Band has won last four state titles in small school division

Photos by Tom Rivers – Victoria Rice practices with the Colorguard today during band camp at Medina.

MEDINA – You don’t become a four-time defending state champion by taking it easy, even during the summer.

The Medina Mustang Marching Band has been studying their music all summer. The drum line, pit and Colorguard have been practicing on Tuesdays and Thursdays since July 8.

This week, the entire 130-member Marching Band joined together for Band Camp, which includes eight hours of practice each day except for Friday, which runs for four hours.

Michael Busch, a freshman, has been looking forward to band camp all summer, even though he admitted it’s a big commitment.

“We’re learning a lot of new techniques,” said Michael, a third-year band member who plays the bells in the front ensemble.

Hannah Pask plays the xylophone with the front ensemble during Medina’s band camp today.

Marching band directors Jim Steele and Cheri Pritchard had a parking lot full of chalk markings, to let band members know their spots.

“It’s a lot of work,” said Steele, the high school band director. “But it’s very beneficial. We want to give the kids the opportunity to do something that not a lot of kids are afforded.”

Medina is one of only 58 districts in the state (out of about 700) that competes in the field band program. It’s the only district in Orleans County with a field band, which competes in the fall. Medina is the sixth smallest district in the state with a field band. But Medina has more participation in the program than many larger districts, Pritchard said.

“We attribute the size to the band being such a strong tradition at the school,” she said. “A lot of the parents of our students were in the band, too.”

The band is bigger this year. Steele said the numbers tend to go in cycles.

“We’re on an upswing in the cycle, which is great,” he said.

This year’s program is called “The Pursuit Of Gold,” and features a tribute to the Olympics. The band will show their parents what they learned with a preview of the show 7 p.m. Thursday.

Medina will host its annual Fall Festival of Bands on Sept. 21 when 12 bands will perform at Vets Park, including the band from University at Buffalo. About 1,000 spectators are expected for that event.

Vinnie Monacelli, the Colorguard instructor and drill designer, calls out instructions to students today.

Photo by Tom Rivers

MEDINA – The historic First Baptist Church in Medina is getting a new roof. Matt C.M. Contracting of Medina is taking off the slate roof and putting on an asphalt one. The roof has been leaking and some of the cracked pieces were a danger.

The roofing company has tried to save as many of the intact slate pieces as possible. Many of them are being given to members of the congregation as souvenirs. Jeff MacDonald, an employee for the roofing company, holds one of the pieces.

Photos by Tom Rivers

MEDINA – Dave Viterna sings and plays the guitar during a concert by the Dave Viterna Band today at Medina’s Canal Basin. Viterna’s band performed the blues.

Another concert from the Creek Bend Band was scheduled to follow Viterna at 6 p.m.

The back-to-back concerts were part of event called “Bluegrass and Barbecue in the Basin.” Baby Ribs, a Medina restaurant, is serving barbecue chicken and ribs during the concerts. The event was coordinated by the Village of Medina Tourism Committee.

Dave Viterna tunes his guitar in between songs today during a blues concert at Medina’s Canal Basin.

Photo by Tom Rivers

The Orleans County Farmers’ Market planned several activities for children and families today at the Canal Basin in Medina. Cousins Kadinz Sager, 9, and Melodee Sager, 5, both of Medina pose by a cutout with a farm theme.

Lois McClure, a floating museum, is traveling canal this summer

Photos by Tom Rivers

Jean Belisle, a member of the nine-person Lois McClure crew, talks about the helm, which he said was nicknamed a “shin splinter” by crew members. The Lois McClure is traveling the canal this summer. The boat is a wooden replica of a canal boat from the 1860s.

Visitors flock to see what the boat looks like below deck.

The Lois McClure docked in Medina today and was open for tours from 4 to 8 p.m. The boat heads east on Friday for an event in Brockport. The schooner is a full-scale replica of an 1862-class sailing canal boat. It was constructed by the Lake Champlain Maritime Museum in Vermont and launched in 2004.

Photos by Tom Rivers – Paula Moyer pulls the ticket for a gift basket as part of a fundpraiser today to fund a scholarship and support the sports program at Medina Central School. Her son Terry died in a car accident on Aug. 28, 2011. He was 17.

MEDINA – Paula Moyer is continuing to keep her son’s memory alive, raising money for a scholarship and the sports program at Medina Central School.

Today, Moyer held the second annual blood drive and basket raffle in honor of her son Terry Moyer, who was 17 when he died in a tragic car accident on Culvert Road on Aug. 28, 2011.

The family awarded the first scholarship in Terry Moyer’s name this past June. Matthew Montesanti won the $250 scholarship. The scholarship will go to a graduate pursuing a building trades career or playing sports in college.

Terry played football and wrestled at Medina.

“We want to raise money for the scholarship and make sure sports are not cut,” Paula Moyer said. “He loved being in the sports.”

Donors gave 19 pints of blood during the drive at the Oak Orchard Elementary School.

Brandon Robinson, 20, of Amherst gives blood today in memory of his friend Terry Moyer. Nineteen people donated during a blood drive in Moyer’s memory.

Photos by Tom Rivers

MEDINA – The First Baptist Church reaches to the sky tonight in Medina in this shot from the top of the Shirt Factory Café.

The other photo of the historic church was taken through an ivy-covered Shirt Factory window.

Photos by Tom Rivers

MEDINA – Lynn Condoluci, owner of a woodworking business in Barre, spent today caulking and repainting the wooden frame of a stained-glass window at the St. John’s Episcopal Church in Medina.

Condoluci said the caulk and paint should extend the life of the window frames, which he said have badly deteriorated.

He is working on eight of the church window frames. The church at East Center Street was built in 1832, making it one of the oldest in Orleans County.

Press release
OC Major Felony Crime Task Force

Joel Hackenburg

MEDINA – Following a six-month investigation into the sale and distribution of prescription narcotic pills in the village of Medina, the Orleans County Major Felony Crime Task Force and Medina Police Department today executed a search warrant at 117 Worthy Ave. and arrested a resident on numerous counts of criminal sale and possession of a controlled substance.

Joel D. Hackenburg, 50, was charged with one count of criminal sale of a controlled substance in the third degree, one count of criminal possession of a controlled substance in the third degree, three counts of criminal sale of a controlled substance in the fourth degree, three counts of criminal possession of a controlled substance in the fifth degree, and four counts of criminal diversion of prescription medications and prescriptions in the fourth degree.

Hackenburg was arraigned by Town of Ridgeway Justice Lawrence Sanderson and was committed to county jail on $10,000 cash bail or bond. He is to return to town court at 9 a.m. on Aug. 5.

Angel Gonzalez

In a separate investigation at 61 Ricky Place, another resident was charged with three counts of criminal sale and possession of a controlled substance.

Police charged Angel Gonzalez, 73, with one count of criminal sale of a controlled substance in the second degree, a felony; two counts of criminal possession of a controlled substance in the third degree; and one count of criminal diversion of a prescription medication and prescription in the fourth degree.

Gonzalez was arraigned by Town of Ridgeway Justice Lawrence Sanderson and was committed to county jail on no bail. He is to return to Shelby town court at 9 a.m. on Aug. 1.

Photos courtesy of Chris Busch – Workers were at St. Mary’s Catholic Church in Medina on Tuesday, making a repair to the south tower of the landmark church.

MEDINA – One of Orleans County’s most iconic structures, St. Mary’s Catholic Church in Medina, has the attention of contractors, who are making a repair to the south tower of the church.

Chris Busch, a member of the Holy Trinity Parish in Medina, took these photos of workers in action on Tuesday.

“The structure is arguably one of the finest sandstone buildings in Orleans County and Western New York,” Busch wrote in an email.

Construction started on the church in 1902. It was complete in 1904. St. Mary’s was built in a 14^th Century English Gothic design.

“It is an outstanding example of the ecclesiastical Gothic Revival architecture of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries,” Busch said, quoting from a brochure on the history of St. Mary’s. “It rivals many other examples in the region and the state in size, design, and stature.”

The southern spire measures 100 feet, while the northern tower soars 170 feet high.

MEDINA – Medina firefighters passed the boot on Friday and raised $4,222.92 for the Muscular Dystrophy Association, firefighter Jerry Lewis reported.

Firefighters stood for eight hours at the Main and Center street intersection, and passing motorists left donations.

MEDINA – Chris Busch was out enjoying a gorgeous sunny day today, and talked his way to the rooftop at the R.H. Newell Shirt Factory building at 115 West Center St.

He sent along these photos looking toward the First Baptist Church at 203 West Center. You can also see the Post Office in the front right and St. Mary’s Catholic Church in the back right.

Busch’s other photo includes the Sandstone Apartments and Bent’s Opera House.