Provided photos: The late Art Hill on Saturday was inducted by the FOAR SCORE Fan Club into its auto racing hall of fame. Hill passed away at age 78 on Jan. 25, 2023.
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 5 March 2025 at 9:23 am
Art Hill’s children, Jerry Hill and Jennifer Hill-Young, hold the Hall of Fame award presented for their father who was active in auto racing for about 60 years.
AMHERST – The late Art Hill, who was active in auto racing for about 60 years, was inducted into a racing hall of fame on Saturday.
The Friends of Auto Racing Seeking Cooperation of Racing Enthusiasts (FOAR SCORE) enshrines people who are outstanding in their profession and who make outstanding contribution to the sport of auto racing throughout the Western New York, Western Pennsylvania and Niagara Ontario Regions of Canada.
FOAR SCORE Club was established in 1948 by race fans for the betterment of auto racing. It is the oldest active auto racing fan club in the U.S.
FOAR SCORE honored Art Hill of Medina on Saturday at Classics V Banquet House in Amherst. Hill, the late owner of Art Hill Excavating, was an owner, sponsor and driver in auto racing.
The Hall of Fame listing for Hill states:
“The late Art Hill was involved in many different capacities in his long association with area motorsports. After some drag racing in the early 1960s, he teamed with brother Aaron to try some oval track racing at Lancaster.
“Ultimately, he connected with driver Pete Hayes; Art crewed for and eventually took on ownership of the Hayes Modified through the ’70s, travelling all over the northeast. He stepped away from active involvement in the early 1980s to focus on his business and raising a family, but maintained a connection by sponsoring a number of racing teams.
“He jumped back into the ownership/crew chief ranks in the late ’80s, teaming with Hall of Famer John Julicher to form a potent combination. That pairing resulted in Super Stock/Late Model titles at Lancaster in 1994, ’97, ’99 and 2001, and numerous feature victories, including the Race of Champions weekend Late Model event in 1999.
“In 2001, Art climbed back into the driver’s seat in a Late Model at Lancaster for a few seasons, and though he never visited victory lane, he developed into a consistent top five racer. He later moved his involvement to the asphalt Sportsman division, first as a major sponsor of John Julicher, Jr., then as a car owner for Hall of Famer Bobby Weber before his untimely passing in 2023. Art’s daughter Jen and son Jerry accepted the honors.”
About 225 attended the awards banquet. Pete Stefanski of North Tonawanda and George Skora III of Eden were honored as “Drivers of the Year” on dirt and asphalt, respectively.
Others inducted in the Hall of Fame include Linda Pratt, Bruce Roll, Dave Schulz and Kenny Troyer.
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 4 March 2025 at 12:39 pm
MEDINA – A composer working on a new piece that will debut in a July 2 concert will be in Medina on Saturday.
Clarice Assad, a Grammy-nominated composer, welcomes input from the community. She will be in the Canal Basin at 2 p.m. for a “Sound Capture Journey.”
Assad, a Brazilian-American, is developing an orchestral piece that will be performed by Albany Symphony on July 2 in Medina. Assad’s piece will be the centerpiece of the “Water Music New York: More Voices festival.” She will work around the theme of the voices of nature and the environment along the Erie Canal.
“The goal on March 8 is to create a digital archive of the sounds of nature and the environment, as heard by the Medina community,” said Lily Whiteman, programs manager of Albany Symphony Orchestra. “Clarice and adventurous listeners will capture sound snippets from around Orleans County to tell personal stories about nature and the environment.”
Anyone can join Assad on Saturday or adventure on their own sound-gathering expedition. People can record their favorite spot in the woods or share the sound of the song the birds sing outside their window.
“How do you listen adventurously to the natural world around you?” Whiteman asked.
Be sure to include where you collected the sound, and your first name and last initial, to be included in the online Medina Sound Archive.
Assad will be in the basin in downtown Medina at 2 p.m. on Saturday to talk about the project and to wander about, collecting sounds of nature that run through the community. To join the expedition or for more information, email Whiteman at lilyw@albanysymphony.com.
Provided photos: The Medina JV Winterguard, left, and varsity winterguard, right, both performed in Lancaster on Saturday.
Posted 2 March 2025 at 9:16 pm
Information courtesy of Medina Band Boosters
The Medina Mustang JV and Varsity winterguards traveled to Lancaster on Saturday to compete for the 5th time this season.
A total of 24 guards from NY, PA and Canada came to compete. Medina’s JV guard performed in the Cadet class and came in 2nd place with a score of 57.28, bested by Ventures Cadet with a score of 59.55.
Medina’s varsity guard competed in the A1 class and came in 4th place with a score of 60.85, with the Ventures in 1st place with a score of 68.35.
The next opportunity to see these two Medina guards perform is Saturday, March 8 in Medina at the high school. A total of 25 guards will be performing and the doors open at 3 p.m. and the show starts at 4 p.m. This is a great opportunity to see these students and adults display their talents and it will give you a greater appreciation of what winterguard involves.
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 26 February 2025 at 12:12 pm
Union expresses disappointment with delays, downsized addition to fire station
Photos by Tom Rivers: (Left) Medina Fire Chief Matt Jackson speaks during Monday’s Village Board meeting, sharing his concerns about aging fire trucks. (Right) Stephen Miller, president of Medina Professional Firefighters IAFF Local 2161, said the union “has lost faith in the village leadership.”
MEDINA – The Village Board heard impassioned pleas from residents and the firefighters’ union on Monday, with residents worried that taxes are too high and pushing people out of their homes.
The union said the fire department has at least two fire trucks that should be replaced and soon be put out of service. The firefighters’ union president, Stephen Miller, also said the recent move to drastically downscale an upgrade and addition to the fire hall is inadequate and doesn’t meet the operational needs of the department.
“The membership has lost faith in the village leadership,” Miller said during a meeting Monday in a packed meeting room at the Ridgeway Town Hall. Many firefighters stood in the hallway because there wasn’t enough chairs and space in the main room.
He urged the board to take immediate action on upgrading the fire hall and the apparatus.
Miller said delays in moving forward with needed upgrades have resulted in much higher costs.
Jason Bessel, a Ridgeway firefighter, said the costs of new fire trucks have dramatically risen in recent years. Ridgeway just received a new fire engine for $860,000. Bessel said it was a five-year process to get the truck.
Medina’s ladder truck is 29 years old. One of the fire engines is 31 years old. The fire department pushed years ago to start the process of getting a new ladder truck. Miller said the cost in 2021 was projected at $1.3 million. When the board voted on getting a new one in June 2023, the cost jumped to $1.7 million.
The fire department also has been urging the board to fix a series of problems in the current fire hall, and also put on an addition needed for a new ladder truck. The new ladder trucks are bigger than the one from 1996, which already barely fits in the fire hall.
The board was expecting $4.5 million to fix the current fire hall and put on a two-bay addition. But the projections came in over $6 million, prompting the board to scale down the project to a one-bay addition only without addressing the shortcomings in the current fire hall. That one-bay addition is projected at $1,041,590.
But even the $1 million cost will be hard on village taxpayers, said Trustee Debbie Padoleski. Paying for that addition, plus the new ladder truck, will overwhelm many taxpayers who Padoleski already said are stressed in their village taxes.
“I know in talking with taxpayers in this village they are ready to look at a new way of doing business,” Padoleski said.
She is open to looking at a fire district which would move the fire department out of the village budget and into its own taxing jurisdiction. Medina FD could perhaps join with nearby volunteer fire companies in a larger joint district.
Padoleski said Medina’s Fire Department, the only one with paid staff in the county, provides extensive mutual aid to other towns, including with the ladder truck, yet the village is left to foot the bill for the fire department.
“The village pays too much for fire service compared to the towns,” Padoleski said. “We need a financially equitable solution from the county.”
Trustee Jess Marciano said the village needs to keep the pressure on the County Legislature to significantly increase how it shares the local sales tax. The county hasn’t increased the amount to the local towns and villages since 2001, despite the sales tax revenues more than doubling in that time.
The village will get $159,630 of the sales tax in 2025 out of a total expected to be around $23 million this year. That is less than 1 percent for Medina of the total local sales tax in the county.
“This is not sustainable,” Marciano said about the continued freeze in funding. “We are all neighbors. They ought to be listening to us.”
The county needs to increase the amount of sales tax for the towns and villages to help them keep up with the costs of equipment and personnel.
The Medina Fire Department brought a fire engine and ambulance to the board meeting on Monday, which was held at the Ridgeway Town hall. The Medina Historical Society is next to the town hall. Firefighters are urging the Village Board to find a way to update equipment and the facilities for the fire department.
Linda Limina, a village resident and member of the Shelby Town Board, says the taxpayers are struggling and some can’t even pay their water bills. Medina needs to find a better way to upgrade needed equipment without overburdening the village taxpayers, Limina said.
Mayor Marguerite Sherman said the Village Board has an obligation to firefighters and the police officers to provide them with safe and reliable equipment, especially when they are risking their lives in dangerous professions. That is not only police cars and fire trucks, but air packs and bullet-proof vests, Sherman said.
“I don’t want to raise taxes,” Sherman said. “But we need a fire truck and ambulance to show up in an emergency.”
The ladder truck is expected to arrive around Christmas in about 10 months. Marciano said the village can figure out where to keep it in the short term until an addition is ready, likely in early 2026.
Sherman said she will present the financial numbers on the projected annual debt service payments for the ladder truck and the addition during the next board meeting, March 10.
She said she is also pursuing grants for the truck and addition, but there won’t be a commitment on that for many months, if at all.
Sherman said the village faces other needs, from upgrading water and sewer lines, police cars and improvements to Boxwood Cemetery.
“There is a lot,” she said about the issues facing the village.
The board will soon be focusing on the village budget for 2025-26. That spending plan needs to be adopted by April 30.
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 25 February 2025 at 12:51 pm
Photo by Tom Rivers: J. Lincoln Swedrock, an engineer and vice president with BME Associates in Fairport, presents a request for the Medina Village Board to consider rezoning 46 acres on West Oak Orchard Street from light industrial to residential-3.
MEDINA – The Medina Village Board has been asked to consider changing the zoning for 46 vacant acres from light industrial to residential-3 to allow for new housing.
Sieck Wholesale Florist owns the land off West Oak Orchard Street near the Medina school campus. Ed Michel of Sieck Wholesale wants to keep the other 8.8 acres of the property as light industrial. That land is next to the railroad and includes a cell tower, an old boiler and another older building. Michel acknowledged those older buildings are in rough shape and will either be cleaned up or demolished. (Housing is not allowed in a light industrial district.)
Michel spoke at Monday’s Village Board meeting along with J. Lincoln Swedrock, an engineer and vice president with BME Associates in Fairport. Michel would like to develop the vacant land into housing, perhaps townhouses, multi-family housing and single-family residences.
He first needs to see if the village will change the zoning of the property. If that happens, he will work on determining what the market would support for new housing.
Village Board members voted to refer the matter to the Village Planning Board for its input. Mayor Marguerite Sherman said there aren’t enough housing options in the village.
The spot on West Oak Orchard Street may be appealing with the close proximity to Medina schools and access to village water and sewer.
The village doesn’t allow a cul-de-sac so an access road would need to extend through the property to Salt Works Road.
Swedrock said the meeting on Monday with the Village Board is just the first step in the process. He and Michel will need to connect with Shelby town officials about the access road if the project advances.
“Housing is a big push right now in New York State,” Sherman said at the meeting. “We need housing in the village, we really do.”
If the board wants to rezone the property, there will be a public hearing. There also will be opportunities for public input on the housing proposed if Michel decides to pursue the project if the rezoning is approved.
“Nothing is planned right now,” Swedrock said about the housing development. “It would be a diversity of housing options. But right now, it’s just do we want to look into this?”
By Ginny Kropf, correspondent Posted 24 February 2025 at 8:00 am
MEDINA – Continuing a tradition which goes back decades, the Medina Area Association of Churches will again this year sponsor Lenten lunches in Medina.
This year’s Lenten lunches begin March 6 and continue every Thursday through April 10, at the First Presbyterian Church on Main Street.
Lunches begin at noon, with takeouts available at 11:45, according to Barb Hancock, a member of St. Peter’s Lutheran Church and MAAC.
Participating churches provide lunch on a rotating basis, followed by a meaningful reflection.
The first lunch on March 6 will feature soup and sandwich by the First Presbyterian Church, followed by pulled pork on March 13 by the Alabama Full Gospel Fellowship, chicken and biscuits on March 20 by One Church, beef on weck March 27 by New Hope Community Church, sloppy joes April 3 by the Church of Abundant Harvest and scalloped potatoes and ham on April 10 by The Grove United Methodist Church.
Everyone is welcome to stop in and share the meal and fellowship, Hancock said. The program ends by 1 p.m.
A donation of $5 is suggested, with all proceeds going to Orleans County Meals on Wheels program and Albion’s Koinonia Kitchen.
Albion’s Lenten lunches start March 12 for five Wednesdays at noon at the Albion First Baptist Church, 30 West Park St.
By Ginny Kropf, correspondent Posted 23 February 2025 at 7:53 pm
MEDINA – The Medina Historical Society will present a special program at its first meeting of the year, at 7 p.m. Monday at Lee-Whedon Memorial Library.
Board members will do a reading from the book Pioneer History of Orleans County, which has recently been reprinted. Copies of the book will be available to purchase. The book was written by Arad Thomas and originally published in 1871. It tells of the towns in Orleans County and the arduous journeys of the pioneers, said Historical Society president Reinhard Rogowski.
The evening’s program is organized by Orleans County Historian Catherine Cooper.
The Historical Society invites anyone to attend and consider joining the society. A family membership will entitle the purchaser to receive a free copy of Georgia Thomas’ book of maple syrup recipes.
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 22 February 2025 at 10:06 am
Jerry Shaffer, Rich McAdoo among leaders of new organization
Photo by JR Stein: Medina natives Rich McAdoo, left, and Jerry Shaffer are shown at a press conference on Jan. 31 in Clearwater, Fla. to highlight the Red Star Foundation. The organization has created a Red Star banner and a pin to recognize the service of a veteran or first responder who died of suicide.
A new organization, the Red Star Foundation, is honoring the service of veterans and first responders who die by suicide, and trying to offer support for the loved ones left behind.
Medina native Jerry Shaffer is co-founder and president of the Red Star Foundation and another Medina native, Rich McAdoo, is on the organization’s board as secretary. McAdoo, a Lockport resident, is a Ridgeway volunteer firefighter.
An average of 17.5 veterans die each day by suicide. Shaffer said the number is likely higher, 30 to 50, because many suicides are unreported or unconfirmed.
“Suicide is the biggest issue we have in the veterans community,” he said.
The VA reports there were 6,407 suicides by veterans in 2022 with 6,136 by men and 271 by women.
Photo by Kevin Crowsyn: Jerry Shaffer, a 1989 Medina graduate, speaks during a press conference on Jan. 31 in Clearwater, Fla.
Since 2001, about 150,000 veterans have died by suicide, Shaffer said. That is far more than have died in combat.
Suicide has a stigma, he said, and the loved ones of those who die by suicide often don’t get the support they should.
“We want to recognize their loss,” Shaffer said. “They should feel pride for their son’s and daughter’s service.”
The Red Star Foundation has a banner and a pin with a red star as the focus to be given to loved ones in a design similar to the banners for Gold Star and Blue Star families. Blue Star families have a loved one on active duty. A Gold Star family had a loved one killed in active duty.
The Red Star banners honor the service of veterans or first responders, and Shaffer said he believes the banner can reduce the stigma of suicide. He wants to help build a network of support among the families who have endured such a loss.
Many veterans suffer from depression and many have a post-traumatic stress disorder. When they leave active duty, their chances of suicide increase 50 percent, Shaffer said, because many feel a loss of a sense of identity and purpose, and a loss of their military community when they are no longer on active duty.
Shaffer, a 1989 Medina grad, is a former Marine. He enlisted right out of high school. He pushed the start the Red Star Foundation, which is an official 501c3 organization. It launched in July and right now is focused on a chapter in Tampa and Clearwater, Florida.
Shaffer would like to see chapters around the country, including in Medina where there already is an active group led by Ike Watts highlighting veterans’ suicide, and trying to provide a network of support for families.
“We’re at ground zero of the fight,” Shaffer said about veterans’ and first responders’ suicides. “We believe the Red Star Foundation is game-changing.”
The Red Star Foundation seeks to offer:
Grief and bereavement support, and peer-to-peer networking
Public awareness campaigns about the impact of suicides among veterans, military personnel and first responders
Advocacy for better for better mental health care and suicide prevention programs
Survivor advocacy training to empower families to become voices for change.
Educational workshops to provide insight into mental health challenges and how to support others.
For more information on the Red Star Foundation, click here.
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 12 February 2025 at 11:22 am
MEDINA – Only one person turned in petitions to run for a trustee position on the Medina Village Board. Tuesday was the deadline to turn in petitions signed by at least 100 registered voters in the village.
James “Scott” Bieliski is the lone person to turn in the petitions. He will run under the independent “For the People” party.
There are two trustee positions up for election in Medina. The spots are for two-year terms for positions currently filled by Jess Marciano and Diana Baker.
Neither Marciano or Baker circulated petitions. Marciano said she will consider running a write-in campaign to stay on the board and keep projects moving forward, including the purchase of a new ladder truck and an addition on the fire hall. Marciano helped lead the effort to downsize an addition on the fire hall from an estimated $6 million a year ago to the latest estimate at about $1 million.
The election on March 18 is from noon to 9 p.m. at the Senior Center on West Avenue. The winners in the election will start their terms on April 1.
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 11 February 2025 at 2:52 pm
Lynn Creasey
MEDINA – The Senior Citizens of Western Orleans have $15,000 to install air conditioning at a former train depot, which serves as a meeting place for the seniors.
Lynn Creasey, president of the Senior Citizens of Western Orleans, said the building is often too hot during the summer for seniors to comfortably socialize for cards, games and meals.
The group has $15,000 saved and is willing to pay for the costs of AC wall units, Creasey told the Village Board on Monday.
He has secured two bids from contractors for the project and is expecting two more.
Village Board members want to hear from Jason Watts, the DPW superintendent, first before forging ahead. The board wants to make sure the existing utilities can handle the additional AC and see if Watts has any input on the project.
The building was originally constructed in 1908 as the NY Central Depot. It has been the home of the Senior Citizens of Western Orleans since 1968. Creasey said the seniors have done several improvements to the building over the years, including a fresh coat of paint about three to four years ago.
Creasey said the organization survives on donations, but is committing the funds to the project so the seniors can use the site during the hot summer weather.
MEDINA – A composer working on a new piece that will debut in a July 2 concert will be in Medina on Saturday.
