Photo and information courtesy of Medina Mustang Band Boosters: Medina’s marching band took first place in the parade competition at Sherburne on Saturday.

The Medina Mustang Marching Band traveled to Sherburne in Chenango County to participate in the 75th annual pageant of bands. This is the oldest pageant of bands in NYS.

Thirty-three bands performed in competition in the parade. There were other competitions including jazz, concert, saxophone quartet and drumline.  Medina earned several awards as follows:

• Wind Ensemble: 2nd place
• Middle School Jazz Band: 1st place tying with Fonda-Fultonville
• Jazz Band AA: 2nd place
• Middle School Small Ensemble (flutes): 2nd place
• High School Small Ensemble (saxophones): 1st place
• Parade AA: 1st place
• Cadence AA (drumline): 1st place
• Parade Color Guard AA: 1st place
• Drum Major (entire parade): Medina
• Color Guard (best overall): Medina
• Color Guard: Medina
• Outstanding Director Award: Medina
• Overall Class AA (best in class): Medina
• Grand Champion: Medina

The 2023-2024 band season will come to a close with the band banquet June 3.

Photo by Ginny Kropf: Georgia Thomas, left, and Cindy Robinson, both members of Friends of Boxwood Cemetery, hold a sign promoting the second annual Tea Time at Boxwood June 8.

MEDINA – Having tea in a cemetery may sound unusual, but in olden times it was a normal thing to do.

On June 8, the Friends of Boxwood Cemetery will sponsor the second annual Tea Time at Boxwood, a fundraiser to benefit efforts to maintain the cemetery. The event will run from 2 to 4 p.m.

“Everybody last year seemed to enjoy themselves immensely,” said Georgia Thomas, who is helping organize the event. “They loved having tea and going through the cemetery. Years ago people literally brought picnic baskets on Decoration Day (now Memorial Day) to have a picnic with their deceased loved ones. Victorians would gather in cemeteries as they would in parks to socialize and picnic.”

It was a perfect setting for parasols and fancy hats,  which prompted the Friends of Boxwood last year to have a tea.

Cindy Robinson described it as a high tea with more substantial foods. This year’s event will be low tea with more finger foods.

The tea will include hot tea and iced tea. New this year will be a table decorating contest.

“Last year, a guest brought their own bistro table and chairs, nicely decorated with Victorian accents,” Robinson said.

Winner of the contest will receive a $25 gift certificate to the English Rose Tea Shoppe. In addition, there will be little drawings throughout the event. Attendees will each receive an entry for the drawings with each ticket purchased. Anyone who joins Friends of Boxwood before the event will receive five additional entries.

Another feature will be a presentation by Mary Lewis, owner of Creekside Floral, who will discuss the proper plants for a cemetery.

The day will conclude with a historic tour of the renovation chapel with historian Todd Bensley, said Friends of Boxwood president Rob Klino.

Klino also reminds the public about future events at Boxwood Cemetery. These include “Bigger, Better, Brighter Boxwood at Night” on Oct. 5; and a tombstone cleaning event in August.

“It’s about creating awareness of Boxwood Cemetery,” Klino said. “People go through there to kayak on Glenwood Lake, and they come there to walk. It’s becoming a destination. “We are trying to undo the neglect of many years.”

Thomas described Boxwood Cemetery as “a parklike setting built in the late 1800s.”

Tickets for Tea Time at Boxwood are $20 for Friends of Boxwood members or $25 for non-members. They are available at English Rose Tea Shoppe, 527 Main St.

Photo by Ginny Kropf: Medina’s Visitors’ Center has opened for the season in Rotary Park. Cheryl Broughton, left, a four-year volunteer and member of Medina’s Tourism Committee, stands with first-time volunteers Amanda Pollard, Lynn Mietz and Barb Gorham.

MEDINA – When the calendar hits June 1, volunteers hit the Visitors’ Center in Rotary Park.

The Medina Tourism Committee, chaired by Jim Hancock, has announced opening of the Visitors’ Center for the summer, with a handful of new volunteers.

This will be the 16th year for the Visitors’ Center, which has seen a steady growth in visitors and the destinations from which they come.

Hancock explained the Visitors’ Center first began in the offices of United Way and the American Red Cross on Main Street. They next moved to City Hall for a number of years before moving to the building in Rotary Park.

Last year saw 434 visitors from 34 states and five foreign countries stop at the Visitors’ Center.

This year, they welcome three new volunteers – Amanda Pollard of Medina, Lynn Mietz of West Shelby and Cheryl Broughton of Medina.

Pollard recently retired from Bank of Castile and was looking for a volunteer opportunity.

“I love Medina,” she said. “I was born and raised here.”

Gorham is starting her fourth year as a volunteer. She looks forward to meeting new people and telling them what Medina has to offer. When she was still working, she volunteered on Saturday mornings, but now that she’s retired, she is happy to be manning the center on week days.

“I was surprised to meet people from all around the world, many who came on the canal or biked here,” Gorham said. “People ask where there’s a good place to eat or stay, or they want to know about Medina Sandstone and the Erie Canal.”

Gorham taught foreign language, which makes it easy for her to talk to foreigners about Medina’s architecture and all that’s going on here.

“I moved here in 1989 for my job teaching at Roy-Hart, and I’m really proud of this place,” Gorham said.

Broughton was originally from Niagara Falls and has a daughter who moved here 24 years ago. She would come and visit her. So when her husband died, Broughton sold her house in 2022 and moved here.

The Visitors’ Center is open from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Saturday. Anyone who would like to volunteer may contact Hancock at (585) 590-1248.

Being in Rotary Park is a great location for the Visitors’ Center, Hancock said.

Mietz said he lived in Akron and his parents always came to Medina for a fish fry. He remembers when G.C. Murphy was on Main Street and he once met Dan Spaghett there.

Photos by Tom Rivers

MEDINA – Medina Mayor Marguerite Sherman cuts the ribbon to celebrate the opening of two new full-size basketball courts at Butts Park. She is joined on the court by many local kids and adults who were eager to shoot some hoops this evening.

Other key supporters of the effort joined for the ribbon-cutting.

The courts opened on Tuesday.

“This is a direct result of what can happen when we pool resources to fill a need in the community,” Sherman said.

The village contributed $110,000 towards the project with that money coming from par tof its federal American Rescue Plan Act money. The Town of Shelby (representing by Councilman Jeff Schiffer at the ribbon-cutting) contributed $10,000 in ARPA funds.

Melissa Valley from the Medina Sports Boosters sought bids and donations for the courts. The Sports Boosters gave $3,332 and Valley reached out to Shelby Crushed Stone. Tom Biamonte, owner of the business, donated 800 tons of stone valued at about $8,000.

The new courts are painted in Medina Mustang colors. The group gathered for a ribbon cutting after 6 p.m. today.

The courts were busy this evening. Melissa Valley, a Medina teacher and coach, has pushed the past four years for the courts. She said there weren’t outdoor courts in any local parks.

She was thrilled to see so many players on the courts today.

“This is what this was all about,” Valley said watching a fast-paced pickup game. “I knew they would play. It’s been busy since they went up. There are lots of smiles.”

Sherman, the Medina mayor, also commended the Village Department of Public Works for prepping the site with the stone from Shelby Crushed Stone.

Sherman said the hoops have adjustable heights. She expects to see some tournaments on the new courts. Mainly, she is happy to see the immediate use.

The courts were painted in the Median colors on Friday and then striped on Saturday. On Tuesday the nets were back and the courts open. (The nets were removed temporarily so the courts could be painted.)

Photos by Tom Rivers

MEDINA – Tim Wendel gave two presentations on Tuesday to sold-out crowds at Author’s Note in Medina. Wendel wrote Rebel Falls, a historical novel about Civil War spies in Niagara Falls.

The book also includes some scenes in Orleans County. He also discussed the book during a presentation on Wednesday at Woodward Memorial Library in Le Roy.

Wendel, a Lockport native, now is a resident of Charlottesville, Va. He said independent book stores like Author’s Note have been critical in helping get the word out about his books.

Rebel Falls is fiction, set in the late summer of 1864 and based on actual, yet long-obscured events and people of the Civil War in the Niagara Falls area, including and Orleans and Niagara counties.

He became interested in the Civil War after reading Doris Kearns Goodwin’s Team of Rivals and Carl Sandberg’s Lincoln. Wendel discovered while most of the fighting was going on in the south, espionage and spying was taking place all along the Canadian border. At the center of it were two spies, John Yates Beall and Bennet Burley, whom President Lincoln had refused to pardon for their crimes.

Their goal was to seize the USS Michigan, the only warship left on the Great Lakes, and create enough dissension that people would blame Lincoln and he would lose the election, which was to take place the day after the spies planned crime. They also planned to bomb Buffalo, Cleveland and Toledo.

Author’s Note tried a new system for Wendel’s appearance, selling tickets for $5 to reserve a seat at the presentation. The $5 was then be deducted from the cost of purchasing a book.

Julie Berry, owner of Author’s Note, welcomes Tim Wendel to the bookstore on Tuesday.

Provided photos: At left are some of prizes for the Kid’s Scavenger Hunt. (Right) Live music will also return to the summer market, sponsored by Medina Lumber and Hardware. Performing here is local favorite Steve Novak.

MEDINA – A sure sign of summer is opening of the Canal Village Farmers’ Market in its original location at West Center Street and West Avenue.

The market will reopen there on Saturday, celebrating its ninth season in Medina, with many of the old favorite vendors and some new ones, as well.

“Our winter market had a great season in the former NAPA building, but we are definitely looking forward to opening day of the summer season,” said Chris Busch, president of Orleans Renaissance Group, which sponsors the market. “The Saturday morning gathering of vendors, musicians, food trucks and friends is a welcome sign of summer.”

While the market operates under the auspices of ORG, a local 501©3 arts and culture organization, many aspects of the market are dependent on generous local sponsorships. Once again, overall summer market operations will be underwritten by Takeform, a well-known, local architectural graphics company in Medina.

“For the past two years, we’ve been immensely fortunate to have our general market operations funded by a generous donation by Takeform,” Busch said. “Bill Hungerford, president of Takeform, has been unhesitatingly generous and supportive of what we do here every summer. We can’t thank him enough for his considerate assistance in keeping Medina’s community farmer’s market a viable, on-going asset to our village.”

Gail Miller has been manager of the market since it opened.

“All of us are looking forward to a great summer season for the Canal Village Farmers’ Market,” Miller said. “We’ll have a lot packed into the Saturday market – regular and rotating vendors, food trucks, kids’ scavenger hunts, crafters and more. We’re also hoping to do some food demos, too. As always, weekly updates will be posted on our Facebook page.”

Returning anchor vendors include Baker Farms, Bower Family Farms, Human Farms, Heartland Organics, LockRidge Apiary, Gardner’s Gardens and Dot’s Pantry (every other week).

Regular featured products are local beef, pork, chicken, garlic, garlic powder, eggs, mushrooms, cheese, numerous fruit and vegetable options, cut flowers, jams, fudge, barbecue sauce, herb blends, honey and many other seasonal items.

Making a return with wine, mead and spirits will be 810 Meadworks, the popular Black Button Distilling and other wineries, to be announced.

A great lineup of food trucks will be at the market this season, Miller said.

“There’s a nice variety for all tastes this year,” she said. “Food trucks will rotate in and out throughout the season. In addition to the weekly anchor El Gran Burrito, the market will welcome two additional regular food trucks.”

Miller said they are incredibly excited to welcome pitmaster Scott Gypson of Gasport with his TN Smoke House and NOLA Confections, who will be selling New Orleans style snow cones.

“A native of Middleport, Scott Gypson spent a number of years living in Tennessee, where he learned and mastered the art of smoking meat,” Miller said. “He uses nothing but the highest quality meats and we are super psyched to have his BBQ with us. His business was recently featured in a Hub article.”

TN Smoke House will be at the market on opening day and will appear numerous times throughout the season.

Organic mushrooms from Heartland Organics are works of art and nutritious to eat, along with farm-fresh produce from Human Farms and Greenhouse. They are among the vendors at Medina’s Canal Village Farmers’ Market.

NOLA Confections’ snow cones are a sweet made with a mound of fluffy shaved ice flavored with sweet syrups and topped or stuffed with a number of mix-ins or add-ons. They will be at the market every Saturday with the same schedule as El Gran Burrito.

Other food trucks scheduled to visit throughout the season are Dubby’s Wood Fired Pizza from Albion and Greenlief’s on the Go from Middleport.

Artisans and crafters appearing at the market include Katlyn Koch Crochet, Lucky Violet Color Co., Laurels by the Creek and others still in the planning.

“We’ve been contacted by quite a few artisans and crafters, and some spots are still available,” Miller said. “There will be more to announce soon.”

Live music will again be featured at the market this summer, sponsored by Medina Lumber and Hardware.

“We are thrilled for the music sponsorship from Medina Lumber and Hardware,” Miller said. “The summer market just wouldn’t be complete without it. It’s become a tradition. We are so grateful owner Tom Snyder has stepped up with a generous sponsorship to feature and support local musicians at the market. It really creates a festive atmosphere and our patrons thoroughly enjoy it.”

The ever-popular kids’ scavenger hunt will also return to the summer market. According to Miller, this is a “must do” activity for many kids, and they play every week.

Kids play by answering five market-related scavenger hunt questions to win a prize from a huge box of cool kids’ stuff.

“It’s great fun, and we have as much fun watching the kids enjoy themselves as they do playing,” Miller said.

The scavenger hunt has again been sponsored by Maureen Hungerford.

“We owe a huge debt of gratitude to Mrs. Hungerford for her sponsorship,” Miller said. “The scavenger hunt is such a popular attraction and kids absolutely adore the big prize box, which, thanks to Mrs. Hungerford, is always stocked with cool kid stuff.”

Another popular feature is the Community Tent.

“The tent is for community organizations, such as tourism, veterans’ organizations, health and wellness organizations, Master Gardeners, charitable organizations and the like,” Miller said. “It gives these agencies a helpful outlet to share information about services, etc.”

 Some appearances to watch for at the tent include the New York State Division of Veteran Services distributing Fresh Connect Checks to veterans on June 8. The Orleans County Veterans’ Association will be at the tent several weeks later to distribute them to veterans who could not make it on the 8th.

“Any community-oriented organizations who feel they might be appropriate for the market should contact us,” Miller said. “It’s a great opportunity to meet and greet the public.”

Miller said products available each Saturday are listed every week on the market’s Facebook page – Canal Village Farmers Market. Customers are encouraged to follow the page for up-to-date information.

The market will again have multiple options for making sales transactions.

“While most market transactions use cash, most all of our vendors now offer additional forms of payment, such as Square, PayPal and Venmo,” Miller said. “Payment options at the market have never been more convenient.”

The market also accepts Senior Coupons, WIC, SNAP and Fresh Connect Checks, and will soon be able to offer Double Up Food Bucks to SNAP recipients. More information will be available at the market manager’s tent.

“For SNAP/EBT users, each transaction makes the user eligible to receive the same amount spent in Fresh Connect Checks,” Miller said. “For example, a $20 SNAP purchase of market tokens means the user will receive $20 in Fresh Connect Checks, effectively doubling their purchase power.”

The market is open from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. every Saturday. Market manager Gail Miller can be reached at canalvillagemarket@gmail.com or via Facebook Messenger.

Auto dealership wants to take down old structure, put up new maintenance building

ALBION – The Orleans County Planning Board is recommending the Village of Medina approve a project at Hartway Motors that calls for demolishing a building to the north of the dealership and constructing a new maintenance structure behind the current showroom and service department.

The project was before the Planning Board last Thursday. Knocking down the old building, a former Loblaws grocery store, would allow for more parking at Hartway Motors at 320 North Main St.

The dealership’s owner, Bidleman Properties, wants to put a 2,933-square-foot masonry building addition that wouldn’t be used for offices or a showroom. It would provide more room for the maintenance area.

When the building is taken down, a vinyl fence will be installed to the north to provide some privacy for the residential property next door.

The project is in Medina’s Historic Overlay District but is not included on the National or State Registers of Historic Places. County planners suggested Medina have the project go to the State’s Historic Preservation Office for its review. SHPO may suggest the new building have construction materials that match the existing building.

In another Medina referrals, county planners recommended the village approve the site plan and a special use permit for a Class A Home Business for dog grooming at 445 East Center St.

Megan Davenport will be running a dog grooming business from her residence which is in an R1 district. The business will be by appointment with customers dropping off their animal and returning later. Planners said the business is expected to have up to six customers a day in two-hour increments.

Davenport plans to turn a first-floor office into a grooming salon with a professional pet groom tub, table and equipment.

MEDINA – There won’t be a parade or Memorial Day service in Medina due to the forecast of nasty weather.

Medina was planning a parade at 11 a.m. with a service to follow about noon at State Street Park.

The forecast shows there will likely be a downpour with lightning at that time.

Provided photo: Participants in last year’s scavenger hunt study their clues as they check out a store front on Medina’s Main Street. The Medina Area Partnership will sponsor its third annual scavenger hunt from June through August.

MEDINA – The Medina Area Partnership has announced it will sponsor its third annual Scavenger Hunt from June through August.

Wonderopolis.org defines “scavenger hunt” as a game in which the players – either individually or in teams – compete to see who can obtain the most items from a list.

How hard could that be, sponsors ask.

Well, those who have participated in one of Medina’s past scavenger hunts will know that they’re quite challenging, but above all, fun for family, friends, coworkers or individuals.

Scavenger hunts have been around for a long time, according to Tim Elliott, who came up with the idea, and Ann Fisher-Bale, event coordinator for MAP. There’s even a National Scavenger Hunt Day annually on May 24, they said. According to nationalcalendarday.com, American gossip columnist, author, songwriter and professional hostel Elsa Maxwell is credited with the introduction of the scavenger hunt for use as a part game in the 1930s.

Maxwell’s invention started a craze, and the rest, as they say, is history.

Two years ago Elliott, a MAP member, along with some of his colleagues decided it was time Medina to jump on that bandwagon.

“The two previous scavenger hunts have been a resounding success,” Elliott said. “Both years have far exceeded our expectations. Feedback was great. All the participants really had a lot of fun with the experience, and everyone had a great time exploring and enjoying Medina.”

As in years past, clues are designed to encourage participants to explore various parts of the 14103 zip code, with every clue taking the participant closer to the prize.

“The winner will have the opportunity to choose from a family prize pack or an adult night-out prize pack, each valued at $150,” Elliott said. “You answer as many questions as you can and submit your scavenger hunt forms by Aug. 31 to be entered into a drawing for a prize pack.”

An example of the questions a participant can expect to see would be, “Tick tock, tick tock. What class said time passes?” The answer is the Class of 1966.

That question on last year’s hunt referred to the clock located in the heart of downtown Medina. One of the memorial bricks at its base has this quote on it.

“There’s so much unique and incredible history in Medina,” Elliott said. “Questions have been carefully crafted using much of our history, both old and new, throughout 14103. You’ll actually learn quite a lot.”

There are 20 questions in total, each one leading to a clue. When a participant locates the area of the clue, they are asked an additional question to confirm they’re in the right place.

Three of the questions are designed to be harder. For every correct answer, participants receive a ticket for the prize drawing, and the hard questions earn 10 tickets for the drawing.

To get started, go to the Coffee Pot Café at 114 East Center St. or click here to get a clue sheet for $10. The hunt can be completed in a couple of hours or at the participant’s leisure. Either way, MAP guarantees the participant will have a great time.

“As always, Tim and the entire MAP Events Committee have done an outstanding job creating a fun and challenging hunt,” said MAP’s president, Cindy Robinson. “And one of the best things about this activity is being able to experience all that Medina has to offer – our shops, restaurants, taverns, architecture and history. It’s a chance to get up close and personal with Medina.”