MEDINA – The YMCA in Orleans County has received a $3,000 grant from Project Play Western New York to offer a a Free Play Zone from 1:30 to 3:30 p.m. Monday through Friday (Feb. 17-21).

The Free Play Zone will feature tag games, open gym time, soccer and other activities, Project Play Western New York said in a news release today.

Project Play Western New York announced nine grants in eight counties for programming from Feb. 17-21 when many schools are closed for mid-winter break. The Winter Free Play Series marks an expansion of Project Play WNY’s Summer Free Play initiative.

The Free Play Series works to provide youth in all eight counties of Western New York with opportunities to enjoy self-directed free play during school breaks, at no cost to families. The total amount granted for this inaugural process is more than $25,000.

Organizations that received grants are providing programming that best aligns with the mission of Project Play WNY, which is to work toward a community in which all children have the opportunity to be active through sports, regardless of zip code.

“Pick-up sports and free play have largely been replaced by scheduled practices, games and travel,” said Aaron Hord, director of Project Play WNY. “However, free play allows youth to exercise creativity, learn important interpersonal skills and develop a lifelong love of physical activity. We’re excited about our newest grant opportunity for organizations across the region and look forward to supporting no-cost, free play programming this February.”

 The 2025 Winter Free Play Series grant recipients are:

• Buffalo Bisons Charitable Foundation – the Ice at Canalside – $3,000
• Erie Regional Housing Development Corporation – The Belle Center – $1,500
• GLOW YMCA – Orleans County YMCA location – $3,000
• Lackawanna PBA – $3,500
• Lockport Ice Arena and Sports Center – Cornerstone Arena – $2,500
• Resource Council of WNY Inc. – $3,000
• Rural Outreach Center – $3,000
• Seneca Nation of Indians – Allegany Community Center – $3,500
• Sensational Fun, Inc. – $3,000

For more information on the 2025 Winter Free Play Series, visit: www.projectplaywny.org/winter-free-play.

MEDINA – The Medina Village Board has adopted a 2-percent occupancy for hotels, motels, short-term rentals and other lodging establishments in the village.

The Village Board held a public hearing on the new tax last week and the board adopted it with no comments offered from the public. However, the village is still working through how the tax will be implemented. A start hasn’t been established for when the lodging establishments need to begin collecting the tax.

Village officials aren’t sure how much the 2-percent tax will generate. It is on top of a 4-percent occupancy tax collected by Orleans County. That “bed tax” raised $119,003 for the county in 2023 and is used to promote tourism to bring in more visitors to the county. (Both the county and village occupancy taxes are also in addition to the 8-percent sales tax.)

The 2-percent tax in Medina gives the village some new revenue at a time when it faces rising costs for a new fire truck and an addition to the fire hall, as well as overall operations. The village has tried in recent years for a boost in the local sales tax revenue and also more money from the state in Aid and Incentives to Municipalities or AIM, but has seen little change from the county and state.

The Village Board didn’t designate how the funds will be spent, except to specify the money will be “allocated at the discretion of the Medina Village Board for any Village purpose.”

Lodging establishments are to pay the village the occupancy tax in quarterly payments.

To see the local law on the occupancy tax, click here.

Provided photo: The Medina varsity winter guard competed in Batavia on Saturday and took fourth place.

Information courtesy of Medina Band Boosters

BATAVIA – The Batavia school district hosted a winter guard competition on Saturday with 22 guard units performing in competition.

Medina’s varsity guard’s show is entitled “Tidal.” Nature’s elements create phenomenal events and water, under the influence of the moon and other natural events, can create tidal waves, a force to be feared. The Varsity guard competed in the A1 class and came in 4th place with a score of 50.66.

The JV guard competed in the Cadet class and came in 3rd place with a score of 45.83. Their show is “Going Up” and depicts a journey to the party of the season where they enjoy the beauty and color of city nightlife.

Both guards are instructed by Melissa Jaeger and both will compete this Saturday in Victor.

Wine About Winter is a fast sellout for Medina Area Partnership

Photos by Ginny Kropf: (Left) Sarah Fisher, left, a member of Medina Area Partnership, places a wrist band on a ticket holder to Wine About Winter. From here, participants picked up a goodie bag and purchased tickets for a chance to win a basket of prizes from participating businesses. (Right) Wynter Dumont of Albion gets a goodie bag from her companion as they prepare to embark on Wine About Winter. They do it every year, she said.

MEDINA – They came in pairs, some in groups. They came with friends and they came with family – 800 in all.

Today is Medina Area Partnership’s 16th annual Wine About Winter, an event which began with far fewer participants and continued to grow to a fast sellout again this year.

“All 800 tickets were sold out a month ago,” said Wendy Oakes Wilson, a member of Medina Area Partnership who has worked at most of them.

Wendy Oakes Wilson, left, and Ann Fisher-Bale take a break from checking in ticket holders to Wine About Winter on Saturday afternoon. They checked in 300 participants in 20 minutes. Start times were staggered between 1 and 3 p.m. to even out the crowds.

Temperatures that threatened to plummet into single digits did nothing to deter the revelers who came from across Western New York.

Suzanne Marinelli came from Canadaigua. She is the sister of Gabriella Albanese from Orleans County. She attended with Gabirella, her husband Larry, and friends Robin Alexander and Drew Lederhouse. They braved the cold to wait in a long line outside Medina Senior Center for registration to begin, while Marinelli chose to wait it out in the warm car. The Albaneses have gone to every one of the wine-tasting events, Larry said.

Autumn Polar refills the table of goodie bags at the Senior Center for participants of Wine About Winter.

Outside the Senior Center, Patrick Weissend proofed everyone before letting them go inside, where Wendy Oakes Wilson and Ann Fisher-Bale checked their tickets. After receiving a wrist band from Sarah Fisher or Amber Sherman, participants picked up a goodie bag, containing a list of participating businesses, a pen, ice scraper, wine glass, crackers, water and a sheet of coupons. There, they also had the opportunity to buy tickets to win one of the raffle baskets each store provided.

No one seemed mindful of the cold, especially Wynter Dumont of Albion, who joked about her name.

“I do this event every year,” she said.

Charise Blew of Batavia was also not mindful of the weather. She was just glad it wasn’t windy.

Patrick and Elizabeth Dannebrock of Burt were participating for the first time, attending with her mom from Hartland, who had done it before.

Ariana Pluskwa pours Cayuga White for Chris Long of East Amherst at Creekside Floral during Wine About Winter.

At Creekside Floral, Ariana Pluskwa poured Cayuga white wine for Chris Long of East Amherst, who came with a friend, Maria Bussenger. Long’s son Steve is a Medina firefighter and paramedic, and he and his wife have done the event before, so his mother knew about it, she said.

“I like the day out with friends, and I like to see the shops,” Chris said. “I try to buy something, even if it’s little, at all the shops. That’s why I brought my little backpack. I bought three bags of sponge candy at Della’s Chocolates and a raffle ticket at the Knights of Columbus to support their project to put in an elevator.”

Jayne Kuhn of Creekside Floral said the majority of people buy a little something. She has also worked during Ale in Autumn, and said each event draws a different variety of people.

(Left) Patrick Weissend proofs a ticket holder to Wine About Winter on Saturday outside the Senior Center in Medina, where participants in the event were registered. (Right) Larry Albanese of Albion, his wife Gabriella and friends Robin Alexander and Drew Lederhouse wait in the cold for registration for Wine About Winter to start at the Medina Senior Center.

Several participants were located “outside the beaten path,” but still had good crowds all afternoon. This included the Medina Railroad Museum, Medina Historical Society and American Legion.

At the American Legion, the place was packed and people were streaming down the sidewalk from the shops on Main Street. The Legion took advantage of the crowds by promoting the Breakout Band that night, open to the public, sale of American flags, a chicken and biscuit dinner on Feb. 22 and sale of raffle tickets for a fire pit.

Cathy Fox, a member of the Legion and head of the County American Legion Auxiliary, said they had sold 100 raffle tickets before 3 o’clock.

“This really is such a positive event,” Fox said.

At the American Legion on North Main Street, Joni Meehan pours Black Widow’s Berry wine for Tina Henning of Lockport.

Press Release, Medina Central School

MEDINA – The Medina Central School District has seats available in the full-day Pre-K program for eligible district students for the remainder of the year.

As the district approaches the halfway point of the school year, Medina would like to stress the importance of a solid foundation in learning.

“We have seen a greater increase in student achievement in Kindergarten from students who attended the full-day program versus those who did not,” said Julie Webber, assistant superintendent for instruction.

The Medina Pre-K program follows the same schedule as the other Oak Orchard Primary

School grades from 7:45 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. The district provides students with breakfast, lunch and transportation.

They participate in purposeful play activities in the classroom while establishing foundations in literacy, math, science and citizenship. Students also participate in art, music, library, STEM and physical education classes.

“Through UPK, children have the opportunity to interact with their peers, develop important social skills, and build confidence in a supportive setting,” said Jennifer Stearns, principal at Oak Orchard Primary School. “These early experiences will provide a strong foundation for their academic journey and lay the groundwork for a positive attitude toward learning.”

Eligible students at this time are those who reside in the district and who turned 4 years old on or before Dec. 1, 2024.

If you are interested in enrolling your eligible child for the remainder of this school year, please reach out to Oak Orchard Primary School at 585-798-2700, option 3.

Note: Registration will begin in March for the 2025-2026 Pre-kindergarten program for students who will be 4 years old on or before Dec. 1, 2025.

Photo by Ginny Kropf: This is the bomber jacket Scott Cielewich had made to duplicate one worn by his father Don, a B-17 pilot in World War II.

Editor’s Note: This is the third in a  three-part series about the Jack, Don and Scott Cielewich. 

MEDINA – By 2000, Don Cielewich’s son Scott’s interest in his dad’s service during World War II had peaked and he and his wife Jamie set out to find some answers.

He had tracked down Don’s co-pilot Leonard Moen in California and called him. Scott and Jamie were invited to visit him in California, and they spent several days there. The man owned a machine shop and took Scott and Jamie there. Then he went through the entire story of their mission.

“It was like it was yesterday,” Scott said. “The details were amazing. Later, he sent me an e-mail, so I had that for reference. I’ve kept it with all of dad’s memorabilia.”

Then he began thinking about what he was going to do with all the stuff, and that’s when the idea hit him about retracing his father’s last mission.

In 2018, Scott and Jamie left Orlando and flew to London, where a bus tour awaited them. One of the places they visited was Thorpe-Abbotts field, where his dad had flown out of. It was also the same place featured in the Tom Hanks/Steven Spielberg series, “Masters of the Air.” Thorpe-Abbotts was a regular Air Force base when Don was there. The Corps of Engineers had built it out of farmland, and it had kind of reverted back, except for the runway and a World War II Museum.

The Bloody 100th Bomb Group flew out of there and were involved in all the big bombing missions of 1942, ’43 and ’44.

“They lost a lot of men and planes,” Scott said. “Leonard said when you were assigned there, it was a death sentence.”

As Scott and Jamie were getting off the bus, a man came up and asked if he was related to Don Cielewich.

“I told him that was my dad, and he said he wanted to show me something,” Scott said. “The English were so grateful for American support and intervention and what we did for their country. They still do archeological digs and find all kinds of things soldiers lost. At the end of the tour, we went in a control tower where there were little offices in back, and over one doorway was Dad’s and Mr. Moen’s names, with ‘Hard Luck’ burned into the wood. It was like a miracle.”

The men had leather jackets with a lamb’s wool collar and “Hard Luck” on the back.

“I am having one made now just like it,” Scott said.

Scott said he couldn’t believe the things that happened during their trip. They flew from England to Germany, where they discovered the tour agent had got in touch with a retired German officer who was a military historian.

“We went to the town where Dad’s plane went down, and we learned it didn’t just land in the forest, it hit a barn and exploded, killing 10 people,” Scott said.

With the help of the historian, they located kin of some of the deceased and met them.

“They opened their houses to us,” Scott said. “We weren’t sure how they’d welcome us. The community has a remembrance ceremony in the cemetery every year on the anniversary of the plane going down, and we send flowers every year.”

From there, Scott and Jamie were taken to the spot where his dad was captured by the German farmer, then to where he was interrogated. Moen told Scott that was where he and Don were reunited. Next they went to Stalag Luft III, which was Germany then, but it is Poland today. They visited the prison where Don was a POW. They have a museum there and Scott saw his father’s ID cards, with his picture and fingerprints.

“The guide took us on an extensive tour, including where the march started in January 1945. It was snowing and there were little provisions for the prisoners,” Scott said. “The first night the prisoners stayed in a church and we were taken there.”

They next flew to Munich, where they got to go to Moosburg and learned the full story of what happened there.

“The prison camp was built for 10,000, but by the time Dad got there, they had more than 70,000,” Scott said.

During their trip, they were interviewed by a German newspaper.

“What shocked me most during the trip was the fact Dad’s plane crashed into that barn, and meeting the families of those killed,” Scott said. “The lady of the house we met and I both cried, and Jamie gave her her scarf.”

Scott has since donated all his memorabilia to the World War II Museum in New Orleans.

He and Jamie collect antique automobiles and they have consigned a 1955 MG TF1500 to be sold and the proceeds donated to the World War II Museum, to pay for the two hotel rooms there which they have dedicated to the memory of their fathers.

In addition to Don’s service flying B-17s in World War II, Jamie’s father was a bombardier on B-24s in North Africa and Italy. He flew 50 combat missions and received the Distinguished Flying Cross. Instead of returning home, he volunteered to become a B-51 pilot and completed his training as the war ended.

The rooms at the Higgins Hotel, part of the World War II Museum, each have a plaque with a picture of the men in uniform and a second plaque with a summary of their war service.

“My wife and I have made it our mission to keep the stories of these brave men alive to remind future generations of the debt we all owe that generation for responding to the call of service at our nation’s most vulnerable moment,” Scott said.

Click here to see the first part of the series: “The last ‘smithy’ in Medina served in World War I”

Click here to see the second part of the series: “WWII pilot from Medina survived being prisoner of war after bailing out of plane”

Photos by Ginny Kropf: (Left) Rob Klino, owner of Thistle Ridge at 418 Main St., Medina, pours a cup of hot cocoa for shopper Donna Irneweine of Albion, during his Shop, Sip and Win days on Friday and Saturday. (Right) Rob Klino stands among his collection of MacKenzie-Childs home decor in his Main Street store.

MEDINA – When it comes to creative marketing, Rob Klino has hit on the perfect way to entice customers out in the cold weather, while helping to promote a similar business in Medina.

Klino, owner of Thistle Ridge, came up with a unique idea to spruce up business in January, when things are usually slow.

He contacted Danette Oakes, who owns Filomena’s Favorites at 4237 South Gravel Rd., and is really a competitor, and asked her to join him in a new, fun way to drum up business.

He devised “Shop, Sip and Win,” in which he and Oakes each set up a hot cocoa bar in their stores. Shoppers walk in either store, shop, look around, have a cup of hot chocolate and a sweet snack and then fill out an entry, which they take to the other store and deposit in a drawing to win a $20 gift card.

“The customers loved it and it has been very productive,” Klino said.

Both he and Oakes said business has been unusually brisk both Friday and Saturday.

Danette Oakes, founder of Filomena’s Favorites at 4237 South Gravel Rd., holds portraits of her mom and dad, in whose store in Perry she learned how to treat customers as a child. The Walt’s Men and Boys Wear sign, under which she is standing, was the sign that hung on her parents’ business. Oakes partnered with Rob Klino in his Shop, Sip and Win event this weekend.

Donna Irneweine of Albion came into Thistle Ridge with her friend, Vickie Robinson of Lyndonville.

“We have been doing business with Rob for a long time and love to come in here and shop,” Irneweine said. “We are big followers of his estate sales. There are lots of treasures here, and we usually find something we want.”

Saturday was no exception, when Robinson spotted to antique metal boxes, which she had to have.

After enjoying a cup of hot, delicious cocoa, they were on their way to Filomena’s Favorites.

Klino opened Thistle Ridge in May 2023. He is planning to expand the consignment business and his line of MacKenzie-Childs home décor, which he describes as “primitive, farmhouse fabulous items.”

At Filomena’s Favorites, named after Oakes’ grandmother, she explained she got her first taste of working in a store when she was 8 or 10 and helped in her parents’ store, Walt’s Men and Boys Wear, in Perry.

“I started doing crafts and selling them when I was 21 and I’m 60 now,” she said. “I was on East Center Street and ran that for four years, then I purchased this building, which will be five years in August. I just love it here,” she said of the location, which used to be the Mill Run Restaurant.

Oakes was overjoyed that Klino reached out to her to participate in his promotion.

In May, June and July, Oakes runs a big flea market there, followed by an antique and homemade primitive show in September. She has added a mini shed with collectibles, she calls “Crabapple Creek,” and eventually wants to have a little village of single shops.

“I love Rob’s idea of ‘Shop, Sip and Win,’” Oakes said. “It is the first time in the eight years I’ve been in business someone has asked me to participate with them.”

She said she always tries to help anyone who needs it, so it is heartwarming someone wanted to help her. She sells candy bars to benefit PAWS Animal Shelter and spring bouquets for Hospice.

It’s a sure bet both Klino and Oakes will be receptive to trying Shop, Sip and Win again on a cold January day.

Plaque for Jack Cielewich will be restored noting Medina’s last blacksmith shop in the Canal Basin

Provided photos: This was the blacksmith shop owned by the late John “Jack” Cielewich, the last blacksmith in Orleans County, before it was demolished in 1979. Jack’s grandson Scott Cielewich of Florida has agreed to pay for restoration of the plaque.

Editor’s Note: The following story will run in three parts, highlighting the career of Medina’s last blacksmith, John “Jack” Cielewich; his son, the late Don Cielewich, who became top executive for Marine Trust, was a B-17 pilot and POW in World War II; his son Scott’s journey to retrace his father’s last mission in Europe; and efforts to restore a historic plaque in the Canal Basin paying tribute to Don’s father, Jack Cielewich.

MEDINA – A Medina native who recently reached out to Mayor Marguerite Sherman about restoring a historic plaque paying tribute to his grandfather has brought back a lifetime of memories for the family and friends.

Scott Cielewich, who lives in Florida, is the son of the late Don and Ruth Cielewich, both Medina natives. Don was the son of John Cielewich, a well-known and much-loved Medina businessman, who ran a blacksmith shop in the Canal Basin.

This story was brought to light by Chris Busch, the Godson of Don Cielewich, and whose parents were lifelong friends of Don and Ruth.

Busch was in junior high school when he became acquainted with John “Jack” Cielewich. He and his friend Randy Holbrook wandered into the blacksmith shop one day after school. By then, Jack had stopped blacksmithing, but would craft an occasional piece out of iron, and his craftsmanship fascinated the young boys.

Jack had created an antique shop there by then, and had a lot of military items, which captured Busch’s eye. He and Randy visited the shop almost every day. The interests fostered there resulted in Busch beginning to collect memorabilia from both World War I and II.

The plaque will be refurbished. It highlights the last blacksmith shop in Orleans County.

Jack had served in World War I and the stories he told Busch and Holbrook kept them wide-eyed and rapt with fascination, Busch said. Jack was drafted in April 1918 and served as a lanyard man on a French 75mm gun with the 308 Battalion Field Artillery. He spent 122 straight days on the front and participated in many of the great actions of the war. He endured gas attacks and constant shelling.

“We absolutely loved him,” Busch said.

John “Jack” Cielewich was the son of William Cielewich, who immigrated in 1889 from Poland, where he had been a blacksmith for 63 years. Jack began as a blacksmith in 1922, and bought the business from his father in 1946, when they built the shop in the basin. He retired from blacksmithing in 1956 and began buying and selling antiques and collectibles.

On Aug. 2, 1979, an editorial in the Medina Daily Journal paid tribute to the blacksmith shop’s final day.

It read, “It took only an hour or so to reduce it to kindling wood and cart it away, but with it went centuries of an industry that once was one of Medina’s most needed and frequented.

“The former Cielewich blacksmith shop became the victim of the bulldozer and the debris was carted away to make room for additional parking space in the canal basin area. It was the last reminder of a half dozen or more ‘smithy’ establishments that were a flourishing necessity back in the horse and buggy days.

“The small building on Mill Alley was donated to the village by Don Cielewich, son of the last of the ‘smithies’ in Medina. The late Jack Cielewich, who in his later years forsook the anvil to pursue his hobby of antique collecting, was the last of the family to be identified with the profession.”

This story continues with Scott’s offer to pay for restoration of John’s deteriorated historic marker in the canal basin.

Because of his connection to the family, Busch, who is president of Orleans Renaissance Group, told the mayor ORG would coordinate the restoration of Jack’s plaque.

“It’s in pretty rough shape,” Busch said. “Once it has been fully refurbished, we will hold off on reinstalling it in the basin until the New York Forward grant work unfolds. We’ll then make a determination as to how and where we might display it in a more suitable manner.”

Busch reached out to Scott to let him know he would be overseeing the restoration.

“During the e-mail exchange, I told Scott I had watched ‘Masters of the Air,’ and while watching the combat scenes, I thought emotionally about Don’s experience. Our dads were both World War II pilots. It was then Scott shared with me his journey to retrace his father’s flight and capture.”

Regarding Don, Busch said Jack once told him the conditions in the POW camp were desperate.

“He recounted one story where the guards would receive potatoes, boil water and pour it over them, then give the water to the prisoners as their ‘potato soup,’ and eat the potatoes themselves,” Busch said.

Don made a name for himself in the banking world and rose to a prestigious position with Marine Trust. Starting as a mail clerk in 1947 at Medina’s Marine office, he retired in 1987 as president and chief executive of Marine’s Delaware Bank. He won numerous awards in Delaware and in 2009 was named to Medina High School’s Alumni Hall of Fame. Wherever he lived throughout his life, he was a pillar of his community.

It was Don’s service in World War II and Scott’s desire to retrace his father’s military experience which the next two parts of this series will highlight.

In addition to Don’s military service, Jamie’s father was a B-24 pilot in World War II. Before his death, Scott said a B-24 was touring the country and came to Florida. They wanted to take her father for a ride, but he declined.

“I just can’t do it,” he told them. “I still have nightmares about those planes.”

Like Jamie’s dad, Don never talked about the war.

“I heard bits and pieces when I was young, but I just thought my dad went to war,” Scott said. “I was always in awe of him. He died of a heart attack at the age of 67, and I wish I could have had more time with him.”

Note from Ginny Kropf: As a Medina native, I knew Don and in 2011, I wrote a column about him, after receiving a letter from Robert Emens of Batavia, who had saved a clipping of the Rochester Democrat and Chronicle dated Sept. 30, 1946, in which there was a lengthy article about Don and a letter he received from the German who befriended him when his plane went down.

Photos by Tom Rivers

MEDINA – These kids are delighted at watching Elena, a hula hoop performer, on Friday night when Billy Martin’s Cole All Star Circus came to Medina Wise Middle School Gym.

Billy Martin welcomes a crowd of 400 to the Medina gym on Friday evening. A second show was added later because there were so many people waiting to get in.

Martin, an Olean native, is in his 48th year in the circus business. The circus performs in about 150 schools each year. It started the season on Jan. 11 in Lyons.

An enthusiastic crowd filled the gym at Wise Middle School.

The group performed in Albion on Thursday and Medina on Friday. They will be back in Orleans County later next week. They will be in Holley on Jan. 23 at 6:30 p.m. in the elementary school gym, and then Kendall on Jan. 24 at 6:30 p.m. at jr.-sr. high school gym.

Elena Aristov dazzled the crowd with the hula hoops are the first act in the circus.

Elena Aristov performs with light up hula hoops. The circus had dramatic lighting during the performance.

Kaya Bloom of Medina gets an inflatable Spider Man for her son, Chancellor, 4.

These aerial performers were up high in blacklight outfits.

This performer juggled and balanced many plates during his routine.

Brylee Holloway, 8, of Medina is delighted with the face painting by Elena Aristov.

Neal Keirn relished ‘dream job’ past 18 years, especially train excursions for Medina Railroad Museum

Photo by Brody George, conductor: Neal Keirn of Middleport waves from the engine as he passes the Medina Railroad Museum on Friday, his last day as engineer before retirement. He began his dream job exactly 18 years earlier on Jan. 17, 2007.

MIDDLEPORT – Neal Keirn began his dream job with the Falls Road Railroad on Jan. 17, 2007.

On Friday, exactly 18 years to the day, he climbed into engine #2035 for the last time.

Keirn has had a passionate infatuation with the railroad since he was a little boy, growing up across from the tracks in Middleport.

“As a kid I hung around the railroad,” Keirn said. “I’d be watching them switch cars and the engineer would let me climb in the engine with him. I got the idea that would be a fun thing to do.”

As he grew older and reached his teens, he began to understand how the railroad worked and about becoming an engineer.

“But in the mid ’70s, Penn Central had gone bankrupt, four other railroads that served the area went bankrupt and the other railroads weren’t hiring,” he said. “Conrail was the major railroad, made up of seven bankrupt railroads.”

Realizing a career on the railroad didn’t look promising, Keirn went to work for Middleport Lumber (Rhinehart’s).

“I was happy working there,” he said. “I eventually delivered coal for them. I ended up there for 20 years.”

When GVT took over the Falls Road line, Keirn got to know the guys through Rhinehart’s, he said. When the train would be switching cars for Barden Homes, Keirn would go out and talk to them.

Engineer Neal Keirn is shown at the controls of Engine 2035 last summer when he was featured on WKBW Channel 7 by feature reporter Mike Randall, shown here blowing the whistle as they went through Medina.

A couple of years later, Keirn met the general manager of the railroad, Matthew Ronski, who said he wanted to see Keirn.

“How would you like to come and work for the railroad,” he asked Keirn.

Keirn’s reply was, “Let me think about it,’” followed by an immediate, “yes.”

About two weeks later, Keirn was at the engine house in Lockport when he was told there was going to be a big increase in traffic on the Falls Road Railroad, which goes from Lockport through Orleans County to Brockport.

“We are going to need more help,” the manager told Keirn. “Get your training going.”

Keirn started his engineer’s training and received his license when he turned 40.

A short time later, Keirn learned what the increase in traffic was when the announcement came out that Western New York Energy was building an ethanol plant in Medina. That would end up requiring as many as 65 grain cars brought in and out every week and a half. Tropicana’s expansion in Brockport now requires 15 to 18 tank cars in and out every week. More business resulted when Helena Chemical relocated to Allis Road, just east of Medina.

“When I first started, we ran on Falls Road two days a week, now we’re running three days,” Keirn said. “The other days, we are in Batavia. The way it sounds, more business is coming for Falls Road.”

He has loved nearly every minute of his job, especially being engineer for Medina Railroad Museum’s excursions. Praise from Rick Henn, Museum board member and head conductor on train excursions, has meant the world to Keirn, he said.

“I tried very hard to do a good job, starting slowly and stopping smoothly with all the young passengers,” Keirn said. “It was very rewarding to hear I was doing my best.”

“We can always tell when you’re running the train,” Henn once told Keirn.

Photo by Ginny Kropf: The sign on the front of the locomotive signals Neal Keirn’s last day as engineer on the Falls Road Railroad, before he begins retirement.

For 10 years, Keirn has trained locomotive engineers and numerous conductors, in which he took a lot of pride, he said.

The only downside to his job has been four incidents at grade crossings, Keirn said, none of which were his fault. Two occurred on Hulberton Road; another was when a woman skidded onto the tracks in Batavia on a snowy day; and another last June when a truck stalled on the tracks on Fancher Road. Fortunately, none of the incidents resulted in any serious injuries.

Keirn is married to the former Roberta “Gilly” Blount of Medina and they have two daughters.

Keirn turned 67 last July and he began to think about retiring at the end of the year.

“I was exploring my retirement options when the representative from the railroad’s retirement fund asked me how firm I was on that date,” Keirn said. “He told me if I stayed into 2025, it would mean more in my retirement.”

That’s when he realized if he stayed until Jan. 17, he would have completed exactly 18 years on the job.

He has lots of things planned for his retirement, not least of all is working on his model trains. His wife does all sorts of crafts and he helps her when she needs something built. In September they are planning a family wedding in San Diego.

“I’ve enjoyed what I accomplished with the railroad and I’d do it again in a heartbeat,” Keirn said.

On Friday, one of his daughter’s made him a sign for the front of his engine, which read, “Last Run, Engineer Neal Keirn, 1/17/2025.”

He had a special whistle which he blew, along with the traditional warning blasts at each crossing along the way. In Medina, he slowed the train and waved out the window to well-wishers who came out to give him one final goodbye wave.