Press Release, Friends of Boxwood Cemetery

Provided photo: The L’Hommedieu gravestone is shown during Boxwood at Night in 2023.

MEDINA – The Friends of Boxwood Cemetery, in Medina, are excited to announce the third annual, “Boxwood at Night: See the Cemetery in a New Light.”

This year’s event will be on Oct. 5. Tickets cost $15 and there will be two time slots – 7 to 8 p.m. or 8 to 9 p.m. The time slots are when you can enter. Once you are checked in, you are welcome to stay until the event ends at 9:30 p.m. Guests will stroll through the cemetery at their own pace in a relaxing, family-friendly atmosphere.

Robby Klino, the president of the Friends of Boxwood Cemetery, stated “Our overall goal for ‘Bigger, Better, and Brighter’ Boxwood at Night 2024 is to continue our fundraising efforts to complete the chapel renovations and to raise funds for a marker to honor those buried in the Potter’s Field.” He also announced, “We are adding an educational element this year by partnering with the Medina Historical Society to feature an exhibit of Victorian funerary art in the chapel.”

Tickets are limited to the first 300 people so you will want to get your tickets before they sell out.

Event co-chair, Nicole Bensley, “New and returning guests will enjoy a stroll through a ‘Bigger, Better, Brighter’ Boxwood at Night. It will feature several local visual, musical, and performing artists.” She added, “We are excited to partner once again with GO Art! to make this a special event for the community.”

Tickets are available during business hours at the English Rose Tea Shoppe and Thistle Ridge Décor and Gifts – both places are on Main Street in Medina. Tickets will also be available at the Canal Village Farmers Market in Medina on Sept. 28. As an added convenience, you may also purchase tickets online using a credit card. Click here for more information.

Raffle tickets will also be available to purchase at the Farmers Market booth and again at the event. Light concessions and glow-in-the-dark accessories will be available for purchase at the event to enhance your enjoyment.

This project is made possible with funds from the Statewide Community Regrant Program, a regrant program of the New York State Council on the Arts with support of the Office of the Governor and the New York State Legislature and administered by GO Art! (the Genesee-Orleans Regional Arts Council).

Howard is battling stage 4 metastatic prostate cancer

Provided photos: Eli Howard, left, is shown before taking the stage as a stand-up comedian. At right he is queuing a song as a deejay.

MEDINA – There will be a benefit on Saturday for a Medina man who is well known in the community, from years of volunteering in youth sports, serving as a deejay at events and performing as a stand-up comedian.

Eli Howard, 50, is battling stage 4 metastatic cancer. He said the cancer isn’t curable but is manageable and he feels optimistic about the future.

Eli Howard is shown with his wife, Jana, and their daughters, Kylee (left) and Jelia.

Howard and his wife, Jana, have two daughters, Jelia, age 21; and Kylee, age 17. Mrs. Howard is owner of A Kut Above on Main Street in Medina.

The benefit on Saturday starts at 11 a.m. at the Sacred Heart Club on North Gravel Rad. The 500 chicken barbecue dinners have already sold out.

There are at least 120 baskets up for raffle and the raffle drawing begins at 6 p.m. Winners don’t have to be present at the drawing. There will also be 50/50s and a silent auction.

Howard said he deeply appreciates the community rallying on his behalf.

He started working at age 19 in the laundry department at the former Orleans County Nursing Home and served there for 28 years. In 2021, he began at Wende Correctional Facility, also working in the laundry department.

Howard was stricken in March with gout, and was unable to walk. He also has suffered from congestive heart failure and diabetes. He was able to leave the hospital on June 24 after 14 weeks of care. While hospitalized, doctors found cancer and began treatment.

Howard takes two chemo pills each morning, and will have a shot every three months to fight the cancer. He can feel himself on the mend.

File photo by Ginny Kropf: This banner hung over downtown Medina to promote homecoming last week. The Medina Mustang Sports Boosters urges stores to decorate their windows.

MEDINA – The Medina Mustang Sports Boosters are excited to announce they will again be celebrating Homecoming 2024 by inviting local businesses to get involved in Homecoming Week in a variety of ways.

“Homecoming is a community event – a time to celebrate, not just Mustang athletics, but who we are as a community,” said Melissa Valley, head of the Mustang Sports Boosters. “Mustang Sports Boosters are always incredibly appreciative of the support the Medina business community provides us, and now we want to celebrate you.”

Their goal for Homecoming the week of Sept. 23 is to get the whole community involved and into the Mustang spirit. Homecoming will feature activities and games throughout the week, including the Homecoming game Sept. 27, when the Medina Mustangs football team hosts Newfane.

“We hope to get businesses involved in two ways,” Valley said. “First, we would love for downtown to show its Mustang spirit with our third annual window decorating contest. Secondly, we want to promote their business by adding their homecoming special of the week to our Mustang Menu.”

If businesses don’t want to enter the contest, Valley said the Mustang Boosters will welcome any form of Mustang spirit that works for them.

A giant banner proclaiming Homecoming Week will be hung over Main Street in honor of the week.

“The banner was made by our very own Print Shop and it will be on display over Main Street next week,” Valley said. “We also have banners that will be up at Vets Park. We will promote any business who wants to join in on the run or any Mustang specials for the week.”

The Mustang Boosters encourage everyone downtown and in Medina to show as much Mustang pride and spirit as they can during Homecoming Week.

“It is something that unites the community in a positive way,” Valley said.

Anyone wishing more information can contact Valley at mvalley@medinacsd.org or by calling (716)-531-3055.

Students in grades Pre-K to 8 must be accompanied by adult to enter Vets Park

Press Release, Medina Central School

MEDINA – The Medina Central School District is looking forward to an outstanding fall season. The district’s goal is to provide a positive and welcoming experience to our athletes, students, parents, fans, visitors and officials.

Please help us achieve this goal by following our expectations and contributing to a positive environment.

As a reminder, all students in grades Pre-K to 8 must be accompanied and supervised by a parent or responsible adult when attending a game. This parent or responsible adult must supervise their children at all times. Students in grades Pre-K to 8 will not be allowed into Vets Park without a parent or responsible adult.

Also, as a reminder, there should be no use of tobacco, alcohol, marijuana, or any controlled or banned substance on the Medina Central School District premises. Additionally, vapes, “dab” pens, and e-cigarettes are not allowed on District premises.

We also want to remind fans to refrain from using profanity and making negative comments toward coaches, athletes, or officials. Game supervisors and administrators will address inappropriate behavior. The District and the New York State High School Athletic Association may prohibit unruly spectators from attending games.

Thank you for helping us maintain a positive, supportive atmosphere for all our student-athletes! Go Mustangs!

Photos by Tom Rivers: Jesse Cudzillo (left), director of the YMCA in Orleans County, and Tim Elliott hold the new Medina-opoly game that is being sold as a fundraiser to upgrade the women’s locker room at the Y.

MEDINA – The Monopoly game has been given a facelift in Medina, with local businesses taking the place of the prime real estate featured in the economics-based board game.

Players buy and trade properties in the game, and seek to develop them with houses and hotels.

The Medina-opoly game starts in a corner featuring the Medina Area Partnership. About 70 Median businesses and organizations are featured on the board.

Tim Elliott, a former Medina village trustee, worked with Jesse Cudzillo, director of the YMCA in Orleans County, to sell the spots on the board. They were a quick sell out.

“Medina is lucky to have businesses to fill it up and to have a waiting list,” Elliott said.

The board highlights Medina’s historic downtown business district.

There are 350 copies of the game that arrived in early September. The sponsorships paid to have the game produced in a Medina theme.

The games are being sold for $35 each, and the proceeds will go to the Y to update the women’s locker room. If the games sell out, the Y should receive about $12,000 towards the locker room improvements.

“It’s a Medina keepsake,” Cudzillo said. “It takes a snapshot of where Medina is in 2024.”

The Y director said he appreciates the support from the community in buying spots on the board, and also in purchasing the games. So far about 75 have sold. The came be purchased at the front desk of the Y. They will be there for the upcoming Ale in Autumn event on Sept. 28. They are also available online through the Canalside Tattoo website.

Medina was featured in the Monopoly game before, back in 1995 and 2000. The Medina Rotary Club led the effort to sell the spaces on the board and to make the games available to the community.

Elliott said the game could be updated again in the future.

“This shows how Medina has changed,” he said about the new board, compared to the Medina businesses from 1995 and 2000. “In 10 years there will be more changes.”

Photos by Tom Rivers

MEDINA – Steven Long, a firefighter in the Medina Fire Department, collects money this morning during a boot drive to benefit the Make-a-Wish Foundation in Western New York, which grants wishes to children battling critical illnesses.

Firefighters were at three intersections – Route 63 and Maple Ridge Road, Route 104 and South Lyndonville Road, and Main Street and Center Street – and collected $6,500 for Make-A-Wish.

Medina firefighters were at the Main and Center Street intersection, while Shelby and East Shelby firefighters were at Route 63 and Maple Ridge Road. Ridgeway and Lyndonville firefighters collected funds at Route 104 and South Lyndonville Road.

The boot drive was planned for Saturday but was pushed back a day to the rainy morning yesterday.

Traffic was a little slower today than on a Saturday, but firefighters said many people were generous, giving 10- and 20-dollar bills.

Caleb Fisher, 11, is the son of Medina firefighter Adam Fisher. Caleb is on East Center Street leading up to the Main Street intersection.

From left include Medina firefighters Adam Fisher and Dylan Schrader and Fisher’s son Caleb.

The west battalion firefighters have teamed on the boot drive in recent years. Firefighters said at least two children in the community have benefitted from Make-A-Wish recently.

Captain Mike Young of the Medina FD collects money in the boot drive today on Main Street.

Contractors rebuilt roads, tackled other projects

Photos by Tom Rivers

MEDINA – The main campus road at Medina Central School was closed off to traffic on Aug. 2 in front of Clifford H. Wise Intermediate School. The road was rebuilt and repaved this summer.

It’s part of a $34.3 million project that was approved by school district voters on Feb. 14, 2023. State aid is covering $29.9 million.

The project includes $17.3 million at Junior-Senior High School, $9.8 million at Clifford H. Wise Intermediate, $6.2 million at Oak Orchard Primary School, and $1.1 million at the bus garage.

Work will continue on the project, including next summer.

Here is the repaved road in front of the district office on Saturday morning.

The road is freshly paved here in front of the junior/senior high school.

“We’ve had a real busy summer in terms of construction,” said Dr. Mark Kruzynski, the district superintendent.

He listed the main projects at the district this summer:

• The main roads were completely rebuilt, and the parking lots at the Junior-Senior High School were milled and repaved.
• A new dehumidification system is in the process of being installed in the pool, which will be ready for swim season. Next summer, the pool itself will be completely rebuilt.
• Foundation work for our new band, tech and ag rooms has been ongoing all summer, and construction will continue throughout the year.
• New bathrooms are being added to the second floor of the junior/senior high school and near the cafeteria at Oak Orchard. Those will be completed by November.
• Work on the new library at Oak Orchard started this summer and will also be completed by November. (Once the library is completed, the old library at Oak will be converted to district offices. Once those new offices are finished, the current district offices will be converted to classrooms.)

“Next summer, all of the entrances and main offices will be reconstructed with enhanced security for all entrances,” Kruzynski said.

The parking lot by the Junior-Senior High School has construction equipment and materials on Saturday.

Photos by Tom Rivers

MEDINA – Classic car lovers strolled Main Street in Medina on Wednesday evening, admiring more than 250 vehicles on display for the annual Super Cruise to close out a season of car shows.

Milo the dog was popular, too, with the people. He is owned by Mike Evans of Lockport, right with beard. Evans brought a 1973 Volkswagon Type 181 for the car show. It was his first time in the show.

Car owners had to pay a $10 entry fee for the first time. Evans didn’t have a problem with that expense. “It helps offset some of the costs,” he said.

These cars include a 1935 Rolls-Royce owned by Rollin Hellner at left, and the 1965 Plymouth AFX owned by Greg Sanderson at right.

Hellner, one of the car show organizers, said only a few car owners spoke against the $10 fee being charged for the first time. Hellner said the fee goes towards the costs of the show, which included entertainment, advertising and trophies. He noted many other car shows charge an entry fee. This Saturday’s Olcott Beach Car Show has a $20 entry fee.

Hellner said the Medina car show was promoted on radio stations in Western New York. He also went to shows in Buffalo, trying to bring more cars to Medina for the show. He saw some first-timers from East Aurora, Buffalo and other communities.

“I want people to experience Medina who have never been here before,” Hellner said. “I’m real happy with the  turnout and feedback.”

The back end of a 1965 Ford Mustang owned by Royce Stinson is in front in this photo. The cars drew lots of people to Main Street, where a section was closed to traffic.

Terry Buchwald continued a Super Cruise tradition performing as Elvis. Here he is singing and dancing to “Don’t Be Cruel.” Buchwald has been an Elvis impersonator for over 30 years.

Buchwald entered the scene on a motorcycle.

Dennis Lapp brought a 1951 Ford F1 to the car show.

This 2020 Dodge Challenger owned by Todd Pendars has a theme celebrating the super hero, “The Thing.”

MEDINA – The Medina Village Board on Monday gave its blessing for upcoming community events, including today’s classic car cruise-in on Main Street.

The board, however, said it should have been notified sooner about the car show today on Main Street, and the plan to charge car owners $10 to be in the show. That show has always been free to display a car.

Village staff need to set up a stage for Elvis impersonator Terry Buchwald, and also close off a section of the street to traffic.

Mayor Marguerite Sherman said there have been some “newbie mistakes” by organizers Rollin Hellner and Tom Snyder with giving notice and getting approvals from the village. However, she said she appreciates their efforts in organizing the car shows this summer.

She said she was concerned about the $10 charge that was announced about a week ago. Hellner and Snyder said the show will include official judges for the first time and trophies for the top cars.

But Sherman worries the $10 fee may “sour” some of the car owners.

The board approved the car show, but board members said they would like to see how the $10 fee is used to cover expenses for the super cruise.

Trustee Mark Prawel opposed the show saying appropriate notifications haven’t been made to village department heads.

The board also approved the Sept. 28 Ale in Autumn beer-tasting event where up to 800 tickets will be sold with tastings at 24 stops. The event is organized by the Medina Area Partnership.

Check-in will be at the Senior Center at 615 West Ave. with staggered start times at 1, 2 and 3 p.m.

Police Chief Todd Draper said there haven’t been issues with the event in the past. The attendees are well behaved with no rowdiness, he said.

The board also approved use of village streets for the Hometown Wellness 5K on Oct. 19 to benefit the Knights-Kaderli Memorial Fund, which supports people with cancer in Orleans County.

Hometown Wellness is organizing the event for the second year. The debut event in 2023 had 81 participants. The course includes the canal towpath, State Street Park and some village streets. The police department will assist with traffic control during the race that starts at 9 a.m.

Chief Draper said there are at least three 5Ks in the village each year. He would like to see organizers of the events add more signs that say “Race in Progress” and “Runners Ahead” to alert drivers that runners and walkers are out.

File photo by Tom Rivers: The current fire hall is too small for a bigger ladder truck that is expected to arrive in December 2025. Currently there is only two inches of clearance from the top of the truck to get in and out of the bay in the fire hall.

MEDINA – The Village of Medina is accepting proposals from engineering firms to design a one-bay addition to the fire hall.

Those proposals are due by Sept. 12. The village will hire an engineering firm to prepare the bid specifications for the addition, which is needed to accommodate a larger ladder truck due to arrive in December 2025.

Village officials were looking at a two-bay addition and upgrades to the existing fire hall, but scaled that project back when estimates topped $6 million.

Medina Mayor Marguerite Sherman said an engineering report, detailing the one-bay addition, is needed to help the village pursue grant funding to help pay for the new space. She is hopeful for state and federal assistance with the building addition.

The board needs to find an affordable solution because the new truck will be delivered in about 16 months.

“We’re going for a bare-bones building for something to put this truck in,” she said during Monday’s board meeting.

The new ladder truck will have a clearance of 13 feet. The current fire hall only has room for up to 10 feet, 6 inches in height.

The village will be replacing a ladder truck that is 29 years old with a height of 10 feet, 4 inches. The new bay in the addition is expected to be 14 feet high.

The village received some good news with the fire truck. Medina was looking at a 6.5 percent financing rate for the $1.7 million truck from the U.S. Department of Agriculture. But Village Clerk-Treasurer Jada Burgess said that rate has come down to 4 percent, which would save the village significantly in interest. The final rate won’t be known until it’s time for the village to take out the financing.

Photo by Tom Rivers

MEDINA – The Medina Village Board meets on Monday in the Ridgeway Town Hall. From left the board members include Jess Marciano, Debbie Padoleski, Mayor Marguerite Sherman, Mark Prawel and Diana Baker. Near them in front are Village Clerk-Treasurer Jada Burgess and attorney Matt Brooks. Jason Watts, the DPW superintendent, is at right and Police Chief Todd Draper has his back to camera.

The board has shifted the meeting locations from the Senior Center at 615 West Ave. to the Ridgeway Town Hall at 410 West Ave. The board had its first meeting at the town hall on Aug. 12. Ridgeway is making the town hall available at no charge to the Village Board.

Mayor Marguerite Sherman said the town hall has a better sound system for the public to hear the board members and the meeting space doesn’t have to be set up with tables and chairs, and then torn down the following morning.

At the Senior Center, DPW staff had to set up the tables and chairs before the meeting and then be there the following morning to put things back.

The senior center is a bigger space, and Sherman said many people who attended the meetings said it was difficult to hear the board members and other speakers.

The Village Board also recently changed the start times from 7 p.m. to 6 p.m.