Photos by Tom Rivers

MEDINA – Chris Busch, a trustee of Holy Trinity Parish in Medina, led a tour of the St. Mary’s Cemetery on North Gravel Road last Sunday evening. It is part of the Sunday evening cemetery tours this August, an annual effort led by the Orleans County Historical Association.

Busch believes this was the first official public tour of the cemetery. St. Mary’s started in 1858. There are about 5,000 people buried there. Many of the founders of the Catholic church in medina, which started in 1832, are buried in Lockport because the cemetery wasn’t established in Medina until 1858.

The cemetery is the final resting place for hundreds of Irish immigrants who founded the parish, Busch said. There are numerous Irish surnames throughout the cemetery, he said.

Many of the monuments have the Latin phrase: “Requiescat in Pace,” for “Rest in Peace.”

This marker is for Rev. Richard Harmon, the first resident pastor for St. Mary’s. He was assigned churches from Somerset to Kendall, and travelled by horseback to lead the faithful.

He was tasked with building the church on frontier outside of the village settlements. Harmon died at age 26, less than a year after starting his work in the Medina area.

He is one of nine Catholic priests buried at St. Mary’s.

Sister Bertrand also is noted on this monument. She was a member of the Grey Nuns of the Sacred Heart. She was one of the first nuns to teach in Medina. She died in 1876, at age 25.

Lt. John Butts is buried on the southern end of the cemetery. He is a Medal of Honor recipient who “performed magnificently” while leading soldiers in World War II. Butts was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor for “courage, unflinching valor and inspiring actions” in Normandy, France on June 23, 1944.

There were about 35 people on the tour. These two women look close at the monument for Patrick O’Grady and his family. He was a prominent sandstone mason and builder who helped lead the construction of the First Baptist Church in Medina, Bent’s Opera House and portions of the original St. Mary’s Church. Three of his children died from tuberculosis within about 6 months of each other.

The large sandstone monument notes the deaths of O’Grady at age 58 on Jan. 4, 1886.

The three children who died in 1885 include Lizzie at age 15 on Feb. 9, Eddie at age 21 on March 31, and John at age 28 on Aug. 21.

I went looking for the grave marker for Marcia Tuohey, who was key leader for Medina and Orleans County. She passed away at age 84 on Aug. 7, 2014. Marcia was well known for her stylist hats.

She was the first woman to serve as Medina’s mayor and then the first woman to serve as chair of the Orleans County Legislature, which she did for eight years.

Photos courtesy of Medina Mustang Band Boosters

MEDINA – The Medina Marching Band played in Newfane’s Bicentennial Parade on Saturday.

The band played music and marched down Main Street for the Niagara County town’s 200^th anniversary celebration.

Provided photos: (Left) Nick Joy of the Medina Police Department speaks during Friday’s graduation of the Niagara County Law Enforcement Academy. Joy served as president of the 82nd Basic Class. (Right) Tanner Ferris of the Medina PD is congratulated for completing the six-month program.

MEDINA – Two Medina police officers on Friday graduated from a six-month police academy.

Nick Joy and Tanner Ferris were among 21 graduates in the 82^nd Basic Class of the Niagara County Law Enforcement Academy.

The new graduates, Nick Joy at left and Tanner Ferris at right, are pictured with Medina Police Chief Todd Draper.

The two officers were hired by Medina in February. Now that they have completed the six-month academy at Niagara County Community College, they will do field training with the Medina PD.

The graduates represented law enforcement agencies The two officers will take a six-month police academy starting Monday at Niagara County Community College then they do field training with the Medina PD.

At the academy students completed classroom instruction, physical training, defensive tactics and firearms training.

Besides Medina, the graduates include officers and deputies from the Niagara County Sheriff’s Office, Niagara Falls Police Department, North Tonawanda and Lockport police departments, and Genesee County Sheriff’s Office.

Joy has been a trainer and co-owner of the Hustl House gym in Albion and Medina. Ferris is a 2017 Albion graduate with a bachelor’s degree in criminal justice from SUNY Brockport. He was working for Keeler Construction.

Photos by Ginny Kropf: (Left) Nicole Tuohey, left, holds a frosted elephant cookie, while her mother Mary Lou Tuohey holds a string of “elephant chains” Nicole has made. Every time a customer buys a cutout elephant cookie at Case-Nic Cookies, Nicole adds a link to the chain, with the goal of stringing them the entire block of Main Street. All money raised benefits the Alzheimer’s Association. (Right) Lisa Robinson gets instructions from Mary Lou Tuohey at Case-Nic Cookies on how to fill out a basket raffle form to support the upcoming Alzheimer’s walk on Sept. 7.

MEDINA – Supporting the Alzheimer’s Association is a tradition near and dear to the family of Nicole Tuohey and her parents.

Nicole’s maternal grandparents both died from Alzheimer’s, her Grandpa Bradley at age 65 and her Grandma Bradley at age 89.

With the help of her mom, Mary Lou Tuohey, Nicole makes sure the public is kept aware of the disease and the toll it takes.

A poster in Case-Nic Cookies, the store run by Mary Lou on Main Street, lists Nicole’s “NOT” Fun Facts of a loved one having Alzheimer’s.

Some of her memories are,  “Grandpa couldn’t remember he had a wife, four children and six grandchildren. Grandpa wore diapers, had to be fed and couldn’t dress himself. And Grandpa never got to know me.”

Nicole has the same memories of her grandma. “She couldn’t remember her husband died of Alzheimer’s. She couldn’t remember how to sew, play golf, read books or do crafts. Gramma spoke ‘gibberish’, wore diapers and had to be fed. Gramma had a doll named Andrew that she held and cuddled, just like she did to me.”

Now Nicole has one last “NOT” for fun question.

“Since Gramma and Grandpa Bradley both had Alzheimer’s Disease, do you think my Mom will get it?”

On Sept. 7, many members of Nicole’s family will participate in the Walk to End Alzheimer’s, while others will be helping with events at State Street Park and Case-Nic Cookies.

Since opening her store, Mary Lou has allowed non-profits to use her store windows for basket raffle fundraisers. During the Covid pandemic, when customers didn’t come in the store, Mary Lou devised a system where customers could pick up a form in the doorway, mark their choice of baskets, leave the money for the tickets in an envelope and drop it in the mail slot.

This month, the basket raffle is for the benefit of the Alzheimer’s Association, and the drawing will take place after the Walk to End Alzheimer’s on Sept. 7.

The walk starts at 10 a.m. in State Street Park, goes along the canal, back down Main Street and East Center Street back to the park.

Mary Lou and her family first participated in the walk in the early 1990s, when it was at Art Park in Lewiston. Then it moved to Albion for a few years, before coming to Medina.

In the earlier years, regulations prevented the basket raffle from taking place at the site of the actual walk, but this year the raffle will be allowed to take place after the walk in State Street Park.

Activities in the park will also include kids’ games, a bounce house, pizza for sale and free frosted elephant cookies.

The cookies were an idea of Mary Lou’s, who sells them in her store for $1, with the money going to the Alzheimer’s Association. The elephant symbolizes memory – an elephant who never forgets, and a person stricken with Alzheimer’s who never remembers. Nicole makes links out of construction paper, and for each elephant cookie sold, she adds a link to her chain. Her goal every year is to have enough to stretch them the length of the main block of Main Street.

Nicole urges everyone to support the Walk to End Alzheimer’s, whether by walking, donating a basket, supporting the basket raffle or buying an elephant cookie.

Photos by Tom Rivers

MEDINA – Shawn Ramsey, owner of Canalside Tattoo, celebrated the opening of Canalside’s new location on Sunday, which was also Canalside’s annual “Caturday” fundraiser for the Cat by Cat, Inc. organization in Medina.

Canalside had 13 tattoo artists and other body piercers, as well as 150 gift baskets as part of the fundraiser that raised about $24,000. That is up from $18,000 last year and $10,000 in 2022.

Ramsey purchased the building at 627 West Ave. that was last used by AJ’s Play Date. Ramsey turned the site into the “Fantasy Factory” giving tattoo artists their own partitioned space, providing more privacy.

C.J. Cruickshank, one of the tattoo artists at Canalside, works on a raccoon tattoo for Olivia Miller on Sunday during Caturday under one of the ring lights that provides a more subtle, overhead light. The 13 artists were all booked for at least eight tattoos at $100 each with the proceeds going to Cat by Cat.

Cruickshank said she likes the new atmosphere and work space at Canalside tattoo.

“It is still an open vibe but we all have our own personalized space,” Cruickshank said.

Ramsey opened Canaside in 2015 in a small storefront on East Center Street. In 2017, he moved to Main Street at the former Curvin’s News, tripling his space from the first location. He then expanded next door on Main Street in 2020, giving him 3,500 square feet.

The West Avenue building is a chance for Ramsey to own the building and put in partitions, an office space, a gaming room for Ramsey and staff. There also is more display room for Canalside merchandise and to showcase local work from artists and crafters. The Fantasy Factory also has a gym/workout room for Canalside staff, as well as a kitchen and break room.

Canalside opened in the Fantasy Factory on Aug. 9.

Another tattoo artist, David Jednat of Buffalo, praised Ramsey for the layout and look of the new space.

“You can tell he put a lot of thought and time in it,” Jednat said. “This will work really well for the people. Most tattoo shops are really crowded.”

Besides donating his service son Sunday, Jednat agreed to eat a hot dog for each tattoo he did. He was up to seven by 5 p.m., with more to go. (The Boy Scouts were selling hot dogs as part of the Caturday event.)

C.J. Cruickshank works on the new tattoo for Olivia Miller. Miller said it was her sixth tattoo. She was happy to get the tattoo and have the proceeds go to Cat by Cat. She said her family has benefitted from Cat by Cat and she wanted to give back to the organization.

Caturday is a big fundraiser for Cat by Cat, which locally is run by Shannon Blount.

Cat by Cat seeks to humanely “TNVR” cats through targeted trapping. Cat by Cat focuses on a TNVR model – Trap, Neuter, Vaccinate and Return.

The Medina team cares for about 150 cats a year. Feral or community cats remains in “overwhelming” problem in Medina and Orleans County, Blount said.

The money from “Caturday” goes towards neutering, medications, vaccinations, food and cat litter, and other supplies.

There were six cats up for adoption at Canalside, including “Chocolate Chip,” a 12 week old kitten.

There were 150 baskets up for raffle at Caturday. The basket raffle raised $7,000 of the Caturday total. Ramsey said body piercing netted over $1500 and tattoos raised nearly $15,000.

Photos by Tom Rivers

MEDINA – Lyla Page, the back field conductor, helps direct the Medina field band on Thursday evening during a preview show for parents at Vets Park. Some of the students leaders wore capes during the preview show.

Mackenzie McGrath, the drum major, is on an elevated platform on the other side.

The band has about 90 students and did the preview show during band camp which went from about noon to 9 p.m. Monday through Thursday, with today’s camp from noon to 4 p.m.

The band does a run-through of this year’s show, “Reflections.” The band camp is usually held in a parking lot at the high school, but that area is under construction this summer. The camp instead was held at Vets Park.

These band members keep their focus on their music and the right steps during the preview show.

The season starts on Sept. 14 in Hilton. Medina hosts the “Fall Festival of Bands” on Sept. 21. The season concludes on Oct. 27 with the championships in Syracuse.

River Jones plays the trumpet in the band.

Matt Jaeger, the band director, praised the students for working hard all week, including in the heat.

The band has 14 seniors this year, up from six last year. The band is continuing to rebuild after the Covid pandemic knocked down the numbers.

Here are some more photos from the preview show.

Photos by Tom Rivers

MEDINA – The Seneca Chief welcomed visitors at Medina’s Canal Basin on Monday evening. The boat is a reproduction of the original 73-foot-long Seneca Chief boat that opened the Erie Canal in 1825. It was the first boat to travel the canal from Buffalo to New York City.

The boat was constructed over nearly four years by volunteers at the Buffalo Maritime Center. Next year for the Erie Canal’s bicentennial, the Seneca Chief will travel the entire canal as a tribute to the original boat that carried Gov. DeWitt Clinton across the canal.

The Seneca Chief is doing a test run from Aug. 9 to Aug. 18 of that epic trip, going from Buffalo to Rochester and then back again. The Seneca Chief will be back in Medina on Friday with tours of the boat from 4 to 7 p.m.

Roger Allen, a master boat builder with the Buffalo Maritime Center, welcomes visitors to the boat when it was stopped in Medina on Monday evening. The boat will be open for tours in Brockport today from 4 to 7 p.m. at Harvester Park at 49 State St.

Medina Mayor Marguerite Sherman thanks the Buffalo Maritime Center for including Medina in the stops for the Seneca Chief.

Brian Trzeciak, executive director of the Buffalo Maritime Center, said the organization wants to highlight the Erie Canal’s role in the state, while sharing stories and techniques of traditional boatbuilding.

“We love this town,” Trzeciak said after being introduced by Sherman.

The journey so far is going very well, with the boat being pushed by the tug CL Churchill.

“This is a wondrous moment for us,” Trzeciak said.

Visitors check out the inside of the Seneca Chief.

The Maritime Center said the boat’s keel, frames, and other structural timbers were made of white oak. The keelson was a single 60-foot-long piece of reclaimed Douglas Fir.

The center says this about the wood in the boat:

“The planking consisted of two layers of 1-inch-thick cypress with a waterproof dynel cloth set in epoxy between the layers. The outer layer of planking was caulked with cotton in the traditional manner. This combination of modern and traditional planking methods was designed to help the boat stay watertight even if it spent winters out of the water.

“All of the bolts used in the backbone structure were forged in the BMC’s own machine shop by a crew of volunteers. This crew also produced several specialized tools and hardware needed to build the boat.”

Tools on display include a crooked knife in front. This indigenous woodworking knife is held with the finger up and thumb out with the blade facing the user. The knife shapes the wood parts of bark canoe and helps prepare the spruce roots for lashing.

There are informational displays about the Erie Canal, Gov. DeWitt Clinton, the Seneca Nation of Indians.

Visitors can try paddle shaping in one of the activities led by the Buffalo Maritime Center.

‘This is what inspired the many renditions of what might be considered an expression of beauty today – tattoos, androgyny, piercings or embracing of individuality.’ – Pat Greene

Photos by Ginny Kropf: (left) Artist Patricia Greene hangs a picture she painted of Jared Thurber in her exhibit titled “Images of Beauty,” which is hanging at Hometown Fitness Center, 119 Pearl St., Medina. (Right) Patricia Greene received a GO Art! Ripple grant for her exhibit. Here she holds a painting titled “Fabulous in Faux Fur,” which inspired her to do an androgynous exhibit.

MEDINA – The decision to do a painting of a person posing for a previous painting by Franz Von Stuck, a German artist from the early 20th century, inspired local artist Patricia Green to apply for a Ripple grant from GO Art! and create an androgynous exhibit.

The painting she copied was a female, but Greene chose to use a male model for her pose.

“This is what inspired the many renditions of what might be considered an expression of beauty today – tattoos, androgyny, piercings or embracing of individuality,” she said.

She remembered Jared Thurber with his piercing and ear gauge and asked if he would allow her to paint him. He agreed.

“Images of Beauty” is a look at modern day images of physical beauty and adornment, Greene explained. “My intention was to explore contemporary variations of what is considered ‘beautiful’. Body image has evolved dramatically in recent decades.

“Physicality, body alterations via surgical enhancement, tattooing, piercing and expressions of femininity and masculinity are all practices that have been in flux in recent times. Without judgment, but rather to document, I have drawn correlations to past images of beauty found in fine art and unearthed history.”

Greene continued to say while some individuals have chosen to alter their bodies, others have embraced their individuality – whether through grey hair or their physique.

“I find these dichotomies intriguing,” she said.

Greene approached Hometown Wellness Center at 119 Pearl St., asking to hang her exhibit there.

“Pam Eaton is proprietor and enthusiastically hosted the show,” Greene said. “’Images of Beauty’ was paired with the fitness venue to correlate with the theme.”

The exhibit is hung mostly in the cycle room and is available for viewing during various fitness sessions until the end of August.

“The New Odalisque” is a painting artist Patricia Greene reworked from a painting by Jean Auguste Dominique Ingres, depicting a woman who is embracing her gray hair.