By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 19 September 2024 at 5:28 pm
Howard is battling stage 4 metastatic prostate cancer
Provided photos: Eli Howard, left, is shown before taking the stage as a stand-up comedian. At right he is queuing a song as a deejay.
MEDINA – There will be a benefit on Saturday for a Medina man who is well known in the community, from years of volunteering in youth sports, serving as a deejay at events and performing as a stand-up comedian.
Eli Howard, 50, is battling stage 4 metastatic cancer. He said the cancer isn’t curable but is manageable and he feels optimistic about the future.
Eli Howard is shown with his wife, Jana, and their daughters, Kylee (left) and Jelia.
Howard and his wife, Jana, have two daughters, Jelia, age 21; and Kylee, age 17. Mrs. Howard is owner of A Kut Above on Main Street in Medina.
The benefit on Saturday starts at 11 a.m. at the Sacred Heart Club on North Gravel Rad. The 500 chicken barbecue dinners have already sold out.
There are at least 120 baskets up for raffle and the raffle drawing begins at 6 p.m. Winners don’t have to be present at the drawing. There will also be 50/50s and a silent auction.
Howard said he deeply appreciates the community rallying on his behalf.
He started working at age 19 in the laundry department at the former Orleans County Nursing Home and served there for 28 years. In 2021, he began at Wende Correctional Facility, also working in the laundry department.
Howard was stricken in March with gout, and was unable to walk. He also has suffered from congestive heart failure and diabetes. He was able to leave the hospital on June 24 after 14 weeks of care. While hospitalized, doctors found cancer and began treatment.
Howard takes two chemo pills each morning, and will have a shot every three months to fight the cancer. He can feel himself on the mend.
Photos courtesy of Medina Rotary: Kneeling, from left, include Chris Dix, Village of Medina DPW, and Job Corps student Jayvon Bryan-Rolfe. In back, Job Corps students Emmanuel Fernandez and Tahir Gilliam, John Thomas (Job Corps Operations Director and Medina Rotarian), Rotary Project Chairs Cindy Hewitt and Carl Tuohey, Robert Trautwein (Job Corps Chief Carpentry instructor), and Job Corps students Eyan Bailey, Kalvie Grimsley and Cahleb Gregory.
Posted 19 September 2024 at 2:26 pm
Job Corps carpentry student Kalvie Grimsley fastens down the bench in Pine Street Park.
Press Release, Medina Rotary Club
MEDINA – On Wednesday, the first of four “Buddy Benches” were installed in a Medina playground. The idea of Buddy Benches was brought to the Medina Rotary Club by member Carl Tuohey.
He and Cynthia Hewitt spearheaded the project. The Iroquois Job Corps carpentry trade students constructed four Buddy Benches for the Medina Rotary.
Buddy Benches provide students a safe way to find a buddy. When children see someone sitting on the Buddy Bench, they know he or she needs a friendly companion and can join them to say hello or invite them to play. The first Buddy Bench was placed at Pine Street Park.
Special thanks go to Public Works Superintendent Jason Watts and Medina’s Mayor Marguerite Sherman for their assistance in seeing this project to completion.
The Medina Rotary Club has raised money sponsoring events such as chicken barbecues, meat raffles, Corn Hole tournaments, and meal pairings. Recently, this service organization has donated to the local food pantry, donated multiple Adirondack chairs to benefits and fundraisers, donated to the YMCA, gives a yearly high school scholarship, raised money for Orleans County Walk to end Alzheimer’s, donated to Medina families in need (mattresses, bed frames, bedding, and a bicycle), and is donating four metal benches to the Village of Medina for youth baseball.
By Ginny Kropf, correspondent Posted 18 September 2024 at 9:10 am
File photo by Ginny Kropf: This banner hung over downtown Medina to promote homecoming last week. The Medina Mustang Sports Boosters urges stores to decorate their windows.
MEDINA – The Medina Mustang Sports Boosters are excited to announce they will again be celebrating Homecoming 2024 by inviting local businesses to get involved in Homecoming Week in a variety of ways.
“Homecoming is a community event – a time to celebrate, not just Mustang athletics, but who we are as a community,” said Melissa Valley, head of the Mustang Sports Boosters. “Mustang Sports Boosters are always incredibly appreciative of the support the Medina business community provides us, and now we want to celebrate you.”
Their goal for Homecoming the week of Sept. 23 is to get the whole community involved and into the Mustang spirit. Homecoming will feature activities and games throughout the week, including the Homecoming game Sept. 27, when the Medina Mustangs football team hosts Newfane.
“We hope to get businesses involved in two ways,” Valley said. “First, we would love for downtown to show its Mustang spirit with our third annual window decorating contest. Secondly, we want to promote their business by adding their homecoming special of the week to our Mustang Menu.”
If businesses don’t want to enter the contest, Valley said the Mustang Boosters will welcome any form of Mustang spirit that works for them.
A giant banner proclaiming Homecoming Week will be hung over Main Street in honor of the week.
“The banner was made by our very own Print Shop and it will be on display over Main Street next week,” Valley said. “We also have banners that will be up at Vets Park. We will promote any business who wants to join in on the run or any Mustang specials for the week.”
The Mustang Boosters encourage everyone downtown and in Medina to show as much Mustang pride and spirit as they can during Homecoming Week.
“It is something that unites the community in a positive way,” Valley said.
Anyone wishing more information can contact Valley at mvalley@medinacsd.org or by calling (716)-531-3055.
Students in grades Pre-K to 8 must be accompanied by adult to enter Vets Park
Press Release, Medina Central School
MEDINA – The Medina Central School District is looking forward to an outstanding fall season. The district’s goal is to provide a positive and welcoming experience to our athletes, students, parents, fans, visitors and officials.
Please help us achieve this goal by following our expectations and contributing to a positive environment.
As a reminder, all students in grades Pre-K to 8 must be accompanied and supervised by a parent or responsible adult when attending a game. This parent or responsible adult must supervise their children at all times. Students in grades Pre-K to 8 will not be allowed into Vets Park without a parent or responsible adult.
Also, as a reminder, there should be no use of tobacco, alcohol, marijuana, or any controlled or banned substance on the Medina Central School District premises. Additionally, vapes, “dab” pens, and e-cigarettes are not allowed on District premises.
We also want to remind fans to refrain from using profanity and making negative comments toward coaches, athletes, or officials. Game supervisors and administrators will address inappropriate behavior. The District and the New York State High School Athletic Association may prohibit unruly spectators from attending games.
Thank you for helping us maintain a positive, supportive atmosphere for all our student-athletes! Go Mustangs!
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 17 September 2024 at 8:00 am
Photos by Tom Rivers: Jesse Cudzillo (left), director of the YMCA in Orleans County, and Tim Elliott hold the new Medina-opoly game that is being sold as a fundraiser to upgrade the women’s locker room at the Y.
MEDINA – The Monopoly game has been given a facelift in Medina, with local businesses taking the place of the prime real estate featured in the economics-based board game.
Players buy and trade properties in the game, and seek to develop them with houses and hotels.
The Medina-opoly game starts in a corner featuring the Medina Area Partnership. About 70 Median businesses and organizations are featured on the board.
Tim Elliott, a former Medina village trustee, worked with Jesse Cudzillo, director of the YMCA in Orleans County, to sell the spots on the board. They were a quick sell out.
“Medina is lucky to have businesses to fill it up and to have a waiting list,” Elliott said.
The board highlights Medina’s historic downtown business district.
There are 350 copies of the game that arrived in early September. The sponsorships paid to have the game produced in a Medina theme.
The games are being sold for $35 each, and the proceeds will go to the Y to update the women’s locker room. If the games sell out, the Y should receive about $12,000 towards the locker room improvements.
“It’s a Medina keepsake,” Cudzillo said. “It takes a snapshot of where Medina is in 2024.”
The Y director said he appreciates the support from the community in buying spots on the board, and also in purchasing the games. So far about 75 have sold. The came be purchased at the front desk of the Y. They will be there for the upcoming Ale in Autumn event on Sept. 28. They are also available online through the Canalside Tattoo website.
Medina was featured in the Monopoly game before, back in 1995 and 2000. The Medina Rotary Club led the effort to sell the spaces on the board and to make the games available to the community.
Elliott said the game could be updated again in the future.
“This shows how Medina has changed,” he said about the new board, compared to the Medina businesses from 1995 and 2000. “In 10 years there will be more changes.”
Photos courtesy of Mollie Radzinski: Participants funnel through the finish line at the end of Saturday’s Walk to End Alzheimer’s in Medina’s State Street Park.
By Ginny Kropf, correspondent Posted 8 September 2024 at 7:06 pm
MEDINA – Medina’s Walk to End Alzheimer’s on Saturday was the first of six to take place in Western New York, according to walk manager Lynn Hughes of Hamburg.
While it doesn’t compare with the 3,500 expected in Buffalo, the 200 on Saturday was a great number for a small village, Hughes said.
The total raised so far is listed at $17,885, according to the online tally by the Alzheimer’s Association of WNY.
The race garners amazing support from the local community and beyond, including 40 volunteers, many of whom return year after year. An example is Carolyn Wagner, Amanda Pollard and especially Mary Lou Tuohey and her family.
Walkers start out from State Street Park for the Walk to End Alzheimer’s Saturday.
Tuohey lost both her parents to Alzheimer’s and supports their fundraisers wholeheartedly, including sponsoring a basket raffle to benefit the Alzheimer’s Association of WNY. In previous years, the raffle has been limited to the store windows of her business, Case-Nic Cookies on Main Street, but this year the Association allowed her to bring the raffle to the walk.
In addition to $1,435 in tickets sold at the store, another $745 was raised at the walk. Also, an annual tradition is selling paper links, which Tuohey’s daughter Nicole sticks together in a chain with a goal to stretch it down Main Street. This year she sold 1,477 at $1 each.
Volunteer Carolyn Wagner said Saturday’s turnout was good.
“We have a great core group of people who support this every year,” she said. “Alzheimer’s is a terrible disease, and most of us have had a connection with people affected by it.”
She said there are new people every year, but also many who return to participate every year – as walkers and volunteers.
Photos by Ginny Kropf: Volunteers at the annual Walk to End Alzheimer’s in Medina gather around a table full of flowers, each color designating a different involvement with the disease. From left are Carolyn Wagner, walk manager Lynn Hughes of Hamburg, Amanda Pollard and Cathy Hooker.
Kaitlyn Less, director of Development for Alzheimer’s Association of WNY, said she was excited to kick off the season in Medina.
“This is a wonderful local community, and I’m delighted to see how they come out to fight Alzheimer’s,” she said. “I am also happy to have the raffle here this year.”
She commended Tim Hortons in Medina and Albion for donating coffee, hot chocolate and Timbits, and said the walk covered a great route, which encompassed the canal and extended close to two miles.
The event included a Kids’ Zone, entertainment by DJ Spyder of Albion and Randy Bushover in his 11th year as emcee.
“My maternal grandmother died as the result of Alzheimer’s,” Bushover said.
The walk was hailed as a celebration of all the fundraising and hard work done by participants.
“It is also a celebration of the strides we’ve made in research,” Less said.
Randy Bushover of Medina, emcee for the Walk to End Alzheimer’s in Medina, stands with Michael Hooker, 12, and his mother Kim of Akron. They hold white flowers, which they carried in the walk, signifying anticipation of the day there will be a survivor of Alzheimer’s Disease.
One tent housed buckets full of different colored artificial flowers. Walk participants chose a flower which signified how Alzheimer’s has affected them. Orange means they support the cause; yellow is for someone caring for a person with Alzheimer’s; purple is for those who’ve lost someone to the disease; blue is for anyone living with the disease; and white represents a world without Alzheimer’s – it will herald the day a person who suffered from Alzheimer’s survives.
“Usually a kid carries the white flower, because kids are our future,” Less said.
This year, Michael Hooker, 12, of Akron carried a white flower and walked with his mother Kim, a former Medina resident.
“My father-in-law died of Alzheimer’s and we’re here to support the cause,” Kim said.
Walk participants could carry the flowers on the walk and “plant” them afterwards in the Promise Garden near the canal or take them home.
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 1 September 2024 at 4:26 pm
Photos by Tom Rivers
MEDINA – Steven Long, a firefighter in the Medina Fire Department, collects money this morning during a boot drive to benefit the Make-a-Wish Foundation in Western New York, which grants wishes to children battling critical illnesses.
Firefighters were at three intersections – Route 63 and Maple Ridge Road, Route 104 and South Lyndonville Road, and Main Street and Center Street – and collected $6,500 for Make-A-Wish.
Medina firefighters were at the Main and Center Street intersection, while Shelby and East Shelby firefighters were at Route 63 and Maple Ridge Road. Ridgeway and Lyndonville firefighters collected funds at Route 104 and South Lyndonville Road.
The boot drive was planned for Saturday but was pushed back a day to the rainy morning yesterday.
Traffic was a little slower today than on a Saturday, but firefighters said many people were generous, giving 10- and 20-dollar bills.
Caleb Fisher, 11, is the son of Medina firefighter Adam Fisher. Caleb is on East Center Street leading up to the Main Street intersection.
From left include Medina firefighters Adam Fisher and Dylan Schrader and Fisher’s son Caleb.
The west battalion firefighters have teamed on the boot drive in recent years. Firefighters said at least two children in the community have benefitted from Make-A-Wish recently.
Captain Mike Young of the Medina FD collects money in the boot drive today on Main Street.
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 1 September 2024 at 8:55 am
Contractors rebuilt roads, tackled other projects
Photos by Tom Rivers
MEDINA – The main campus road at Medina Central School was closed off to traffic on Aug. 2 in front of Clifford H. Wise Intermediate School. The road was rebuilt and repaved this summer.
It’s part of a $34.3 million project that was approved by school district voters on Feb. 14, 2023. State aid is covering $29.9 million.
The project includes $17.3 million at Junior-Senior High School, $9.8 million at Clifford H. Wise Intermediate, $6.2 million at Oak Orchard Primary School, and $1.1 million at the bus garage.
Work will continue on the project, including next summer.
Here is the repaved road in front of the district office on Saturday morning.
The road is freshly paved here in front of the junior/senior high school.
“We’ve had a real busy summer in terms of construction,” said Dr. Mark Kruzynski, the district superintendent.
He listed the main projects at the district this summer:
The main roads were completely rebuilt, and the parking lots at the Junior-Senior High School were milled and repaved.
A new dehumidification system is in the process of being installed in the pool, which will be ready for swim season. Next summer, the pool itself will be completely rebuilt.
Foundation work for our new band, tech and ag rooms has been ongoing all summer, and construction will continue throughout the year.
New bathrooms are being added to the second floor of the junior/senior high school and near the cafeteria at Oak Orchard. Those will be completed by November.
Work on the new library at Oak Orchard started this summer and will also be completed by November. (Once the library is completed, the old library at Oak will be converted to district offices. Once those new offices are finished, the current district offices will be converted to classrooms.)
“Next summer, all of the entrances and main offices will be reconstructed with enhanced security for all entrances,” Kruzynski said.
The parking lot by the Junior-Senior High School has construction equipment and materials on Saturday.
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 29 August 2024 at 9:21 am
Photos by Tom Rivers
MEDINA – Classic car lovers strolled Main Street in Medina on Wednesday evening, admiring more than 250 vehicles on display for the annual Super Cruise to close out a season of car shows.
Milo the dog was popular, too, with the people. He is owned by Mike Evans of Lockport, right with beard. Evans brought a 1973 Volkswagen Type 181 for the car show. It was his first time in the show.
Car owners had to pay a $10 entry fee for the first time. Evans didn’t have a problem with that expense. “It helps offset some of the costs,” he said.
These cars include a 1935 Rolls-Royce owned by Rollin Hellner at left, and the 1965 Plymouth AFX owned by Greg Sanderson at right.
Hellner, one of the car show organizers, said only a few car owners spoke against the $10 fee being charged for the first time. Hellner said the fee goes towards the costs of the show, which included entertainment, advertising and trophies. He noted many other car shows charge an entry fee. This Saturday’s Olcott Beach Car Show has a $20 entry fee.
Hellner said the Medina car show was promoted on radio stations in Western New York. He also went to shows in Buffalo, trying to bring more cars to Medina for the show. He saw some first-timers from East Aurora, Buffalo and other communities.
“I want people to experience Medina who have never been here before,” Hellner said. “I’m real happy with the turnout and feedback.”
The back end of a 1965 Ford Mustang owned by Royce Stinson is in front in this photo. The cars drew lots of people to Main Street, where a section was closed to traffic.
Terry Buchwald continued a Super Cruise tradition performing as Elvis. Here he is singing and dancing to “Don’t Be Cruel.” Buchwald has been an Elvis impersonator for over 30 years.
Buchwald entered the scene on a motorcycle.
Dennis Lapp brought a 1951 Ford F1 to the car show.
This 2020 Dodge Challenger owned by Todd Pendars has a theme celebrating the super hero, “The Thing.”
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 28 August 2024 at 8:39 am
MEDINA – The Medina Village Board on Monday gave its blessing for upcoming community events, including today’s classic car cruise-in on Main Street.
The board, however, said it should have been notified sooner about the car show today on Main Street, and the plan to charge car owners $10 to be in the show. That show has always been free to display a car.
Village staff need to set up a stage for Elvis impersonator Terry Buchwald, and also close off a section of the street to traffic.
Mayor Marguerite Sherman said there have been some “newbie mistakes” by organizers Rollin Hellner and Tom Snyder with giving notice and getting approvals from the village. However, she said she appreciates their efforts in organizing the car shows this summer.
She said she was concerned about the $10 charge that was announced about a week ago. Hellner and Snyder said the show will include official judges for the first time and trophies for the top cars.
But Sherman worries the $10 fee may “sour” some of the car owners.
The board approved the car show, but board members said they would like to see how the $10 fee is used to cover expenses for the super cruise.
Trustee Mark Prawel opposed the show saying appropriate notifications haven’t been made to village department heads.
The board also approved the Sept. 28 Ale in Autumn beer-tasting event where up to 800 tickets will be sold with tastings at 24 stops. The event is organized by the Medina Area Partnership.
Check-in will be at the Senior Center at 615 West Ave. with staggered start times at 1, 2 and 3 p.m.
Police Chief Todd Draper said there haven’t been issues with the event in the past. The attendees are well behaved with no rowdiness, he said.
The board also approved use of village streets for the Hometown Wellness 5K on Oct. 19 to benefit the Knights-Kaderli Memorial Fund, which supports people with cancer in Orleans County.
Hometown Wellness is organizing the event for the second year. The debut event in 2023 had 81 participants. The course includes the canal towpath, State Street Park and some village streets. The police department will assist with traffic control during the race that starts at 9 a.m.
Chief Draper said there are at least three 5Ks in the village each year. He would like to see organizers of the events add more signs that say “Race in Progress” and “Runners Ahead” to alert drivers that runners and walkers are out.
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 27 August 2024 at 11:04 am
File photo by Tom Rivers: The current fire hall is too small for a bigger ladder truck that is expected to arrive in December 2025. Currently there is only two inches of clearance from the top of the truck to get in and out of the bay in the fire hall.
MEDINA – The Village of Medina is accepting proposals from engineering firms to design a one-bay addition to the fire hall.
Those proposals are due by Sept. 12. The village will hire an engineering firm to prepare the bid specifications for the addition, which is needed to accommodate a larger ladder truck due to arrive in December 2025.
Village officials were looking at a two-bay addition and upgrades to the existing fire hall, but scaled that project back when estimates topped $6 million.
Medina Mayor Marguerite Sherman said an engineering report, detailing the one-bay addition, is needed to help the village pursue grant funding to help pay for the new space. She is hopeful for state and federal assistance with the building addition.
The board needs to find an affordable solution because the new truck will be delivered in about 16 months.
“We’re going for a bare-bones building for something to put this truck in,” she said during Monday’s board meeting.
The new ladder truck will have a clearance of 13 feet. The current fire hall only has room for up to 10 feet, 6 inches in height.
The village will be replacing a ladder truck that is 29 years old with a height of 10 feet, 4 inches. The new bay in the addition is expected to be 14 feet high.
The village received some good news with the fire truck. Medina was looking at a 6.5 percent financing rate for the $1.7 million truck from the U.S. Department of Agriculture. But Village Clerk-Treasurer Jada Burgess said that rate has come down to 4 percent, which would save the village significantly in interest. The final rate won’t be known until it’s time for the village to take out the financing.
Photo by Tom Rivers: The Village of Medina teamed with the Orleans County YMCA on a 9-hole disc golf course that opened last October. Most of the new course is in a wooded area at Gulf Street Park.
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 27 August 2024 at 8:18 am
MEDINA – The disc golf course in Medina has an official name: Medina Red Horse Disc Golf Course at Gulf Street Park.
The nine-hole course was developed by the village and Orleans County YMCA last year. The course opened in October and most of the course is in a wooded area at Gulf Street Park.
Some of the more devoted players suggested the name, Red Horse Disc Golf Course. Their design for promoting the site includes a cutout of a red horse, the school district’s Medina Mustang. Gulf Street Park also has red clay in some areas and the course players wanted to highlight that red.
Just last month, 175 rounds by 42 players were registered through a QR code. Other players also are likely using the site without registering, Mayor Marguerite Sherman said.
Some community members wanted Gulf Street Park to be added to the official name, and the Village Board agreed to that suggestion on Monday.
The course is considered challenging by players. The basket for Hole 8 is only a few feet from the water of Glenwood Lake.
Signs will soon be added at the tee boxes to note the distance to the basket, and the par level.
Medina worked with the Orleans County YMCA to develop the course in a project funded by a grant from the Ralph C. Wilson, Jr. Foundation. Albion did a similar project at Bullard Park.
The Ralph C. Wilson, Jr. Foundation gave the YMCA $20,000 to $24,000 to develop the projects with tee boxes, signs and baskets that are mounted in small concrete foundations – 8 inches wide by 20 inches deep.
Medina’s DPW used a skid steer with a forestry head to carve a path in the woods, mulching brush and small trees.
Volunteers are expected to install the signs on the course, and add small arrows on some trees to help direct people to the next hole.
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 27 August 2024 at 7:30 am
Photo by Tom Rivers
MEDINA – The Medina Village Board meets on Monday in the Ridgeway Town Hall. From left the board members include Jess Marciano, Debbie Padoleski, Mayor Marguerite Sherman, Mark Prawel and Diana Baker. Near them in front are Village Clerk-Treasurer Jada Burgess and attorney Matt Brooks. Jason Watts, the DPW superintendent, is at right and Police Chief Todd Draper has his back to camera.
The board has shifted the meeting locations from the Senior Center at 615 West Ave. to the Ridgeway Town Hall at 410 West Ave. The board had its first meeting at the town hall on Aug. 12. Ridgeway is making the town hall available at no charge to the Village Board.
Mayor Marguerite Sherman said the town hall has a better sound system for the public to hear the board members and the meeting space doesn’t have to be set up with tables and chairs, and then torn down the following morning.
At the Senior Center, DPW staff had to set up the tables and chairs before the meeting and then be there the following morning to put things back.
The senior center is a bigger space, and Sherman said many people who attended the meetings said it was difficult to hear the board members and other speakers.
The Village Board also recently changed the start times from 7 p.m. to 6 p.m.
File photo by Tom Rivers: Maggie Quackenbush, 10, and her father Carl Quackenbush are shown last Sept. 16 on Route 63 near the 31A intersection. They were among a contingent from the Shelby Volunteer Fire Company out collecting money for the Make-A-Wish Foundation in Western New York, which grants wishes to children battling critical illnesses.
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 26 August 2024 at 9:35 pm
MEDINA – Firefighters from five companies and departments in western Orleans County will team on Saturday in an annual boot drive to raise money for the Make-a-Wish Foundation.
From 9 a.m. to noon firefighters from Shelby, East Shelby, Medina, Ridgeway and Lyndonville will be out collecting money for Make-A-Wish.
They will be near the intersections at Route 63 and Maple Ridge Road, Route 104 and South Lyndonville Road, and Main Street and Center Street.
The firefighters have raised about $8,000 in the recent boot drives for Make-A-Wish.
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 25 August 2024 at 5:19 pm
Photos by Tom Rivers
MEDINA – Chris Busch, a trustee of Holy Trinity Parish in Medina, led a tour of the St. Mary’s Cemetery on North Gravel Road last Sunday evening. It is part of the Sunday evening cemetery tours this August, an annual effort led by the Orleans County Historical Association.
Busch believes this was the first official public tour of the cemetery. St. Mary’s started in 1858. There are about 5,000 people buried there. Many of the founders of the Catholic church in medina, which started in 1832, are buried in Lockport because the cemetery wasn’t established in Medina until 1858.
The cemetery is the final resting place for hundreds of Irish immigrants who founded the parish, Busch said. There are numerous Irish surnames throughout the cemetery, he said.
Many of the monuments have the Latin phrase: “Requiescat in Pace,” for “Rest in Peace.”
This marker is for Rev. Richard Harmon, the first resident pastor for St. Mary’s. He was assigned churches from Somerset to Kendall, and travelled by horseback to lead the faithful.
He was tasked with building the church on frontier outside of the village settlements. Harmon died at age 26, less than a year after starting his work in the Medina area.
He is one of nine Catholic priests buried at St. Mary’s.
Sister Bertrand also is noted on this monument. She was a member of the Grey Nuns of the Sacred Heart. She was one of the first nuns to teach in Medina. She died in 1876, at age 25.
Lt. John Butts is buried on the southern end of the cemetery. He is a Medal of Honor recipient who “performed magnificently” while leading soldiers in World War II. Butts was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor for “courage, unflinching valor and inspiring actions” in Normandy, France on June 23, 1944.
There were about 35 people on the tour. These two women look close at the monument for Patrick O’Grady and his family. He was a prominent sandstone mason and builder who helped lead the construction of the First Baptist Church in Medina, Bent’s Opera House and portions of the original St. Mary’s Church. Three of his children died from tuberculosis within about 6 months of each other.
The large sandstone monument notes the deaths of O’Grady at age 58 on Jan. 4, 1886.
The three children who died in 1885 include Lizzie at age 15 on Feb. 9, Eddie at age 21 on March 31, and John at age 28 on Aug. 21.
I went looking for the grave marker for Marcia Tuohey, who was key leader for Medina and Orleans County. She passed away at age 84 on Aug. 7, 2014. Marcia was well known for her stylist hats.
She was the first woman to serve as Medina’s mayor and then the first woman to serve as chair of the Orleans County Legislature, which she did for eight years.
