By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 16 December 2013 at 12:00 am
File photo by Tom Rivers – This home at 204 West Center St., Medina, was one of 17 houses in the village to receive matching funds for improvements through a grant administered by the Orleans County Chamber of Commerce. The $200,000 grant also provided money to 11 businesses for façade and sign upgrades. The Chamber is accepting applications for a new round of projects.
MEDINA – Contractors worked on 28 properties in Medina this past year, giving them new coats of paint and making other beautification improvements as part of $200,000 in matching grants.
An anonymous equity group provided the funding for the grant program, which was administered by the Orleans County Chamber of Commerce.
The Chamber is pleased to announce the anonymous funder wants to offer another round of $200,000 in grants.
“It’s just been amazing,” said Kathy Blackburn, Chamber executive director. “We are thrilled with the work that has been done. It’s encouraged others to work on their properties as well.”
The grant in its first year funded projects at 17 homes and 11 businesses. The Chamber is accepting applications for the new round. The money is available on “a first come, first served” basis, Blackburn said.
The grants are capped at a $20,000 maximum per property. The program is limited to sites within the village of Medina.
Eligible projects include exterior painting; woodwork and architectural metal repair, cleaning, restoration, painting or replacement; masonry repairs and tuck pointing; window and door repairs or replacement; cornice or parapet projects; awning work; and exterior lighting fixtures.
The projects are all reviewed by the Chamber’s Façade Grant Review Committee.
To see the application on the Chamber website, click here.
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 12 December 2013 at 12:00 am
‘The hospital is moving in the right direction,’ hospital CEO tells Legislature
ALBION – Medina Memorial Hospital and its parent organization, Orleans Community Health, are making a series of changes in the coming months that will make the hospital stronger and more viable for the future, the hospital’s CEO told Orleans County legislators on Wednesday.
The community can expect a shift to more outpatient care, although the emergency room and inpatient beds will remain.
“Things are looking good,” Dolores Horvath, the hospital CEO and president, told the Legislature. “The hospital is moving in the right direction.”
The hospital is well positioned to serve the county, Horvath said, with health care sites in Medina and a new facility in Albion at the corner of Butts Road and Route 31. The Albion site is increasing services and expects to meet the “urgent care” standard in early 2014. Radiology equipment will arrive this month so that service can be offered in Albion, Horvath said.
The hospital sold the Orchard Manor nursing home earlier this year and is closing a seven-bed psychiatric unit that hospital officials say operates at a $300,000-plus annual deficit.
“We could no longer sustain that,” Horvath said.
Small hospitals are challenged, Horvath said, and some have been unable to survive. Lakeside Memorial Hospital in Brockport closed in April. Lake Shore Health Care Center in Irving, Chautauqua County, is closing next month.
“I’ve been in healthcare for 30 years and I’ve never seen such challenging times as I do today,” Horvath said.
The hospital has a staff focused in getting Orleans Community Health paid for its services through Medicaid, Medicare and the insurance companies.
Horvath said other health care providers are stepping up their efforts to attract Orleans County patients.
The University of Rochester Medical Center bought the former Lakeside hospital and renamed it “Strong West.” The organization has been advertising in Orleans.
United Memorial Medical Center in Batavia also plans to leave the Medina hospital as a tenant and open an expanded women’s health center on Maple Ridge Road.
Medina will lose UMMC as a tenant and could see some of its patients align with the Batavia organization, which would weaken Orleans Community Health.
Horvath asked the Legislature to be strong backers of Orleans Community Health, an organization with a mission to provide healthcare in Orleans County.
“We want you to be viable and strong organization that contributes of the overall viability and strength of the county,” Legislature Chairman David Callard said.
MEDINA – Firefighters responded this morning to an attic fire at a vacant house on Prospect Street in Medina. Firefighters from Medina, Lyndonville, Ridgeway and Shelby responded to the call. No injuries were reported.
Middleport and East Shelby fire companies filled in at the Medina fire hall.
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 11 December 2013 at 12:00 am
MEDINA – Firefighters were dispatched to a call at 4:10 a.m. today after smoke was observed from a house at 206 Prospect St.
There was heavy fire in the attic and the blaze consumed the roof at the house. By about 5:30 a.m., the fire was under control, said Mike Maak, a captain with the Medina Fire Department.
The fire is under investigation. The department is also trying to determine the owner of the site.
Medina was assisted at the scene by firefighters from Lyndonville, Ridgeway and Shelby. Middleport and East Shelby firefighters were on standby at the Medina fire hall.
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 11 December 2013 at 12:00 am
Photo by Tom Rivers – The Democrat & Chronicle today highlights the Medina Sandstone Society and its efforts to create a Hall of Fame. The newspaper includes a photo of the former Medina Armory, which is now the Orleans County YMCA.
MEDINA – The Medina Sandstone Society will induct its first class of honorees in the Sandstone Hall of Fame on Thursday. Already, the venture is getting some publicity locally and beyond.
Today, the Democrat and Chronicle features the Hall of Fame initiative and includes a photo of the former Medina Armory and the Sandstone Society President Bob Waters.
“Medina sandstone had it all,” D & C columnist Jim Memmott writes today. “Impressively fireproof, famously durable, pleasing to the eye, it was a go-to building material in most of the 19th century and the first part of the 20th.”
Orleans Hub, the Medina Journal-Register and The Daily News of Batavia all have published several stories about the Hall of Fame.
The publicity for the community was one of the goals for the initiative. The Sandstone Society wants to annually highlight some of the great structures locally, in the region and elsewhere that used the Medina stone.
The society hopes newspapers from the communities with the honorees will publish articles when sites are inducted in the Hall of Fame.
Waters, in an interview with Jim Memmott, said there is strong interest in the community’s sandstone heritage.
“All of a sudden, Medina has got a flair for rediscovering its history,” Waters told Memmott. “And it’s not just me; it’s the young folks who are all gung-ho.”
Thursday’s Hall of Fame ceremony will be from 4 to 6 p.m. at City Hall. The event is invitation only.
Contributed Story Posted 8 December 2013 at 12:00 am
Photos courtesy of Chris Busch
MEDINA – The Medina High School A’Cappella Choir performed Sunday night to a capacity crowd of 650 people at St. Mary’s Catholic Church. The choir performs a variety of music – both sacred and secular genres. Choir Director Lisa Roeseler leads the group.
A big crowd turns out each year for the concert, with some showing up two hours early to get a seat at the church. The concert used to be held at the Presbyterian Church but was moved to St. Mary’s where there are more seats.
As tradition each year, the choir processes in singing “O Come All Ye Faithful,” and processes out singing “Silent Night.”
Lisa Roeseler is the choral director, Music Theory instructor and the Music Skills teacher at Medina High School. The choral groups she directs include A’Cappella Choir, Mixed Chorus and the A’Cappella Select Ensemble. Lisa gives instruction in Music Theory 1, Music Theory 2 and AP Music Theory.
The Medina High School A’Cappella Choir has been a much beloved tradition for about a half century. The ensemble was begun under the direction of Eastman graduate Robert Conner. The ensemble quickly gained a regional reputation for excellence receiving many accolades. Conner, the man who started the tradition, attended Sunday’s concert and received an ovation.
Contributed Story Posted 8 December 2013 at 12:00 am
Photo courtesy of Chris Busch
MEDINA – The Medina High School A’Cappella Choir performs tonight during its annual community holiday concert at St. Mary’s Catholic Church.
A big crowd of about 700 people turned out to hear the 102 singers in the A’Cappella Choir perform in the church, a 50-year holiday tradition in Medina. The group memorized 16 songs and will perform for other groups during the holiday season.
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 6 December 2013 at 12:00 am
Worthington Cylinders helps provide toys for needy families
Photos by Tom Rivers – The toy challenge drive at Worthington Cylinders in Medina was led by, from left: Diane Watts, Kristin Vogt and Valerie Childs.
ALBION – In June 152 employees at Worthington Industries in Medina were told their jobs would be gone in 2014. The company’s owner was closing the former BernzOmatic hand torch manufacturing operation in Medina and moving that work to existing facility in Chilton, Wis.
Worthington employees expect to be laid off in the coming months. They aren’t letting that grim reality prevent them from being generous this holiday season.
They have given $1,410 and donated numerous toys to the third annual “Toy Challenge,” which benefits families served by Community Action of Orleans & Genesee.
“Even though we are losing our jobs, we still have our dignity,” said Diane Watts, who works in assembly at Worthington and helped head the toy drive for the company. “We wanted to leave the community with a good image. We wanted to go out with a bang.”
Employees raised money for the toy drive with hot dog and doughnut sales. They also bought toys for the challenge.
A Worthington employee pushed to start the corporate toy challenge in 2011. Andrew Szatkowski was Worthington’s quality control manager. With the company’s impending closure in Medina, Szatkowski took a new job outside the immediate area.
The toy drive went on this holiday season. Carolyn Wagner, human resources and safety director for BMP America, and Kris Hartwig, administrative assistant S.B. Whistler and Sons (Phinney Tool and Die), stepped up to coordinate the project.
The drive lasted from Nov. 4 to Dec. 3. The toys are on tables in the basement at the First Baptist Church in Albion. Community Action Director Ed Fancher said the church has been transformed into Santa’s Workshop. He thanked the participating companies and their employees for giving so many toys and funds to the drive. The donations will be shared with 250 families in the Albion area.
Several companies pitched in to donate toys and money for the toy challenge. Community Action of Orleans & Genesee will distribute the toys to about 250 families in the Albion area. Pictured are, from left: Carolyn Wagner, human resources and safety manager for BMP America in Medina; Wendy Hinkley, branch manager for Five-Star Bank in Albion; Jen Restivo, logistics coordinator for Freeze-Dry in Albion; and Kris Hartwig, administrative assistant at S.B. Whistler and Sons (Phinney Tool and Die).
S.B. Whistler and Sons (Phinney Tool and Die) kept its streak going in winning the toy challenge for the third straight year. The title is determined by total donations – money and weight of toys – divided by the number of employees.
Worthington actually gave the most toys and money, but S.B. Whistler won the challenge. The company has 27 employees. They donated $1,000 and 165 pounds of toys.
The company hangs the award for winning the toy challenge in the shop at the business at the corner of West Center Street and Salt Works Road.
“We’re able to see that we make a difference,” Hartwig of S.B. Whistler said about the toy challenge. “We are like a big family and we want to help other families in the area.”
Freeze-Dry in Albion was happy to participate in the toy challenge. The company had a box by the break room and employees filled it with toys.
“The employees are all very giving,” said Jen Restivo, logistics coordinator for the company. “We all came together and wanted to make a difference.”
Five-Star Bank in Albion also collected many toys for the challenge. Wendy Hinkley, the branch manager, also recruited other Albion businesses to collect toys for the cause. Employees at the bank decided against buying toys for each other. They instead bought toys for the challenge.
“Community Action does so much for this community, and they do it throughout the year,” Hinkley said. “They are an agency that is near and dear to my heart.”
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 4 December 2013 at 12:00 am
MEDINA – A business interested in opening a winery in downtown Medina has reached out to village officials about the project.
Code Enforcement Officer Marty Busch said a winery would be an attraction, and could be a lift for the entire downtown.
There is a sticking point: the current zoning doesn’t allow a winery in the downtown.
The Village Board would need to have a public hearing and amend the zoning to allow a winery for the project to move forward, Busch said.
The current zoning for the downtown business district doesn’t prohibit a winery, but there isn’t language in the code allowing for such a use.
“It would be a great draw for the central business district,” Busch told the Planning Board on Tuesday. “There are several in the Finger Lakes and I think you’ll see some here.”
Busch said the possible winery in the downtown is only in the “talking stage.” He thinks Medina would be an ideal site for a winery and micro-breweries.
The state Legislature and Gov. Cuomo recently extended the Niagara Wine Trail through Orleans County. Downtown Medina also is on an upswing and Ale in Autumn and Wine about Winter events, which feature beer- and wine-tasting, are sellouts in Medina.
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 3 December 2013 at 12:00 am
MEDINA – A new video about the preservation efforts at Bent’s Opera House is aimed to create enthusiasm for the project.
The Orleans Renaissance Group, owners of the site, worked with Michael Gaughn and Brianna Byrne to produce the new video.
Bent’s was built during the Civil War. The building is made of local Medina sandstone. It is currently mostly vacant. The ORG wants to restore the upper performance hall, and also attract business tenants for the first floor and a restaurant for the second floor.
The organization is currently doing an emergency repair to rotted structural support beams on the building. It is seeking a $500,000 state grant to replace the roof and help with other upgrades. The state is expected to announce this month whether or not that funding will be awarded.
“As most of you know, some structural work/repair/restoration has already begun,” ORG Vice Chairman Chris Busch said in an email to ORG supporters. “The wheels are in motion.The vision continues to takes shape.”
Other videos are planned to help promote the restoration project and the Medina community.
“It is our hope that this short piece will be one of many that will soon follow, telling the story in the stone – of Bent’s history, its people, its community, and its rebirth,” Busch said.
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 3 December 2013 at 12:00 am
smartDesign architecture of Batavia submitted these renderings of the United Memorial Medical Center project, which includes an addition of about 800 square feet as well as a canopy and brick for the front of the façade.
MEDINA – United Memorial Medical Center, which stepped up its obstetrics and gynecological care in Medina in 2011, is working to have an expanded site on Maple Ridge Road.
The Batavia hospital, which is now delivering about 100 babies a year in Batavia to Orleans County women, wants more exam rooms and medical offices to serve its patients in the Medina area.
The hospital wants to do a major renovation and expansion of a former K & K food mart and gas station at 11360 Maple Ridge Rd. UMMC is currently a tenant for Medina Memorial Hospital.
Photos by Tom Rivers – This building at 11360 Maple Ridge Rd., a former K & K gas station and food mart, will be transformed into a healthcare site for United Memorial Medical Center in Batavia.
Medina closed its birthing unit on July 1, 2011. UMMC and Medina Memorial have worked collaboratively the past 2 ½ years on women’s health services.
“They’re in Medina now and they want to stay in Medina,” Todd Audsley, project manager for smartDesign architecture, told the Medina Planning Board. “They need more room for doctors and patients.”
The property is in the process of being acquired by Chad LaCivita, who is buying it from Reid Petroleum. LaCivita will lease the site to UMMC.
Todd Audsley, a project manager with smartDesign architecture in Batavia, discusses the site plan for a health care site in Medina. United Memorial Medical Center wants to better provide its women’s health services in the community. Village Planning Board member Todd Bensley is at left.
Village officials believe the property has a clean bill of environmental health. The previous gas storage tanks have been removed and they didn’t leak, said Marty Busch, village code enforcement officer.
The project will add about 800 square feet to the building, and will change the looks of the property with a brick exterior on the front and wrapping around the front sides.
“It’s a nice-looking building,” Audsley told the planners. “It will be a welcome addition to the streetscape.”
The project needs to go before the Orleans County Planning Board at 7 p.m. on Dec. 19. It also comes back the Village Planning Board for a vote on the site plan on Jan. 7. Residents can comment during a public hearing on the project at 7:05 p.m. on Jan. 7. The hearing will be at City Hall.
Planning Board members tonight asked Audsley to make sure exterior lighting doesn’t spill off onto neighboring properties. Audsley said wall packs will be mounted on the building and the lighting will be projected downward.
The sign on the building won’t be lighted. A monument sign by Route 31A will have a soft glow, he said.
The hospital would like to start work on the project soon after the local board approvals and permits are secured, Audsley said.
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 2 December 2013 at 12:00 am
Photo by Tom Rivers – Matt Mundion of Matt C.M. Contracting won the grand champion award for his float that show a team of deer pulling a sleigh stacked with presents. The top photo shows the float making its way down Main Street on Saturday. The bottom photo shows the float in the staging area at the Olde Pickle Factory in Medina.
Photo by Tom Rivers
MEDINA – A float that featured a team of stuffed deer heads, including one with a lighted red nose, has been named grand champion of the Parade of Lights.
Matt Mundion of Matt C.M. Contracting won the top award for the parade that included 42 floats. Mundion traveled the parade course in what appeared to be a sleigh pulled by reindeer.
Parade organizers praised participants for their added creativity with the floats in the fifth annual Parade of Lights.
Other float winners include:
Not-for-Profit – Orleans YMCA
Religious – Medina Methodist Church
Service Organization – Medina Mustang Boosters
Fire Company – Medina Fire Department
Business – Roberts Farm Market
Other Groups – Medina Central School Transportation Department
Photo by Tom Rivers – The Orleans County YMCA won an award for its Candyland themed float.
Star Award winner for Creativity – Orleans Master Gardeners
Littlest Elf Award for best design for involving youths and adults – Orleans County Town Clerks
Community Service Award for entry best representing their Community – Lyndonville Fire Company
There are other winners from Saturday’s Old Tyme Christmas celebration in Medina, including:
Cutest little elf contest winners: first place to Benjamin Root, second to Jaelyn Castricone, and third to Winry Tester.
Scavenger hunt winners: first place to Bobby Vidovich, second to Jonathan Becker, and third to Cindy Sands.
Coloring contest winners: first place to Saige Woodhams, second to Dakota Alexander, and third to Nathan Sherman.
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 2 December 2013 at 12:00 am
Photo by Tom Rivers – The former JP Morgan Chase site in Albion has been repainted in preparation for the first wave of CRFS employees, who will move in next month, shifting from a site in Medina.
ALBION – Less than a year ago Claims Recovery Financial Services announced it had outgrown its Albion facility. CRFS said it would move some of its operations to Medina in renovated space in the Olde Pickle Factory.
The company has continued to grow, and a much larger building became available in Albion in September, when JP Morgan Chase closed its Albion site at 231 East Ave.
CRFS saw that big building as a a chance for all of its employees to work under the same roof. The building also was purchased by Roger Hungerford, who owns the Olde Pickle Factory.
He worked out a deal with CRFS for the company to move its Medina and Albion employees into the same building.
Next month, CRFS will relocate 230 Medina employees to the Chase site. Another 227 in Albion are scheduled to make the move in March.
The company forecasts 750 employees in Orleans County. They could all easily fit in the former Chase site, which once housed more than 900 employees for Chase and its predecessor, Washington Mutual.
CRFS is looking to hire about 150 workers as part of its expansion into the former Chase building.
To help with its expansion, CRFS also has hired a new president and chief strategist. The company, which is led by CEO and founder Jodi Gaines, has hired Cecelia Raine to help lead the company with Gaines.
Gaines has worked in mortgage banking for more 28 years. Prior to joining CRFS, she was a senior vice president for Strategy and Business Development in the Office of the Enterprise for Lender Processing Services, Inc.
She managed the company’s relationship with Fannie Mae and Ginnie Mae, and Raines also built a servicing and default consulting practice. That business specialized in process re-engineering – making the most of people, €¨process and technology for her client base.
Other career experience includes 11 years with Fannie Mae, managing due diligence teams related to portfolio acquisitions, and several leadership positions in various servicing organizations.
Beyond her work experience, Raine has been recognized for her achievements as a “Woman of Influence” by Buffalo Business First, and was given the Chairman’s Award at Fannie Mae for her volunteer work with the National Multiple Sclerosis Society.
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 1 December 2013 at 12:00 am
Fisher-Price made millions of toys in Medina
Photos by Tom Rivers – Fisher-Price started producing toys in Medina in 1970. This Pull-A-Tune Pony was among the first to be produced in the former Heinz factory on Park Avenue.
MEDINA – For nearly three decades the massive manufacturing space on Park Avenue was a major producer of toys.
Fisher-Price turned the former Heinz plant into a manufacturing center for toys, beginning in 1970. It employed 950 people here at its peak, earning Medina the nickname of “Toy Town.” In 1997, the company left town. It was a devastating blow.
The Medina Historical Society has some of the toys made in Medina as part of a display at the society museum, 406 West Ave.
When Fisher-Price came to Medina 43 years ago, the Pull-A-Tune Pony was a new product. One of the first Pull-A-Tune Pony toys is on display in the museum. It was made in Medina on April 1, 1970.
A decade later the company made topped 100 million toys made from the Medina site. The museum has that milestone toy: a ferry boat (pictured above). That toy was made on May 29, 1980.
I moved to Orleans County in July 1996. My first job was as a reporter at The Albion Advertiser, which no longer exists. It used to be part of the Medina Journal-Register.
I remember when Fisher-Price announced the last wave of closings. There was a sense of doom.
But Medina has bounced back. It has been a gradual process and the community is less tied to one major company these days. It is more diversified, with lots of small businesses. It still has some major manufacturers with Baxter Healthcare, Brunner and Associated Brands, all with several hundred workers. Another company, Worthington Cylinders, has nearly 200 employees, but it plans to close its Medina site in mid-2014.
The Fisher-Price workers must have been proud during the holiday season, knowing so many of the toys they made would be part of Christmas for children all over the world.
The Fisher-Price plant closed not long after the company was acquired by Mattel in 1993. Medina’s recent resurgence is a testimony to the community’s resilience after such a crushing blow.
