MEDINA – Resiliency kits are now available for checkout at Lee-Whedon Memorial Library.
Life is full of challenges and stressors for the little ones in your life. These kits are to help teach your child how to manage their “big emotions.” Teaching coping skills, social skills and emotional regulation will help your child be better prepared for the future.
The library has 18 resiliency kits available for two weeks at a time. They range in theme from “Happiness” to “Anger” to “Overwhelmed.”
In addition to Resiliency kits, we also circulate Discovery Kits, for hands on STEM learning, and Little Learners kits, for teaching the building blocks of literacy. All kits must be borrowed from and returned to Medina. Contact the library for more information.
By Ginny Kropf, correspondent Posted 23 February 2024 at 8:31 am
Photo by Ginny Kropf: Rochester pianist Gregg Herman practices on the new piano in the Harvest restaurant at Bent’s Opera House.
MEDINA – Diners at the Harvest restaurant in Bent’s Opera House can now enjoy music with their meals, with the addition of a new piano.
The piano was a Christmas gift from Bent’s owner Roger Hungerford to his wife Heather, who has always loved the piano and wanted to learn how to play.
“Growing up in a family of nine children, it was difficult to afford piano lessons” Heather said. “When Roger learned Denton, Cottier and Daniels in Buffalo was closing, he said we should go and look at purchasing one. Rather than put it in our house, I thought adding a piano here in this historic building would be a wonderful thing. Now everyone can enjoy it.”
She is hoping she and daughter Isabella can take lessons together this summer.
On a recent Thursday night, Rochester pianist Gregg Herman played music for diners. He has been playing jazz since he was 10.
“I’m looking forward to experiencing this wonderful place,” Herman said, as he sat down at the piano.
On nights when there isn’t a pianist, diners will be able to listen to dinner music, as the instrument is a player piano. It has been placed in the front window in the room off the bar, which will now be known as the “Piano Lounge.”
Walk-ins will now be welcome to stop in for a cocktail or order a meal, while they listen to the music, Heather said.
Justin Bruce, operations manager at Harvest, said they are thrilled to be able to provide an additional space where people can come in and relax.
“This is more casual,” he said. “We now offer something for everybody.”
Harvest is open for dinner from 5 to 9 p.m. Wednesday through Saturday and for brunch from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Sunday. For more information, click here.
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 21 February 2024 at 3:57 pm
MEDINA – The Village Board is looking to follow the lead of the county and several other municipalities in expanding the income eligibility for senior citizens to qualify for a discount on their village taxes.
The board held a public hearing on the issue last week and plans to vote on increasing the income levels for the tax discount during the 7 p.m. meeting on Monday.
The County Legislature voted in November 2022 to increase the income levels for residents 65 and older to qualify for the tax break. The senior exemption previously was last changed in 2014.
The senior exemption previously gave 50 percent off property taxes for those 65 and older with an annual income at $15,500 or less and then dropped in 5 percent increments.
The new exemption levels offer 50 percent off at annual incomes of $19,000 or less. It then drops in 5 percent increments until bottoming out at 20 percent off between $23,800 and $24,699.99.
‘We feel very blessed to have the types of neighbors who show up when they are needed. They came together to help us at this trying time and asked for nothing in return.’
Provided photos: Ron Jackson is shown with his grandson Cole Jackson and daughter-in-law Jamie Jackson.
Press Release, Orleans/Niagara BOCES
MEDINA – Last month Ron and Debi Jackson’s family were devastated to watch their roof of their 40 by 90-foot barn off during a vicious windstorm that rocked the Medina area.
“It was just horrible,” said Ron, who is a welding teacher at Orleans/Niagara BOCES’ Orleans Career and Technical Education Center. “We had our hay stored in there and there were metal pipes flying everywhere.”
The following day 18 inches of snow fell and then another 10 inches a day later.
“We were blessed that no one got hurt and some of my students, friends and neighbors came and helped us move the hay, remove some of the pipes and shovel off the snow floor so there was not more damage,” Jackson said.
“I really have to thank my friends, neighbors and students Jimmy Poler, Noah Poler, Jeremy Botting, Mike Gehl and his son Matthew who all were first on the scene,” Jackson said. “There was a lot of site work to prepare for the barn raising, we needed many hands and could not have been completed without the help from Dave Alt from Alt Farms, brother-in-law Dean Bancroft, son and daughter Josh and Mikayla Jackson, Jay Wozniak from Absolute Property Maintenance, Robert Schumacher, Elliot Vanderwalker, Amanda Baker and two of my students Hanna Zastro and Conner Dwyer. It meant so much to our family that they were there.”
They are also fortunate to live in an Amish community who consider the Jacksons not only neighbors, but friends. One of those neighbors, Marcus, stopped at their farm and told Ron that his church heard about his plight and they wanted to help.
“I was completely in awe of their generous offer to help us out by the community donating their time and raising a new roof,” Jackson said.
“We feel that it was something we wanted to do,” said community member Jonathan. “The Bible teaches us to ‘Love your neighbor as yourself’ and to ‘Carry each other’s burdens, and in this way, you will fulfill the law of Christ’.”
More than 20 members of the Amish community came together the beginning of February to rebuild the barn roof starting at 8 a.m. and finishing the project before sundown.
“Thanks to our insurance company’s speedy response we were able to get the wood, metal and trusses paid for that we needed to get the project done,” Ron said about Porter Insurance. “We used an Amish business, Lake Shore Metal, for the materials and when the company that makes the trusses heard our plight, they pushed up production and got us the materials two weeks ahead of schedule. It is very touching to see how many people were willing to help us with this catastrophe. I am really blown away.”
The Jacksons says they were overwhelmed by the response of the volunteers who showed up on a cold winter day to help then out. Their neighbor Roger Yutzy who owns Fairview Fencing said he and the rest of the volunteers are not only there to help a neighbor, but are enjoying the camaraderie of working together.
“I think technology has made many people more isolated and disconnected from each other,” Yutzy said. “You would not believe how many times I am working with a customer and they tell me they don’t ever talk to their neighbors. I find that so sad. In stressful times we should be pulling together.”
To thank their volunteers Ron, Debi, Nate and Jamie Jackson made a spread of food for lunch: smoked brisket and pork, macaroni and cheese, cole slaw, baked beans and corn bread to share. “Their acts of kindness and concern have made us so grateful for the connection we have with them,” Jackson said. “We feel very blessed to have the types of neighbors who show up when they are needed. They came together to help us at this trying time and asked for nothing in return. We are very fortunate to live in this community and to be able to count these people as friends.”
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 20 February 2024 at 2:18 pm
133 ‘Hometown hero’ banners can be picked up Wednesday, Thursday at village office
File photo: The banner for Asa Hill, a Civil War soldier, was among the 133 banners that debuted in 2021. He was wounded in battle and lost a leg due to the injury. He came home to Shelby and was a farmer until his death in 1881.
MEDINA – A new group of Hometown Hero banners will go up this spring and 133 banners that first went out in 2021 won’t be back.
The banners from three years ago will be available for pickup at the village office at 119 Park Ave. on Wednesday from 8:30 to 11:30 a.m. and 1 to 4 p.m., and then on Thursday from 8:30 a.m. to 1 p.m.
Mary Woodruff, coordinator of the program, will be at the village office on the two days. She has the banners organized with a signature sheet in the crate with a serviceman/woman’s last name.
She asks people having someone else picking up a banner to notify her at mbwoodruff16@gmail.com.
“I am most humbled by your tolerance while you all waited so patiently for your banners,” Woodruff said in a message to the families. “2021 was the year that broke the record of banners sponsored by all of you. While cleaning each banner, I was sure to say goodbye to each serviceperson and a prayer for each also. I get sentimental when the banners are sent back home where their families/friends have waited for their return.”
This year there will be 78 new banners going up. They will join others from 2022 and 2023, making for about 190 total.
The banners are on a three-year cycle from when they first go out and then are “retired.”
Woodruff thanked the Medina Village Board, the DPW led by Superintendent Jason Watts and village clerk’s office led by Jada Burgess for assisting with the banners and supporting the effort.
“When you think the world is becoming a negative hive of angry, uncaring people stroll down the streets of Medina and your attitude will soar towards positivity in a moment!” Woodruff said.
Woodruff in July will start to accept applications for new banners for 2025. Woodruff said she already has a waiting list for 2025.
Photo by Tom Rivers: This sign on Maple Ridge Road promotes the Medina Business Park, one of the largest certified shovel-ready sites in upstate New York.
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 20 February 2024 at 10:04 am
MEDINA – The Medina Business Park continues to be a finalist for big economic development projects, Medina village officials were told by an Orleans Economic Development Agency official.
The park, one of the largest certified shovel-ready sites in upstate, has 355 acres available and plentiful access to water, sewer, natural gas and low-cost electricity.
Many aspects of Medina are also a strong selling point, including a vibrant downtown and improved parks.
However, the gateways leading into the village need improvement, said Gabrielle Barone, the EDA’s vice president for business development.
She urged the Village Board to try to spruce up properties on South Main Street, and East and West Center streets. Many of these properties have chipping paint, items piled on the front porches and feel neglected.
“We have to do something about the appearances of the gateways,” Barone told the Village Board last week. “We don’t show well as to where people want to live with housing.”
Barone said the main arteries leading into the village have made upgrades in recent years, but she would like to see the community work to make it better.
Barone told the board that a Fortune 500 company had Medina as its second choice out of 85 sites.
“You’re dealing with some really heavy hitters,” she said. “We have to do something to show ourselves and promote ourselves.”
The companies have site selectors visit or company reps make the trip themselves.
Medina emerges as a strong contender, but Barone believes the look of some of the neighborhoods hurts in landing some of the prospective businesses.
Mike Limina, retired jewelry store owner in Medina, also told the board the community needs to work on the appearance of the gateways and some of the neighborhoods.
“We’ve got used to it,” Limina said at last week’s board meeting. “When you drive by it everyday you don’t notice it until it hits you.”
Barone said the village and its residents impress many of the site selectors and companies, but need just a little more to stand out from the many other competing communities.
“It just takes a lot of continued effort,” she said. “There are so many things they are looking at it.”
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 19 February 2024 at 7:44 pm
‘The squeaky wheel gets the oil and we need to start squeaking’
MEDINA – Village officials say they aren’t abandoning hope that the Orleans County Legislature will hear their plea for a bigger slice of the local sales tax pie.
“We need to be in it for the long haul,” said Village Trustee Jessica Marciano. “This is going to be a long fight.”
The Medina Village Board last year sent a formal resolution to the county, asking for an increase in the local sales tax. All four villages in the county, and eight out of the 10 towns sent resolutions to the county, asking for more sales tax. The county hasn’t increased the amount the towns and villages since 2001. The 10 towns and four villages collectively receive $1,366,671 in sales tax.
The total local amount has more than doubled since 2001, and grew another $600,000 in 2023 to $23.1 million. The amount has now grown by more than $5 million since the $17.7 million in 2019. The county keeps 94 percent of the total.
The Village of Medina this year will get $160,160 of the total, which is expected to be near $25 million. That is less than 1 percent of the total in the county.
Mayor Mike Sidari said it is frustrating to get such a low amount because many of the businesses in the village are generating the sales tax that the county is reaping.
Marciano said the village shouldn’t relent and accept such a low number, especially as the village grapples with trying to prevent a big tax increase to pay for services, including a new ladder truck and addition to the fire hall.
Legislature Chairwoman Lynne Johnson last month was asked about distributing more of the local sales tax to towns and villages, but she said in a brief response that would only push up county taxes. She spoke at the Orleans County Chamber of Commerce’s Legislative Luncheon.
Marciano said county legislators need to see village and town taxpayers as county taxpayers, too, who need relief in their town and village taxes.
“The county is doing a disservice to their own residents,” Marciano said about the sales tax freeze to towns and villages. “We’re a major population center, and we have all these people who want services.”
Mayor Sidari said the village also gets short shrifted by the state with AIM payments or Aid and Incentives to Municipalities. Medina gets $45,523 in AIM from the state as a village of 6,047 people or $7.53 per person.
But other small cities with similar populations as Medina get far more in AIM. The City of Mechanicville, population 5,163 in Saratoga County, gets $1,649,701 for a per capita $319.52. The City of Salamanca in Cattaraugus County, population 5,929, gets $928,131 in AIM funding or $156.54 per capita.
Michael Maak, a retired Medina firefighter and a candidate for mayor in the March 19 election, said Medina should push to become a city to access the AIM funding, and also to get more of the local sales tax. That is a drawn-out legal process that needs the blessing of the state Legislature, something that hasn’t been approved in about 75 years, Maak said during last week’s Village Board meeting.
He said Medina shouldn’t give up the fight for more money in the sales tax and from the state for AIM.
“We provide a lot of services and they should give us what we’re due,” Maak said. “The squeaky wheel gets the oil and we need to start squeaking.”
By Ginny Kropf, correspondent Posted 19 February 2024 at 8:21 am
Provided photo: Jim Hancock, left, with Medina Lions is presented with a collection of eyeglasses and cases from Joe Byrne, an eighth-grade teacher and president of the Medina Teachers’ Association. More than 70 pairs were collected from faculty and staff to show their appreciation for what the Lions Club does to provide vision care to Medina students.
MEDINA – The Medina Lions Club was recently presented with a donation of more than 70 pairs of eyeglasses by the Medina Central School district.
Lions Club president Jim Hancock accepted the donation and thanked the school for its act of kindness.
The donation was initiated by Joe Byrne, an eighth-grade social studies teacher. He sent an e-mail to staff, urging them to start the new year with a vision of giving.
Throughout the month of January, donation boxes were placed in the main offices of Oak Orchard Primary, Wise Intermediate and Medina Junior-Senior High School.
The donations benefit the Lions Club Eyeglasses Recycling Program, which accepts used eyeglasses, prescription sunglasses, hearing aids and eyeglass cases.
“Let’s make a difference in someone’s life by providing the gift of clear sight,” Byrne urged in his e-mail.
School Superintendent Mark Kruzynski added his approval of the project.
“The Lions Club has been very active in improving vision for anyone who needs help,” Kruzynski said. “For many years now, members of the Lions Club have been providing free vision screenings to all our kindergarten students so that any vision issues can be identified while they are still young. I am proud that our faculty and staff have been able to donate over 70 pairs of eyeglasses to the Lions Club, so that those in need will not have to worry about vision care. Thank you to the Medina Teachers’ Association for organizing this eyeglass donation.”
Hancock said the Lions are very thankful for the donation. He said of 85 to 95 students
who annually have their vision screened by Medina Lions, typically 10 percent are found with some problem. In the case where a family may not be able to pay for an eye exam or eyeglasses, the Lions Club will step in and help.
He added his appreciation for the school’s donation, and said they will be turned over to the district Lions, which then recycles them. Last year, Medina Lions turned in almost 600 pairs of eyeglasses to the district.
By Ginny Kropf, correspondent Posted 17 February 2024 at 10:54 am
Photo by Ginny Kropf: Laura Gardner, owner of a lily & a sparrow and a member of the Medina Area Partnership, introduces Chet Fery of Brockport, known as the “Bread Man,” at MAP’s February get-together at the Coffee Pot Café in Medina. Everyone in attendance went home with one of Fery’s home-baked loaves of bread.
MEDINA – If there is one thing Chet Fery values in life, it’s kindness, and the Brockport resident has spent the last 22 years spreading kindness all over the country, one loaf at a time.
This week, he brought his message of kindness, along with several loaves of bread, to the Medina Area Partnership’s February get-together at the Coffee Pot Café.
A retired special ed teacher, Fery founded Bread Time Stories and More to promote random acts of kindness. He is also an amateur baker, storyteller, motivational speaker and kindness coach, who has baked and given away more than 130,000 loaves of bread.
“There’s something about baking bread that stays with us,” Fery said. “I started baking every Sunday for my children.”
Then on Mondays, he would take the extra loaves to work and put them on a table with a sign, “Free bread.”
“That seemed to change things,” Fery said. “People would come to work early, walk quickly to the bread table, pick up a loaf and smile.”
He said that changed his life, when he realized it was more than the bread – it was the act of kindness. He said kindness has the power to change things.
“We are happier, smarter, friendlier, work harder, heal faster and life longer,” he said. “Kindness is a choice that benefits the giver and the receiver.”
Fery also shared his admiration and respect for Medina.
“I bring my wife here every week in the summer for ice cream at Double Dips,” he said. “She won’t go anywhere else. I’ve been to Harvest and I love the book store and the chocolate shop.”
He invited by principal Brad Pritchard to spread the mission of kindness at the Albion middle school after the pandemic, to help the kids get back to normal, Fery said.
“Kids want kindness, too,” he added.
Fery can bake 44 loaves of bread at a time in his oven. He also makes pizzas and will do presentations at a house party, business meeting or any gathering.
Along the way, Fery got the idea to make a “Kindness” sign to accompany his loaves of bread. They have proven almost as popular as the bread. He has made and given away 200 of them.
MAP has a calendar of events planned for the spring and summer, including the annual Easter Bunny and Golden Easter Egg Scavenger Hunt on March 23 and a Murder Mystery on May 4. Complete information on those events will follow soon.
MAP has a new slate of officers for 2024-25. They are Cindy Robinson, president; Marc Shurtz, vice president; Jessica Rockcastle, secretary; Amy Crandall, treasurer; and Bill Bixler, Jesse Cudzilo and Michael Snyder, directors.
Provided photos: Fifth grade teachers Deb Weber and Michelle Gerdes and their students raised money to build a new well for people in the Sudan.
Posted 16 February 2024 at 10:34 am
Press Release, Medina Central School
MEDINA – Fifth grade students at Clifford Wise Intermediate School are taking action to bring clean water to the Sudan after reading a book based on Salva Dut’s life. His story, A Long Walk to Water, was told by New York Times bestselling author Linda Sue Park.
Mr. Sut was born in a rural village in southwestern Sudan in the Dinka tribe. When he was 11 years old, the Sudanese Civil War reached his village and separated Salva from his family. He and thousands of other boys were known as the Lost Boys of Sudan.
They sought refuge in Ethiopia and Kenya by walking thousands of miles by foot where he faced many hardships and dangers. After living in a refugee camp for ten years, he moved to Rochester, New York and was sponsored and embraced by a family there who wanted to help him have a better life.
Students made posters to raise awareness for their fundraiser.
He eventually returned to Sudan to reunite with his father, who was ill from waterborne parasites. His father’s illness inspired him to bring clean water to the people in his country by establishing a foundation that installs deep-water wells in remote villages in dire need of clean water.
Teachers Deb Weber (Social Studies) and Michelle Gerdes (Science) talked about the story with their students and the how the lack of clean water impacted their lives.
“It was a big surprise to our students that they couldn’t go to a faucet and turn on the water,” Weber said. “It was eye-opening for them that people would have to walk for miles to get a bucket of water and this is how they had to live.”
“I felt it was a very touching subject,” said Erin, a fifth-grader. “It’s important to remember not everyone has it as good as you.”
Gerdes said the students talked about the book and Salva’s mission for weeks in class.
“We really went into the scarcity of water and how these people’s lives and health were impacted,” she said. “It obviously really touched the students because we would hear them talking about it on their way to lunch and wanting to know what could they do to help.”
A foundation called Water for South Sudan, which is based in Rochester, raises money that supports the population of the country to access clean water and afford communities additional educational and economic opportunities.
The Medina students decided to bring attention to that cause by posting posters around the school and setting up pails and boxes for their schoolmates and community members to donate to.
“The kids came together as a team and assigned different jobs to one another to promote this charity,” says Gerdes. “Some made posters, some wrote and spoke at announcements each morning about the fundraising efforts. They wanted to make a difference.”
The students’ efforts raised over $300 for the foundation. Both Weber and Gerdes said they are proud of the students and the efforts they made for this worthwhile cause that will change the fate of so many in the Sudan.
Provided photos: (Left) Medina Lions Club member Don Colquhoun does a vision screening for kindergarten student Cyrus Bloom. (Right) Kindergarten student Willow Brunette gets her eyes checked by a Lions Club member.
Posted 16 February 2024 at 9:29 am
Press Release, Medina Central School
MEDINA – Did you know that 80% of all visual impairment can be prevented or cured? The first step to prevention is awareness. The second is early detection through vision screening.
Recently at Oak Orchard Primary School, the Medina Lions Club partnered with medical professionals and community leaders to screen 62 students to identify those at risk for vision loss.
Oak Orchard Principal Jennifer Stearns said that the students were referred by their teachers and all of the kindergarten students had the opportunity to participate as well.
“Eleven students were found to be in need of further evaluation,” she said. “We are thankful to the Lions Club for not only offering this service, but providing families with financial support with the evaluation and a pair of glasses if needed.”
The Lions Club schedules vision screenings every school year and the service is free to the community. Each screening takes approximately five minutes or less and the results are given immediately. Although not a complete eye screening, it indicates when a full ophthalmological evaluation would be beneficial.
Lions KidSight USA Foundation is a nationwide program to safeguard children’s vision, concentrating on children age six months through six years, but screening through grade 12 where possible is acceptable. According to educational experts 80% of learning is visual. So if a child can’t see well, that will make learning more difficult.
The Lions’ vision programs and vision screenings include programs that have, among other things: “Saved the sight of more than 15 million children by providing eye screenings, glasses and other treatments through Sight for Kids.”
Thank you Medina Lions Club for your kindness and concern for our students’ well-being!
Lions Club members, from left, include Tom Beach, Tom Robinson, Carol Bellack and Don Colquhoun. They are shown with Mrs. Fergen’s kindergarten class.
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 15 February 2024 at 11:41 am
MEDINA – The Medina Fire Department is working with a grantwriter on federal grants to help pay for equipment, a ladder truck and an addition to the fire hall.
The Village Board in August hired G&G Municipal Consulting and Grant Writing for $7,990 to write up to five grant applications for the fire department.
G & G is working on three right now. That includes a grant for $100,422 towards a compressor/fill station and also 20 SCBA cylinders. The total cost of that equipment is $105,444. The village share would be $5,021 if Medina is successful getting the grant, Fire Chief Matt Jackson advised the Village Board on Monday.
The compressor-fill station would cost $68,486 and would allow firefighters to fill the cylinders right at the station, rather than going to the county Emergency Management Office in Albion.
Medina has 40 of the SCBA (self-contained breathing apparatus) that are breathing-air cylinders. The Fire Department wants to replace half of those 40 bottles, with the next half to be replaced in five years. The 20 bottles cost approximately $36,958, Jackson said.
The Village Board is expected to approve the grant application at its Feb. 25 meeting. The application is die March 8.
Jackson said the village also is working with G & G to pursue assistance through the U.S. Department of Agriculture for a new ladder truck and an fire hall addition.
Medina voted on June 26 to spend $1.7 million to buy a new ladder truck from Pierce Manufacturing in Appleton, Wisc., with a delivery time expected to take 2 ½ years.
The board on Aug. 14 authorized seeking a bond for up to $5.6 million to finance the fire hall addition. The board hasn’t determined the scope of that project yet.
Another fire truck from 1990 also should be on schedule for a replacement in the near future, Jackson said.
He also would like to pursue a grant for a specialized laundry machine to clean turn-out gear and remove any carcinogens.
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 13 February 2024 at 8:04 pm
MEDINA – The Village of Medina has seven candidates who will be on the ballot for three positions in the March 19 election.
That is a far cry from recent elections where candidates have been unopposed.
Medina will have a new mayor on April 1 because Mike Sidari isn’t seeking re-election after 8 years.
He was elected in 2016, running with Marguerite Sherman and Tim Elliott. This time, Sherman is running for mayor with Elliott again seeking trustee. Sherman is recently retired as a special education teacher and Elliott is an entrepreneur who currently works for LynOaken Farms.
They are joined on “The Village Party” by Debbie Padoleski for a trustee position. Padoleski retired in June 2021 after 41 years in Medina’s clerk’s office, including the final eight years as clerk/treasurer.
Three other candidates are running as a team with “Roots of the Past, Eyes on the Future Party.” Michael Maak, a retired captain in the Medina Fire Department, is running for mayor. Maak has previously made unsuccessful bids for election as Ridgeway town supervisor and county legislator.
He is joined by Mat “Austin” Mosher and Jeffrey Pasnik who want to be trustees. Mosher is a former Medina firefighter and Pasnik is a council rep for North Atlantic States Regional Council of Carpenters in Cheektowaga.
Mark Prawel, a retired Medina police officer, also turned in petitions to run as a trustee under the “United Party.”
The terms on the board are all for two years. Candidates needed to turn in petitions signed by at least 100 registered voters in the village to be on the ballot. Today at 5 p.m. was the deadline to submit petitions.
Photos by Tom Rivers: This road in the Medina Business Park goes between the Cobblestone Inn & Suites on the east side and Pride Pak on the west. The road is currently unnamed. The Village Board is considering naming it Owen’s Way in honor of Owen Toale, a former village trustee, deputy mayor and local newspaper publisher. The board is open to other possibilities for naming the road.
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 13 February 2024 at 9:13 am
MEDINA – The Village Board is considering how to name three roads in the Medina Business Park, whether those street names should honor people who helped shape the community or instead be more generic and just state “Commerce Way.”
One of the three roads will likely be named for Pride Pak, a Canadian company that built a vegetable processing facility at the park in 2016. There already is a sign declaring the small street “Pride Pak Road.” That street could eventually extend farther back into the business park.
Medina Mayor Mike Sidari said Pride Pak Road was never officially formalized by a village resolution. He would prefer it to be “Pride Pak Way” to be consistent with Marcia Tuohey Way, a road leading into the business park off Bates Road.
Gabrielle Barone, vice president of business development for the Orleans Economic Development Agency, said the understanding when Pride Pak came to Medina was the road would carry the Pride Pak name.
Pride Pak Road which leads to the Pride Pak vegetable processing facility hasn’t been officially named in a formal resolution by the Medina Village Board. The board is considering making it “Pride Pak Way” to stay consistent with the naming for other roads in the Medina Business Park. Marcia Tuohey Way is a road leading into the park off Bates Road.
Village Board members wondered if that name should stay if Pride Pak changed ownership and there was a different name for the facility. In that case, the road name could always be modified, board members said. Pride Pak lists the address of its Medina business as 11531 Maple Ridge Rd.
The names for the two other roads leading into the park from Maple Ridge are very much open-ended with no expectations from a business for an official name.
Village Board members are considering “Owen’s Way” for the roadway between Pride Pak and Cobblestone Inn & Suites. Owen Toale retired from the Village Board last March after 12 years, including several years as the deputy mayor. He also was publisher of the former Journal-Register newspaper and has been an active volunteer with the veterans’ van service that takes veterans to medical appointments.
Village Trustee Tim Elliott said he appreciates Toale’s service to the community, but Elliott wants to hear suggestions from the Planning Board and Village Historian Todd Bensley. Elliott would prefer names with deeper historical roots.
Courtesy of Orleans EDA: This map from the Orleans Economic Development shows three roads to the Medina Business Park along Maple Ridge Road that need official names. There is a road on the west side of Pride Pak, then one in between Pride Pak and the hotel, and then another road in between Takeform and BMP.
The next road, the short street between Takeform and BMP, could be Commerce Way, but village officials are open to suggestions.
They heard ideas from the crowd on Monday evening: John Kennedy Way for a Medina mayor in the 1960s, Charles Howard for a Medina native who started a Santa Claus school in Albion, Medal of Honor recipient Forrest Vosler from Lyndonville, the Sawyer family who were influential in the ethanol plant in Medina, and Medal of Honor recipient John Butts of Medina.
Mayor Sidari said the board is open to more ideas for naming the street names.
Photos by Ginny Kropf: (Left) Ronnie Barhite of Lyndonville looks at a copy of “Love is in the Air” at Author’s Note, prior to a book signing there on Saturday by author Dee Romito of Buffalo. (Right) Author Dee Romito is introduced at a book signing by Author’s Note owner Julie Berry at a book signing on Saturday.
By Ginny Kropf, correspondent Posted 12 February 2024 at 9:29 pm
MEDINA – An inspirational book for young girls was introduced at Author’s Note on Saturday, in a timely presentation for Valentine’s Day.
“Love is in the Air” is a children’s book written by Buffalo author Dee Romito, who wanted to show the world “a girl can do anything, and should never give up her dreams.”
The book features Nancy Harkness Love, who wanted to learn to fly in an age when women weren’t allowed to even vote.
Romito said she has researched women’s rights and she wanted to tell Love’s story.
Photo from Wikipedia: Nancy Harkness Love was a pioneering woman pilot during the 1930s and 1940s. She is shown here in the cockpit of her PT-19 Fairchild. She also piloted a B-17 Flying Fortress.
“Here’s a woman who was going to do it anyway, and that fascinated me,” Romito said. “Nancy loved adventure and had a big imagination. One day a pilot buzzed their barn and she went right over and paid for a plane ride. The pilot was charging a penny a pound. As soon as Nancy turned 16, she started flying lessons.”
According to Wikipedia, Love earned her pilot’s license within a week. She worked as a test pilot and air racer in the 1930s and during World War II she convinced the U.S. Army Air Forces to set up a group of female pilots to ferry aircraft from factories to air bases.
Romito thought it was especially suitable to launch her book for Valentine’s Day, with the pilot’s name being “Love.”
The pioneering pilot became a member of the Women’s Air Force (WAF), but that group shut down after World War II and the women never got their due, said Romito, who has 11 books published on various interests, including three non-fiction series.
“Love is in the Air” is meant to convey a simple message – “Each one of us can do small things to make a difference, and that’s what Nancy did.”
The book sells for $18.99 and is available at Author’s Note and many other indie book stores.
She is already working on her next book, “Last Plastic Straw.”
MEDINA – The Village Board is looking to follow the lead of the county and several other municipalities in expanding the income eligibility for senior citizens to qualify for a discount on their village taxes.
