Photos by Sue Cook – The memorial garden is nearly completed.

By Sue Cook
Staff reporter

MEDINA – Last year, two members of the Memories of Medina Facebook page passed away leading the group to create a memorial garden in their honor.

At the Glenwood Lake boat launch site just north of Boxwood Cemetery, the garden is already nearing completion and is expected to be finished by the end of the year.

“I came down here to my thinking spot,” said Dayton Hausman, one of the garden organizers. “I looked around and said there’s no color down here. It’s just green by the water.”

The garden was created originally in honor of Michelle Stanton Jones who lost her battle with cancer on July 29, 2013. She was an early member of the Memories of Medina Facebook page. Its original purpose was to share news, memories and other tidbits of Medina, while also offering a way for members to network and make new friends. Stanton Jones organized meet-and-greet events through the page for the people of Medina to meet each other.

Provided photo – This photo shows early construction by Glenwood Lake.

The garden site coincided with being the location of the very first meet-and-greet that Stanton Jones headed. The group met under the pavilion, which is only about a hundred feet from the garden.

“Michelle lived out by Lake Ontario, so she loved the water,” Hausman said. “Just about anyone who grew up in Medina says Glenwood is our little secret.”

“It’s always just quiet and peaceful,” said Tim Bensley. “If you were to put a place where you’d go sit and think, this would be it.”

“Behind this was idea of reflection and to add color,” added Hausman.

The garden also honors Linda Froman, a prominent business woman and active community member. She was also a big player in the Memories of Medina page and passed away two days after Stanton Jones.

Photo by Sue Cook – Lynn Stanley donated the angel in the garden in honor of her son.

“There was a loose committee of individuals in the group that agreed to give it a shot,” Hausman said. “We went to the town of Ridgeway and presented our ideas and they backed us. They gave us permission and we met with Mark Goheen from the highway department and got the rules and regulations of what we could and couldn’t do. They were very supportive.”

The garden is funded by donations. Many monetary donations have been made by local businesses and Medina residents. Collection jars were also left at many businesses. Almost all of the features of the garden, such as the angel and birdhouse, were donated by community members.

Hannah Pollard of Grant-Pollard Insurance also organized a basket raffle that brought in about $10,000 in donations. This is what prompted the garden to be upgraded from a little 6′ by 9′ space designed to look like a smiley face to 100′ by 37′ series of rings and hearts. Some of the money will be left over after the garden is completed for any ongoing maintenance of the site.

Provided photo – Volunteers began spreading the stone.

Tim Bensley, owner of Bensley’s Home Services, used his construction experience and the volunteer support of high-schoolers to create the space. About 12 Medina High School grads and students, mostly young women, assisted in making the space with six of them showing up regularly.

“It been truly an emotional experience to come down here and work,” Bensley said. “There’s so many things that happen when you’re down here. There were these two geese. As soon as I would get here, these geese would arrive. They’d land in the lake, we’d work, we’d leave, they’d fly off. I was calling them Linda and Michelle, like they were checking up on me.”

Local businesses also helped in other ways. JC Signs lettered the sign that stands over the entry path. Art Hill Excavating and Shelby Stone contributed materials and Medina Lumber and White Pines Nursery gave discounts toward their purchases.

Provided photo – The view from the garden is especially picturesque on a sunny day.

“It’s a community project that came out of a lot of sadness, but it’s a source of pride,” said Hausman.

Besides two plaques being created for Stanton Jones and Froman, memorial plaques are also available for purchase to remember others. So far about 30 plaques have been purchased. They are available for $75 and can be purchased at Grant-Pollard Insurance in Medina from Hannah or Libby Pollard.

The plaques will be used to line the top edge of the center ring in the garden at first. There is space for 127 on there. If more space is needed as time goes on, further concentric rings will be constructed expanding outward.

“It’s far more than any of us ever imagined,” Bensley said. “It’s kind of grown over the year.”

The remaining construction at the site includes the installation of six stone benches, a large centerpiece of a stone circle with a heart in the center, the installation of the plaques and the addition of solar lights. The dedication ceremony will take place in the spring when the plants in the garden are colorful.

Photo by Al Scalzo

Al Scalzo of Medina sent in two photos from the Monday night “Supermoon.” It was the third time this season we had a Supermoon, when the moon is full and at its closest orbit to the earth.

Photo by Al Scalzo

The Supermoon on Monday also was known as a Harvest Moon because it is near the autumn equinox.

Photo by Chris Busch

Chris Busch of Medina was stepping out of the Post office on Wednesday afternoon when the Sun appeared to cast a heavenly halo over the top of the First Baptist Church. Busch said this photo doesn’t do justice to the scene.

“The actual sight was beautiful!” Busch said.

Photos by Sue Cook – Children gather for a photo during the first Comic Con party at Lee-Whedon Memorial Library on Friday night.

By Sue Cook, staff reporter

MEDINA – Lee-Whedon Memorial Library wanted to offer something new to patrons and decided the release of the new Captain America movie on Friday was a great day to celebrate with Comic Con.

The most famous examples of the convention are the San Diego and New York Comic Cons. They are conventions held around the world for people to get together and celebrate the pop culture of comic books, video games, movies and general science fiction.

This is the first year the library has held the event, but Kristine Mostyn, the assistant library director, said that the library wants to make it an annual event.

“There’s comic book movies coming out for like the next five years or so,” Mostyn said. “I’m planning on continuing it as long as it’s popular. I was trying to think of a program that people of all ages would enjoy, but also had the fun aspect that you could dress up and be a kid again.”

The event took place after hours throughout the main area of the library.

“We wanted it to be a loud, boisterous and fun program, but we didn’t want it while we were open where we’d disturb other people,” she said. “Plus, having the lights off for the film limits the ability for others to use the library.”

Library staff that are fans of the con genres helped out during the event and some even got into the spirit by dressing up. Mostyn dressed as Elphaba from Wicked and Children’s Librarian Suzanne McAllister came as Darth Vader from Star Wars. Staff also brought some props from their personal collections, such as light sabers, for con-goers to use in photographs.

Props were provided by the library staffers for the kids to wear for pictures.

“It was fun because the staff was enthusiastic about it, too,” Mostyn added.

The kids participated in several events to win prizes throughout the evening.

Because dressing in costumes is traditional for Comic Cons, the library held a costume contest. Aaron Lama won the event dressed as Iron Patriot from the third Iron Man film. He was awarded a life-sized cardboard stand-up of the character Loki from Thor.

Kristen Helton brought her son, Trent Ingerson, dressed as a Sith Lord from Star Wars. “It’s just a fun event. I hope they do this every year,” she said.

The children also participated in a superhero scavenger hunt. They had to seek out the symbols of superheros from all over the library. Those who completed it were entered into a raffle. Mason Moreland and Andrew Schmidli won faux vintage metal signs of Spiderman and Wonder Woman.

During the trivia contest, the kids were asked questions about the most popular heroes, such as how Superman got his powers or who Batman’s sidekick is. Timmy Vasquez won a Justice League poster.

The kids also took a 30-minute drawing lesson from local art hobbyist Jeffrey Leigh. He taught the children how to draw several popular characters.

Provided photo

To wrap up the evening, everyone gathered around the projector screen for a viewing of the movie “Captain America: The Winter Soldier.”

“I picked the day to coincide with the day the movie coming out on DVD. It’s still new and people that haven’t seen it in theater haven’t seen it on DVD yet,” Mostyn said.

She is hoping to draw older kids next year to participate with the younger kids. The average age of kids at the event was between 6 and 10, although a couple of 18-year-olds joined the fun. She is hoping that older siblings might attend with younger ones next year and that they might even choose to dress up as well.

Mostyn also plans to try and get a real comic artist to come in next year. She knows of a successful comic book artist in Lockport that she is hoping to invite to talk about how comic creation can be a worthwhile aspiration.

“I tried to get all aspects of being a comic book lover, or just sci-fi and fantasy in general,” Mostyn said. “I thought this was a good way to embrace this for our community. There is nothing like this. I’m hoping it will grow.”

Provided photos – The high school staff is pictured sitting on bleachers during Monday’s “Day of Action.”

MEDINA – Faculty at Medina Central School dressed in blue on Monday, joining many teachers across the state and country in a “Day of Action,” where they sought more funding for schools and less testing for students.

Medina teachers support testing of students, but say the “Common Core” has put “undo anxiety” on children and their families, according to the Medina Teachers Association.

As part of the Day of Action, Medina teachers adopted the following pledge:

“I shall continue to create a positive learning environment and educational experience for all students and pledge to respect each of my students as a unique person, and not a test score.”

Teachers at Clifford Wise Middle/Intermediate School are pictured inside the school library.

Joe Byrne, president of the Medina Teachers Association, said classrooms are not factories.

“The reality is that state assessments have stressed students, parents, and teachers alike and have done little to improve student education,” he said. “Testing cannot measure the influence of good teaching, which often takes years to reach fruition in the lives of students. Assessing teachers on the test scores of their students stifles creativity in the classroom and deprives children a love of learning.”

The state has implemented a teacher evaluation system, the Annual Professional Performance Review. The APPR is intended to hold teachers accountable for yearly academic progress of their students by including standardized test scores as part of their evaluation.

But the MTA says the value of a good teacher cannot be measured by standardized test scores. The teachers union says taxpayer dollars would be far better spent on programming that empowers students to become healthy, educated and productive citizens.

“It’s sad to think that these test scores are defining our students,” said elementary teacher Kris Colonna. “Each child should be recognized as special and unique. These tests do not reflect the growth of the whole child.”

Teachers held rallies throughout the state on Monday, including in Albany, Binghamton, Rochester, Syracuse, New York City, Yonkers and West Seneca.

The staff at Oak Orchard Elementary School join for a picture on Monday.

Photos by Tom Rivers

MEDINA – Tom Snyder and Lisa Trippensee were out Sunday afternoon in a lift painting the windows at Slack Insurance Agency, 441 Main St.

Snyder also recently painting a building he owns at 413 Main St., the site of the former Journal-Register.

Provided photo – The Mustang Band performs “Miss Saigon” during a Saturday competition at East Rochester.

By Kathy Dreyfus
Publicity chairwoman for Medina Mustang Band

Let the competition begin! The Medina Mustang Band competed for the first time this season on Saturday at Eastridge High School. It was a beautiful evening when nine bands from Western New York performed.

In the Small School 1 category Medina took 2nd place with a score of 75.50 while Eastridge took 1st place with a score of 76.30.

Medina’s show, “Miss Saigon” portrays the smash Broadway musical, an emotionally charged story of an American soldier who meets, falls in love with and marries a Vietnamese girl. Powerful music and thematic drill design bring this show to life.

Medina will next compete on Sept. 20 at the band’s home show, The Fall Festival. Gates will open at 5:30 p.m. and the show starts at 6:30 p.m.

The rest of the Mustang schedule includes Sept. 27 at West Genesee, Oct. 4 at Orchard Park, Oct. 11 at Victor, Oct. 18 at Webster and the finale on Oct. 26 at the Carrier Dome in Syracuse.

Photos by Tom Rivers

MEDINA – The 6th annual Accordion Fest drew about 150 people to the Medina Theatre this afternoon, the first time that venue has hosted the music festival.

In the top photo, Ted Szymanski plays the accordion for the band, Special Delivery from Buffalo. Dave Miesowicz, left, plays several instruments for the band including alto saxophone, tenor saxophone, and clarinet. The Genesee-Orleans Regional Arts Council planned the event.

Special Delivery and other musicians proved popular with the crowd, which preferred the polka band over the Buffalo Bills game.

The Accordion Fest included an open mike opportunity and Francisco Rosario was one of the performers. Rosario and his family own Monte Alban and Mariachi de Oro in Medina. Rosario thanked the community for supporting the businesses and welcoming his family.

Jim Kimball, a SUNY Geneseo professor, plays his accordion during the festival today. He also served as emcee for the event.

Photos by Sue Cook – Nicole Tuohey cuts the paper chain to start the walk. She raised money through her mother Mary Lou’s business, Case-Nic Cookies in Medina, by selling elephant cookies that added a new link to the chain. She raised the money in memory of her grandma and grandpa.

By Sue Cook, staff reporter

MEDINA – The annual Walk to End Alzheimer’s in Medina attracted more people this year than any other previous year. About 150 people participated in the 2-mile walk that starts in the Canal Basin. The number of teams this year doubled from last year.

This is the 25th year the organization has held a walk in Orleans County. Once the final numbers are tallied, the walk is expected to raise about $15,000, said Lynn Westcott, the director of development for the Western New York Chapter.

“We are here to raise awareness of the disease,” she said in Medina this morning. “We are also here to raise funds to help people who currently have the disease, to help people who are caregivers and to support research to end the disease.”

To add to the awareness of the disease and its impact on the community, there is a Promise Garden. The garden consists of four different colored flowers given to participants that visually show how a person is associated with the disease.

Blue flowers represent a person battling the disease. Purple is for a person who lost their battle with the disease. Yellow signifies a caregiver. Orange is for a general supporter of the cause.

Personal messages were written on the flowers.

“With this disease, the caregiver plays such a major role because as the disease progresses people tend to rely more on their support systems and the people around them,” Westcott said. “It’s so important for caregivers to be on call and around 24/7, so we like to acknowledge them and help them as best we can.”

Sherry Branciforte, along with other families members, was at the walk in honor of her father Butch. Together, they formed Butch’s Team and raised over $600.

“My dad would do this,” she said. “He did it the first three years that we knew about this and we’ve been doing it ever since in his memory. This is the second year after his passing. I would encourage people to attend support groups.They are very important. Don’t be afraid to join them. They’re a lot more helpful than you know. ”

Branciforte’s sister, Dawn Parker, added, “There’s more Alzheimer’s coming than there used to be. There’s more purple flowers here than there ever have been before. We have to stop this.”

The walkers gathered around for the opening remarks praising their hard work and dedication.

Naomi Strickland and her family were walking for her mother- and father-in-law. She was their caregiver for over three years. She was walking as part of the Fast Fitness team that had over 20 members. A couple of team members personally raised almost $1,000 each.

“It’s to bring support to a good cause,” Strickland said. “I do feel there’s a lot of Alzheimer’s in the nation and I do feel that supporting it will help. How do we know if we may end up with it? Our friends, our family, they need to have a cure for it. Losing someone that had it is sad because you grieved before they were even gone when you were taking care of them.”

The Alzheimer’s Association’s WNY chapter is beginning a support group, which will meet every second Tuesday at 6 p.m. at the Hoag Library in Albion.

File photos by Tom Rivers – The Buffalo Touch, a polka band, performs last October during the Accordion Fest. The band played under a tent next to the Medina Senior Center. Sunday’s concert will be inside the Medina Theatre.

MEDINA – The Genesee-Orleans Regional Arts Council 6th annual Accordion Fest on Sunday is moving to a new location, the historic Medina Theatre at 603 Main St.

The program runs from 1 to 5 p.m. and features several bands playing accordions and concertinas from diverse musical traditions. A donation of $5 is requested, with guests 18 and under admitted free, plus the opportunity to win prizes from Roxy’s Music.

The festival last year was outside under a tent in the parking lot next to the Medina Senior Center. Previously, the festival was at Hickory Ridge Golf Course in Holley. It will play for the first time in the Medina Theatre, which opened last year after extensive renovations.

“The theater is such a cool venue,” said Karen Canning, the GLOW traditions program director and coordinator of Sunday’s event. “By moving it inside we also don’t have to worry about the weather.

The Accordion Fest is presented by GO ART! and Roxy’s Music Store with support from Medina Sandstone Trust, the Orleans County Legislature, and the New York State Council on the Arts.

Accordions ‘Round The World will start off the festival at 1 p.m. This will be a presentation of diverse music from Irish, Eastern European, Polish, German and Italian traditions.

SUNY Geneseo Professor of Music Jim Kimball will lead this session, which features musicians Ted McGraw and John Ryan (Irish), Alex Alexandrov (Eastern European), Ken Machelski and Casey Kliszak (Polish), and Pat Gambacurta and Frank Reino (Italian), each performing on their own finely crafted and often unique instruments. The performers collectively illustrate the extensive travels of the accordion through many cultures of our world, especially in folk music.

They’ll be followed by a Roland digital accordion demo at 2:30 p.m.

A debut performance of Roxy’s Accordion Band comes next at 2:45 p.m., followed by additional soloists, duets, trios, and open mike. Over the past year or so, accordion players have been gathering at Roxy’s event center in Batavia once a month to share tunes, conversation and sometimes a workshop on particular techniques of the instrument. The gathering attracts a range from beginners to seasoned players to professional musicians, all enjoying the common interest in accordions and concertinas.

An informal band, led by Deanne Hardy, has recently formed from the group, which offers all ability levels to play together in an all-accordion ensemble. Any player is welcome to attend and offer a tune for the open mike segment, as well.

The Fest will conclude with a mini concert (and dancing) at 4:00 p.m. by Special Delivery, a versatile band from the Buffalo area that advertises “everything from ethnic to alternative.” Longtime polka musicians Mark Kohan, Dave Miesowicz, Ted Szymanski, Jay Skiba, and Tom Goldyn offer their considerable talent not only with Polish favorites and polkas, but also with a variety of danceable music including swing, oldies, Latin and blues.

The accordion is a reed instrument developed in Germany in the 1820s. After traveling around Europe, it became popular in New York by the 1840s. As it moved through Europe, its form and sound changed in response to different musical cultures.

Accordions utilize a “free reed” system to produce their sound, similar in concept to the metal reeds in a harmonica, where the player blows air across the reed to produce musical notes. The accordion was the technical marvel of its day, and its portability enabled many an immigrant to carry his music along with him to New York, Louisiana, Argentina, Mexico, Asia and the Middle East – virtually everywhere.

Curvin’s News has been presence for nearly a century

Photo by Tom Rivers – John Grimes is selling Curvin’s News for $50,000 “or reasonable offer,” according to a paper posted on the window of the building at 540 Main St.

MEDINA – A business that has been part of the Medina community for nearly a century is expected to close later this week.

John Grimes has owned and operated Curvin’s News since 1995 at 540 Main St. After it closes this week, Grimes and his two employees will shut down a next-door video store next week, said Elizabeth Boryszewski, Curvin’s manager.

Grimes is currently hospitalized. He nearly shut down the business two years ago after a former employee stole about $65,000 worth of lottery tickets.

Grimes also suffered the loss of his wife. Barb Grimes died on Feb. 12, 2012 at Roswell Park Cancer Institute in Buffalo.

Grimes, a former village trustee, has found ways to keep the businesses going despite the challenges in recent years. However, Boryszewski said the store owner feels it’s the right time to close the business.

Boryszewski said Curvin’s is a popular gathering place for residents. They have expressed their sadness with the store’s imminent closing.

“It’s heartbreaking,” she said. “It’s just home here. Everybody is so friendly.”

A note taped to the front window seeks $50,000 “or reasonable offer” for the business.

Grimes, in the posted note, welcomed a buyer for Curvin’s. The business is for sale “To anyone with the Talent and Experience to save the store,” according to the window display.

Photo by Tom Rivers

MEDINA – The marquee at Medina Theatre says, “Farewell Vince,” in honor of the prominent local attorney and entrepreneur Vince Cardone. He bought the theater in 1975. The site reopened last year following renovations and continues to operated by his family as a bar, restaurant and entertainment venue.

Mr. Cardone died on Aug. 23 at age 93. He was a life-long Medina resident and World War II veteran. He worked five decades as a lawyer and owned many local properties.

He and his wife, Rose, raised six children, including Joe Cardone, the Orleans County district attorney; the Honorable Kathleen Cardone, a U.S. district judge in El Paso; and Rosalind Lind, Renee Cardone, Dominic Cardone and Michael Cardone.

A mass in celebration of Vince Cardone’s life was held on Friday at St. Mary’s Catholic Church.

Photo by Tom Rivers – The former Starlite Dry Cleaners has been vacant on Main Street in Medina since a fire damaged the building a decade ago. Environmental concerns have a holdup in the site’s redevelopment.

MEDINA – An environmental audit of two vacant side-by-side sites on Main Street puts the costs of a cleanup at $177,000.

The former Starlite Dry Cleaners at 331 North Main St. has been empty since a fire in the building a decade ago. Its neighbor at 333 North Main also is vacant.

Great Lakes Environmental in Buffalo said remediating the sites, with a partial takedown, would cost $177,000.

Addressing the environmental issues is critical for the two sites to be contributing locations to Medina’s Main Street and community, said Mayor Andrew Meier.

The state Department of Environmental Conservation pledged $50,000 to $60,000 to the cleanup in 2008. The village is trying to make sure that funding is still committed for the cleanup. Medina could also pursue state funding through the Consolidated Funding Application. Meier expects the state would welcome the project because the two buildings are in a historic business district by the Erie Canal.

“It’s a very important project in that neighborhood,” he said. “It’s precluding other projects from happening.”

A previous study showed some dry-cleaning solvents were in the soil at Starlite. The site has been in limbo for years. A previous owner stopped paying taxes on the site. Normally the property would then be owned by Orleans County, but the county hasn’t accepted the property due to the potential environmental liabilities.