Provided photo – Elizabeth McCarthy, 9, for the third time has donated some of her hair to Locks of Love. She holds the donated hair on Saturday after getting it cut.

MEDINA – Every two years since she was 5, Elizabeth McCarthy has had her long hair cut so she could donate her tresses to Locks of Love, an organization that provides wigs to children suffering hair loss from cancer and other illnesses.

Elizabeth, 9, had 10 inches cut from her hair on Saturday. Gretchen Carr of Sheer Elegance in Medina cut the hair. She put the hair in special bags to be sent to Locks of Love.

“She feels like she is helping kids who are going through something very difficult,” said Stacy McCarthy, Elizabeth’s mother.

Elizabeth first had her hair cut for Locks of Love when she was 5. It took her two years to grow her hair long again. Then she told her mother she wanted to have it cut for Locks of Love.

She did it again on Saturday.

“I’m very proud of her,” Elizabeth’s mother said. “She doesn’t just want her hair cut. She has the presence of mind to want her hair donated. It makes me proud.”

For more of Locks of Love, click here.

MEDINA – Firefighters are battling a fire in an old carriage barn on Walsh Alley, off Prospect Street in Medina. The fire has been contained to one building. We will have more information soon.

Photos by Tom Rivers

MEDINA – An old carriage barn burned to the ground tonight in a blaze that firefighters feared could have spread to neighboring structures because of the close setbacks on Walsh Alley.

Firefighters were on scene a little before 6 p.m. and discovered the barn was already fully engulfed. Firefighters focused on saving the neighboring structures at the alley off Prospect Street.

At about 8 p.m., when most of the barn had collapsed, an excavator was brought in to knock down the remaining pieces of the building that were still standing. Firefighters didn’t want those pieces to fall on a neighboring garage, causing another fire.

The carriage barn was used at the former Houseman Funeral Home at 228 Park Ave. The property had been vacant about two years and firefighters thought the site was in foreclosure.

The fire is under investigation. The western battalion – Medina, East Shelby, Lyndonville, Ridgeway and Shelby fire companies – all responded to fire. Some of the firefighters were expected to be on scene most of the night.

MEDINA – It was Columbus Day weekend and Mike and Jaime Beach were out for a walk along the towpath in Medina when they heard some yelling.

The Albion couple was walking along the towpath last month, trying to find a spot to see the Medina Waterfalls. They on a stroll a little west of the Horan Road bridge on the towpath. Then they saw a group of kayakers emerge from a tunnel that allows the Oak Orchard Creek to flow under the canal.

The kayakers had nowhere to go but over the falls. The Beaches watched the group plunge 40 feet over the falls. One of them landed upside down in the water. He was able to right-size and the group kept paddling down the creek.

“I was nervous for them and in disbelief,” Mr. Beach said today.

He took a video of the kayakers with his iPhone and shared it with the Orleans Hub after seeing Friday’s article about the Medina Falls. (Click here to see it.)The Beaches used to live in Medina. That’s when they discovered the waterfalls.

They like to stop back to go see it. They often go for a walk ner the falls and they have also seen it while kayaking the Oak Orchard, using the boat launch at Glenwood Lake.

“It’s a really cool spot,” Beach said today.

Photo by Tom Rivers – The Medina Waterfalls is north of the canal near the Horan Road bridge.

Photos by Tom Rivers – Library patrons, including Manjaree Mahanti (center), read in the newly remodeled Lee-Whedon Memorial Library. The library closed for five weeks for the renovations. It reopened last week.

MEDINA – The library used to feel and look like a big long room all painted in the same color, a beige-yellow. The carpet was also one solid color.

“It was kind of blah,” said Catherine Cooper, director of the Lee-Whedon Memorial Library.

But not anymore. The library is now full of color – on the walls and on the floor. The walls have been painted green, blue and yellow. The carpet has circles and other designs to help delineate spaces in the library. The library also has many pedant lights that hang from the ceiling.

“People have been very happy,” Cooper said Friday at the redone site on West Avenue. “They like the warmth.”

The contents of the library were removed and put in storage units for five weeks while the contractor, Sicoli Construction Services of Niagara Falls, gave the library a new look inside. The project also replaced the ceiling, and added many new high-speed Internet access points and upgraded computer technology.

Library director Catherine Cooper sits in one of the reupholstered chairs. She said the remodeled library adds “warmth” and technology. Many of the new design features also help to delineate spaces in the library.

Lee-Whedon used to have cords stretched across the floor for people to plug into the Internet. Now there are six “power chairs” that have power hook-ups right in the chairs. Cooper said more power plug-ins will be added to tables for patrons.

She likes a new teen area that includes two of the power chairs. There is also a divider with a big circle cutout for people to walk through into the teen space. That helps give teens the feeling of their own spot in the library.

Lee-Whedon opened the 11,000-square-foot library in 1966. The inside of the building didn’t change too much for nearly a half century until the five-week construction project from Sept. 28 to Nov. 1.

Lee-Whedon paid $272,000 for the improvements. A state grant could pay for half of the costs.

Cooper said the project brings Lee-Whedon into the 21^st Century.

The library would like to work on the children’s area in another project next year.

“We’d like to have a storybook entrance and make it more welcoming,” Cooper said. “First we need to catch our breath and then we will do more.”

This picture was taken looking out from the teen area to the main floor of the library. Lee-Whedon wanted to make a space that was dedicated for teens.

Photos by Tom Rivers – More than 100 Civil War re-enactors marched down Main Street as part of the Civil War encampment in April.

MEDINA – They are coming back for another parade through historic Medina, two days of battles in a field next to Genesee Community College, and other “living history” programs.

Civil War re-enactors this past April did a series of events in Medina in a partnership with GCC. The event went so well, with so much support from the community, that GCC has committed to two more years of Civil War initiatives in Medina, including encampments.

Those two years will fall within the 150^th anniversary of the war, which ended in 1865. GCC may extend the Civil War events after 2015. The college has committed funding and resources for the next two years, said Derek Maxfield, Civil War Initiative coordinator and a history professor at GCC.

Re-enactors were prominent in Medina, including a downtown parade, during the encampment in April.

When GCC proposed Medina as a host for the initiative, the village government and several local civic groups joined the effort. The groups planned the parade that went from St. Mary’s Catholic Church, through Main Street and to the Medina Railroad Museum.

The encampment is planned for April 25-27 in 2014. This time the parade on Saturday is planned to start near the museum and go through the downtown, with the re-enactors heading to Boxwood Cemetery for a memorial service.

“The re-enactors said the experience in Medina was unique,” Maxfield said.

The encampment also includes formal lectures and artifact displays.

“We’ve merged the living history with the academic element,” Maxfield said.

Re-enactors “battle” in a field next to the GCC campus on Route 31A during an encampment last April.

Press release, Orleans Habitat for Humanity

MEDINA – Five Star Bank has donated $5,000 to Orleans Habitat for Humanity, money that will go towards a project on West Oak Orchard Street in the village of Medina.

Orleans Habitat is very grateful to Five Star for its commitment to the local community and its willingness to support local projects, Habitat leaders said in a news release.

“Five Star Bank is proud to support such a meaningful causes as Habitat for Humanity,” said Marty Griffith, regional president for the bank. “We firmly believe that as a community bank we have an obligation to support the communities in which we live and work. We thank the Orleans County Habitat for their hard work and dedication to making Orleans County a great place to live.”

Five Star has sites in Albion and Medina.

Orleans Habitat is a non-profit group dedicated to helping provide simple, decent housing to those in need in Orleans County. The all-volunteer organization welcomes new supporters. For more information, check the group’s web site at www.orleanshfh.org.

SYRACUSE – The Medina Mustang Marching Band made it five state titles in a row on Sunday by winning the Governor’s Cup at the Carrier Dome in Syracuse.

Medina scored 91.50 in the Small School 1 category to claim the title from six other schools in the division as part of the NYS Field Band Conference Championship.

The Medina band has 130 members. This year’s program features an Olympic theme, “The Pursuit of Gold.” Marching band directors Jim Steele and Cheri Pritchard lead the program.

Medina’s 91.50 score topped the following schools: New Hartford, 89.90; East Irondequoit, 86.35; Oswego, 85.15; East Syracuse Minoa, 84.65; Mohonasen, 83.00; and Le Roy, 80.75.

Photos by Tom Rivers – The Medina United Methodist Church had its final service this morning at 222 West Center St. The church will continue to own the property and use it for a childcare site. A Spanish-speaking congregation, River of Living Waters, also will continue to use the building.

MEDINA – Many of the members of Medina United Methodist Church were married at 222 West Center St. Their children were baptized there.

Today, the church said good-bye to the building. The congregation held its final church service at the site.

“I’m going to miss this building,” member Bill Dunn told the church during the farewell service this morning. “It’s meant a lot to me. But the people mean more.”

Pastor Tony Hipes leads the church in a farewell service at the Medina United Methodist Church today. The church is leaving the structure which is in deteriorating condition.

The church has spent the past three years and $875,000 to transform the former Apple Grove Inn into a modern church home. After today’s service, church members walked or drove a mile down the road to the former Apple Grove, where they celebrated their new home.

Tony Hipes, the church pastor, wanted members to give the old church, built in 1876, a fond farewell. The church moved to acquire and renovate the former Apple Grove, wanting a modern one-story building that would be more accessible for the community.

The church was built in 1876 and originally had a steeple. It toppled after a wind storm in 1889.

The site, which includes a large reception area and commercial kitchen, also will allow the church to host receptions and community events.

“It’s a church for everyone,” Hipes said during today’s service. “Hopefully many people in the community will join us.”

The older church building needed lots of repairs, particularly with the masonry on the brick structure. The building wasn’t energy efficient.

Church members carried Bibles, crosses and other treasured church artifacts up to the congregation’s new home following a service today.

However, it’s not in danger of collapse. The church will continue to run a childcare site from 222 West Center St. The building will also be available for a Spanish-speaking church, the River of Living Waters.

Hipes told the congregation to treasure their memories from the older building, and to look forward to the new memories awaiting them in the former Apple Grove.

After the service today at 222 West Center St., members of the Medina United Methodist Church walked a mile on West Center Street to their new church home at the former Apple Grove Inn.

United Methodists worked three years to transform site

Photos by Tom Rivers – The Medina United Methodist Church celebrated its first service in the former Apple Grove Inn this morning. The church extended the west wall to accommodate the sanctuary.

MEDINA – A three-year journey ended today for the United Methodist Church when celebrated their first service inside the former Apple Grove Inn.

The church bought the landmark building for $100,000 at an auction. Most of the building was gutted, walls were taken out in some spots and new ones put in. The west end of the building was extended to accommodate the sanctuary.

Tony Hipes, the church pastor, leads the group in prayer before they go inside to dedicate the building.

It was a lot of work, and church members did the bulk of the construction, painting and carpeting themselves. Today, the congregation of about 50 people had a final service at their building at 222 West Center St. Then they walked or drove a mile down the road to the former Apple Grove.

The revamped site has cushioned chairs and much more modern look. It’s all on one floor and includes a commercial kitchen and reception area that the church wants to make available to the community for wedding receptions and other parties.

“A lot of the Grove is still here,” said Matt Brueckner, a church member who spearheaded the construction project. “We just made it better.”

Pastor Tony Hipes and church members, including flag holder Dan Wilson, walked about a mile today from their old church building to the newly remodelled former Apple Grove Inn.

The church paid contractors for plumbing, heating, electrical and air-conditioning. But members took on most of the rest of the work.

“We just broke the building into sections,” said Brueckner, who became the building project chairman and construction manager, often putting in 50 to 60 hours a week on the project.

The church spent about $875,000 total for the project. If it had hired out all of the work, it would have cost about $2 million.

The reception area will be open to the public for parties and other events.

At the conclusion of today’s final service at the church at 222 West Center St., the church’s home since 1876, members carried Bibles, a cross, offering plates, banners and other sacred elements from the church to the former Apple Grove.

“I think what we’ve done here is have one foot in the past and the other in the present and future by having a modern-looking church,” Brueckner said.

The church choir leads the congregation in singing “Spirit of the Living God, Fall Afresh on Me.”

Orleans Hub will have coverage later of the final United Methodist church service at 222 West Center St.

MEDINA – A plan for a new Dunkin’ Donuts store in Medina at the southeast corner of Route 31A and 63 cleared another hurdle on Thursday with a vote of support from the Orleans County Planning Board.

JFJ Holdings of North Andover, Mass., is the developer for the project.The company wants to build a 2,000-square-foot store on vacant land owned by Gregory Housel. The project includes 27 parking spaces with most on the west side of the building.

The drive-through includes space for about seven vehicles. The County Planning Board recommended the Town of Shelby Planning Board approve a front setback variance. The town code requires a 75-foot setback. JFJ has proposed a 47-foot setback.

The store will be at a busy intersection with nearby sites that include a gas station hair salon/health food store, an auto parts store, a motel and the Oak Orchard River.

JFJ is also working to build a Dunkin’ Donuts in Albion, right next to the Tim Hortons on Main Street. Both stores are expected to open in early 2014.