mind as we drive down the roads,” he said.
In Lyndonville, incumbents Charles Covell and James Tuk – both unopposed in today’s election – each received 15 votes and were re-elected.
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 18 March 2015 at 12:00 am
MEDINA – Village residents will go to the polls today from noon to 9 p.m. at the Senior Center at 615 West Ave.
Two trustee positions are open in Medina and both incumbents, Mark Irwin and Mark Kruzynski, aren’t seeking re-election.
Village Planning Board member and historian, Todd Bensley, was the only candidate to submit petitions to be on the ballot. Bensley, a Medina social studies teacher, is running under the independent “The Medina’s Future Party.”
Two other candidates are mounting write-in campaigns. Owen Toale is a former village trustee and a retired newspaper publisher. Jeremy Hogan is co-owner of O’Brien’s Tavern in Medina.
All three candidates have sent letters to the editor to the Orleans Hub. Click here to see the letters.
MEDINA – About 200 people attended the final installment of the 2015 “Finally Fridays!” concert series at Lee-Whedon Memorial Library on Friday and they were greeted with cookies and Library Director Catherine Cooper, whose face beamed with pride.
Cooper had reason to smile, not only was The Middleport Community Choir performing to a packed house, the series reached an important milestone, the 100th performance.
“It is a wonderful turnout,” Cooper noted, “and we are honoring the community with a community choir.”
Started in 2002, Cooper said the concerts, which run from January through March, were a sort of a “winter survival” during the cold months when there is not much else to do in the area. Cooper said she enjoys seeing patrons “dancing in the library and having fun.”
Before the Middleport Community Choir took the stage, patrons passed around a clipboard so that they could write personal notes of appreciation to Cooper for bringing the series to Medina, and the Library’s Board of Directors presented Cooper with a large bouquet of flowers.
Catherine Cooper
“On Friday nights this place turns magical,” Cooper told the crowd. “It is filled with the magic of music. I thank all of you for coming out on many of these cold nights and having to park far away.”
Members of the Middleport Community Choir, led by Ric Jones, were dressed for the occasion, and immediately had the crowd entranced with their beautifully layered harmonies.
Ric Jones
Even though the group gets its name from Medina’s neighbor to the west, Middleport, the ensemble has a strong Medina presence. The group’s director Ric Jones is a Medina resident and is very active in Medina’s cultural and arts community.
Medina residents likely will not miss the cold winter months, but many of them will eagerly await the “Finally Fridays!” series return in 2016.
Ric Jones and the choir perform at Lee-Whedon Memorial Library.
Nancy Huntington, left, and Jan Lajoie, both of Middleport, were among about 200 who attended the concert.
MEDINA – The community is welcome to attend a disaster preparedness program on March 19, a training overview that will help citizens and local officials be ready in case of emergencies or disasters.
The Medina Lions Club and American Red Cross are teaming to offer “Prepare, Respond, Recover: What to do When Disaster Strikes.” The class will be 7 p.m. on March 19 at Orchard Manor, 600 Bates Rd. No advanced registration is required to attend the program.
“There is always a need to be prepared and always things you can do to minimize a disaster,” said Jim Hancock, a member of the Lions Club.
The free training class is offered in partnership with New York State, which is at a high risk for man-made, technological and natural disasters, the Red Cross said.
The local community isn’t immune to disasters, from ice storms, breaches in the canal, flooding and other problems, Hancock said.
Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s Citizen Preparedness Corps training program provides residents with the knowledge and tools to prepare for emergencies and disasters, respond accordingly, and recover to pre-disaster conditions as quickly as possible.
A trained Red Cross representative will lead a session for about an hour on the Citizen Preparedness Corps training program, which provides a comprehensive overview on how to prepare for, respond to, and recover from disasters.
Photo by Tom Rivers – Civil War re-enactors marched down Main Street in Medina in this file photo from April 27, 2013. The re-enactors will be back next month.
Press Release, GCC
MEDINA – The fourth and final Civil War Encampment put on by Genesee Community College to mark the 150th anniversary of the war that defined our nation promises to be one of the most interesting to date.
The event is set for April 24-26 at GCC’s Medina Campus Center, 11470 Maple Ridge Rd. The weekend will include an Education Day on Friday for local school districts, educational activities throughout the weekend including a nationally recognized Frederick Douglass impressionist, reenactments of skirmishes, artillery and cavalry, a surrender ceremony at noon in downtown Medina on Saturday, and a panel discussion featuring distinguished guests from the popular online journal The Emerging Civil War.
The Emerging Civil War (ECW) was founded by Chris Mackowski and Kristopher White with a goal of providing fresh perspectives and original scholarship related to the American Civil War (1861-1865).
GCC Assistant History Professor Derek Maxfield is a contributor to ECW and will moderate a panel discussion at the Encampment featuring Dr. Mackowski, a professor of journalism and mass communication at St. Bonaventure University, and historian Kris White, who teaches at the Community College of Allegheny County near Pittsburgh and previously served as staff military historian at Fredericksburg and Spotsylvania National Military Park in Virginia where he continues to volunteer.
The discussion, “So What Have We Learned? The Sesquicentennial, The Civil War and American Memory” is set for 10 a.m. on Saturday, April 25, in the main tent at the Encampment.
Dr. Mackowski
“The Civil War’s sesquicentennial has been a great opportunity to introduce people to America’s ‘great story,'” said Dr. Mackowski. “Even though the anniversary is wrapping up now, it’s the perfect time for people to ask ‘What did the Civil War mean? Why is it still relevant today, to me?'”
White
“We love getting out on the front lines and talking with people about the war because it’s the best way to help nurture the public’s interest and help people understand it better,” said White.
You can learn more about ECW at its website by clicking here.
“I am so pleased that historians from the Emerging Civil War will be joining us for our last Civil War Encampment,” said Prof. Maxfield. “I have been very impressed by the caliber of work on ECW and was honored to be invited to join their ranks. To borrow a phrase, I think having a panel of ECW experts part of the Encampment schedule kicks things up a notch.”
For updated information about the GCC Civil War Encampment, visit https://civilwaratgcc.wordpress.com/.
Besides the Encampment, GCC’s Civil War Initiative (CWI) is pleased to be part of the upcoming Commemorative Civil War Ball planned for March 21 at the Clarion Hotel in Batavia. GCC is a co-sponsor of this event being put on by the Daughters of the American Civil War, a Batavia group dedicated to honoring women of the Civil War era.
The Ball, set for 7-10 p.m., will feature Civil War music provided by City Fiddle with a dance master to call the dances. Dance instruction will be offered free of charge to ball attendees from 1 to 3 p.m. the afternoon of the event in the Clarion ballroom.
Pre-sale tickets for the ball are available online by clicking here. Proceeds from the event will be donated to the Genesee Veterans Support Group and the Genesee County Historians Association.
In addition the popular CWI lecture series continues this spring with the following upcoming events which are free and open to the public:
Wednesday, March 25 at 7 p.m. at the Albion Campus Center
Sarah Handley-Cousins, a PhD candidate at the University of Buffalo, will speak about Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain.
Wednesday, March 25 at 7 p.m. at the Dansville Campus Center
GCC adjunct history instructor Dan Hamner will speak about “The Civil War in Indian Country.” Connections between the Civil War and Native American culture, politics, and diplomacy are often overlooked. Hamner will examine them through the eyes of three key Native American figures from the period.
Wednesday, April 1 at 7 p.m. in Room T102, Batavia Campus
A panel of GCC Historians moderated by Prof. Derek Maxfield will address “Reconsidering the Civil War: GCC Historians Consider Historiography and American Memory.” The discussion will feature Professors Garth Swanson, Charles Scruggs, Timothy Palmer, Peter Francione and Dan Hamner as well as Orleans County Campus Centers Associate Dean Jim Simon.
Wednesday, April 8, 2015 at 7 p.m. at the Medina Campus Center
A special panel discussion moderated by Prof. Maxfield entitled, “Reconsidering the Civil War and American Memory” will feature Assoc. Dean Jim Simon, Dan Hamner, GCC adjunct instructor and Bill Lattin, former Orleans County historian.
Wednesday, April 15, 2015 at 7 p.m. at the Dansville Campus Center
Author, historian, and reenactor Robert Yott presents “Lincoln’s Other War.” In order to preserve the Union, President Lincoln had to court the border states, manage inept or politically ambitious generals, and hold the radical faction of his party at bay. Yott will speak about the “fire in the rear” that required Lincoln’s constant attention and constituted his “other war.”
Photos by Howard Balaban
MEDINA – Medina High School hosted the Mustang Band’s annual basket raffle Friday evening, with an estimated 500 people attending to bid on about 200 items.
According to raffle volunteers, the event typically brings in between $6,500 and $7,500 for the band, and they estimated this year’s festivities raised closer to the higher amount.
Provided photo – The Medina Winterguard performs at Lancaster High School on Saturday, an event with 27 guard units.
Medina was the only unit in the Scholastic A class and the Mustangs scored 72.26, another increase for the season.
Medina will host a Winterguard competition this Saturday beginning at 5 p.m. with 19 units from Western New York and Canada. Medina is scheduled to perform at 7:47 p.m.
Medina’s Winterguard uses movement, costumes, acrobatics and spinning flags and rifles to depict the metamorphosis from caterpillar to cocoon to butterfly.
Provided photos – These students are on a toboggan ride, including from left: Hayley Cogovan, Krista Nellist, Coby Albone, Jakob Cotter and Powell Stephens. Waiting to sled are Hallie Seaman and Kati Young.
Press Release, Medina Central School
MEDINA – Students from the Medina High School French Language Program recently spent several days in Quebec City with teacher Julie Webber and some school administrators.
Not only did they get to experience the language and the culture of the predominantly French-speaking province, they got to partake in a lot of activities.
“The students toured the city of Old Quebec, a walled-in city dating back to the 1600s,” says Mrs. Webber. “They also enjoyed tobogganing on historic Dufferin Terrace, a 3- mile dog sledding adventure, observing views of the frozen Montmorency waterfalls, a visit to the winter sports park and enjoyed a traditional meal and dancing at the Sugar Shack.”
Medina students visited Quebec City recently.
Quebec City is the cradle of French-Canadian culture. For the French students it was the perfect place to combine their language skills with cultural activities.
“It was an awesome opportunity for students to use their language skills firsthand,” Mrs. Weber said. “All that they have been studying truly comes to life.”
Provided photo – The Medina Winterguard performs on Saturday at Marcus Whitman. Medina will host its own Winterguard competition on March 14.
Press Release
Kathy Dreyfus, publicity chairwoman for Medina Band
RUSHVILLE – Medina’s Winterguard competed on Saturday at the Marcus Whitman High School in Rushville. The Mustangs were uncontested in the Scholastic A class where they scored 69.19, a 6-point increase from the previous week.
The Medina show “From Cocoons to Wings” depicts the stages of development from a caterpillar to a cocoon and finally into a beautiful butterfly. This metamorphosis is accomplished through some creative costuming.
The community has opportunities to see the show as the Winterguard will compete this Saturday in Lancaster, March 14 in Medina and March 21 in Holley. The championships are April 12 in Brockport.
MEDINA – The water system at Medina Memorial Hospital is back on line and has been deemed safe following testing of water samples from the Orleans County Health Department, said Cindy Perry, media relations director for hospital.
The hospital suffered a water main break Saturday night. The water line was fixed by the Medina Department of Public Works on Sunday.
The hospital used a back-up system, and increased the use of bottled water and hand sanitizer until the regular system was approved for use this morning.
