File Photo: Roger Hungerford speaks during Dec. 9, 2021 in the Bent’s Opera House events center.

MEDINA – An announcement, which Roger Hungerford once said would “blow the medical industry out of the water,” is forthcoming on a project which Hungerford and head medical researcher Jason Maine have been working on for four years.

Hungerford has numerous patents for medical devices, including an intravenous delivery pump and a cardiopulmonary bypass pump. His father Van also is credited with designing the first heart pump for a physician at the Cleveland Clinic.

Roger has formed AMGIS, headquartered in the Olde Pickle Factory on Park Avenue, where work is progressing on a revolutionary approach to intravenous fluid and drug delivery. Fifteen engineers have been working remotely on this project, Hungerford said in an interview.

Most recently, Hungerford and his team developed an advanced clinical guidance software tool which electronically connects and integrates patient data from multiple units, such as seizure pumps, infusion pumps and cardiopulmonary pumps.

Hungerford anticipates his newest invention, an intravenous drug and fluid delivery device, will be ready to submit to the FDA for review in two parts the second half of this year. He said it will be tied up at the FDA for a year before AMGIS can begin manufacturing it in Medina. He anticipates a large number of patents will be associated with the device.

He said the new invention will make every other device in its field obsolete.

“We are using things that have not previously been considered until we engineered all these breakthroughs,” Hungerford said.

Photo by Ginny Kropf: Vassilious Bitsas, left, and his dad Jim hold a pizza ready for the oven at Cusimano’s. The family, who also owns Country Club Restaurant in Medina and pizzerias in Lockport and Brockport, believe in supporting their community. They regularly donate pizzas to Little League teams and gift cards for benefits and charitable organizations.

MEDINA – If there is one thing the Bitsas family believes, it is in feeding the hand that feeds them.

The Bitsas’ story began in 1980 when Bill Bitsas and his family immigrated from Greece to Toronto, and then to Rochester. The trip from Toronto, through Orleans County, would set the stage for the success that was to come.

Bill worked at a restaurant in Rochester, owned by his maternal grandparents, but when he started looking for an opportunity to expand, he remembered his drive through Medina.

In 1972, with his wife Frances, he opened the Country Club Restaurant on Main Street. Twenty-two years ago, his son Jim and his wife Mindy took it over.

“Our son Michael loves pizza, and we started thinking about opening a pizzeria here,” Mindy said.

The building on Maple Ridge Road, at the corner of West Avenue Extension, was available, and Jim and Mark Massaro bought it. They opened Cusimano’s Pizzeria in 2017, the year son Vassilious graduated from Medina High School.

The pizzeria was named after Massaro’s late mother, Jim said.

When Covid hit in the spring 2020, Cusimano’s donated food regularly to workers at Medina Memorial Hospital, firefighters and policemen.

“We wanted to support the first responders and emergency personnel who had to be on the job every day,” Mindy said. “We continue to donate to them.”

They provide free pizzas to Little League teams after games and to other sporting events. They support benefits and fundraisers with gift cards. This summer Vassilious wants to do something for Little League softball and baseball. They will rotate teams to invite in for free pizza after each game.

The Bitsas family also owns Cusimano’s pizzeria in Lockport and Brockport, as well as the Olive Leaf in Lockport. In Brockport, they support a reading program at the school, where students who complete their reading assignments can come in get free pizza.

In addition to Vassilious, 24, Jim and Mindy have a son Michael, 21, and daughter Elaina, 17, all of whom come in and work in the restaurants.

Bill, who is retired, spends six months in Medina and six months in his home country of Greece.

“We love taking care of our customers and showing the community we appreciate all the customers we’ve had over the years,” Jim said. “Many of them have become good friends.”

Jim said they want their restaurants to feel like home, and for customers to feel comfortable.

The Country Club, at 535 Main St., is a full service restaurant, open from 6 a.m. to 9 p.m. Sunday through Thursday and from 6 a.m. to 10 p.m. Friday and Saturday.

Cusimano’s  sells, pizza, wings, salads, subs, wraps and newly-introduced beef-on-weck. Dessert options include cannoli, ice cream, cheesecake and brownies. Specials are made daily. They are open from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. Sunday through Thursday and from 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. Friday and Saturday.

Angela Waldriff has offered guidance to about 250 businesses, including Diago Russell of Home Town Lawn Care

Photos by Tom Rivers: Angela Waldriff has owned Ashlee’s Place in downtown Medina for 33 years, withstanding pressure from Walmart, Big Box stores and the online marketplace.

MEDINA – Angela Waldriff opened a clothing store for women 33 years ago in downtown Medina. She has defied intense business competition over years, from Walmart, other Big Box stores and the online marketplace.

Waldriff said she strives to connect with her customers, sending them birthday cards, newsletters and letting them know they are valued. Waldriff sends about 100 birthday cards a month with hand-written notes.

She was at a meeting 12 years ago with the Medina Business Association when two SCORE volunteers – Jon Costello and Jim Hancock – said the community could use more SCORE mentors who offer advice and guidance to small business owners in Orleans County. Costello tends to focus on banking and financing, while Hancock connects businesses to services in the community to make the businesses stronger.

Waldriff has been committed the past 12 years to volunteering as a SCORE counselor through the U.S. Small Business Administration., focusing on marketing and building the business’s brand.

“It is satisfying to being able to help someone with their business,” she said. “It’s bouncing off ideas.”

Angela Waldriff works with Diago Russell of Home Town Lawn Care, a business Russell started about two years ago. Russell is a long-time friend of Waldriff’s son, Tanner. They both graduated in Medina’s Class of 2019.

Waldriff gives people suggestions for advertising and getting the word out about their business, often through social media and being an active participant in the community.

Keys to long-term success come from being reliable, offering a quality service or a product, and showing customers they are cared about, Waldriff said.

She has adapted her business when she sees opportunities. The women’s-only clothing store sells shoes and accessories. Ashlee’s also rents out tuxedos.

“You have to know who your customer is,” she said.

Waldriff also suggests using colors to help make the business stand out. She uses pink in her storefront, in her newsletter, and even with the color envelopes she sends out.

Waldriff has been working with Diago Russell, a lawn care business owner she has known since he was a young kid. Russell, 22, graduated with Waldriff’s son Tanner in Medina’s Class of 2019.

She knows Russell is a hard worker. He has been a personal trainer at the Orleans County YMCA the past three years. He started Home Town Lawn Care about two years ago. His first job was with Zambistro, starting as a dishwasher at age 16 and working up to the salad and service line.

Diago Russell is ready for the busy spring season in the lawncare business. He would like to expand services to have a year-round business.

Russell runs an active Facebook page showing some of the jobs he’s done with lawn care and landscape. He completed the Microenterprise Assistance Program and used a grant through MAP to add equipment including zero-turn mowers, a leaf blower and weed wackers.

Russell will start the busy spring season with one employee and expects to add more. He has run the business with four workers at its peak.

Home Town Lawn Care does lawn mowing, landscape, hedge trimming, power washing, edging, flower bed installation and other tasks.

Russell said he is looking to send out newsletters to connect with customers. He already has a sense of what some customers prefer with their lawn. Home Town Lawn Care has a Google business page and he puts out yard signs when he completes a job.

He enjoys helping people keep their properties looking neat. Most of the customers are in the Medina and Lyndonville area, but Russell said he is willing to drive farther if needed.

“With Home Town Lawn Care, I wanted to produce something here that would stay,” Russell said. “I’m a reliable person and someone you can trust.”

Press Release, Lee-Whedon Memorial Library

MEDINA – Resiliency kits are now available for checkout at Lee-Whedon Memorial Library.

Life is full of challenges and stressors for the little ones in your life. These kits are to help teach your child how to manage their “big emotions.” Teaching coping skills, social skills and emotional regulation will help your child be better prepared for the future.

The library has 18 resiliency kits available for two weeks at a time. They range in theme from “Happiness” to “Anger” to “Overwhelmed.”

In addition to Resiliency kits, we also circulate Discovery Kits, for hands on STEM learning, and Little Learners kits, for teaching the building blocks of literacy. All kits must be borrowed from and returned to Medina. Contact the library for more information.

Photo by Ginny Kropf: Rochester pianist Gregg Herman practices on the new piano in the Harvest restaurant at Bent’s Opera House.

MEDINA – Diners at the Harvest restaurant in Bent’s Opera House can now enjoy music with their meals, with the addition of a new piano.

The piano was a Christmas gift from Bent’s owner Roger Hungerford to his wife Heather, who has always loved the piano and wanted to learn how to play.

“Growing up in a family of nine children, it was difficult to afford piano lessons” Heather said. “When Roger learned Denton, Cottier and Daniels in Buffalo was closing, he said we should go and look at purchasing one. Rather than put it in our house, I thought adding a piano here in this historic building would be a wonderful thing. Now everyone can enjoy it.”

She is hoping she and daughter Isabella can take lessons together this summer.

On a recent Thursday night, Rochester pianist Gregg Herman played music for diners. He has been playing jazz since he was 10.

“I’m looking forward to experiencing this wonderful place,” Herman said, as he sat down at the piano.

On nights when there isn’t a pianist, diners will be able to listen to dinner music, as the instrument is a player piano. It has been placed in the front window in the room off the bar, which will now be known as the “Piano Lounge.”

Walk-ins will now be welcome to stop in for a cocktail or order a meal, while they listen to the music, Heather said.

Justin Bruce, operations manager at Harvest, said they are thrilled to be able to provide an additional space where people can come in and relax.

“This is more casual,” he said. “We now offer something for everybody.”

Harvest is open for dinner from 5 to 9 p.m. Wednesday through Saturday and for brunch from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Sunday. For more information, click here.

Gregg Herman likes the new piano at Harvest.

MEDINA – The Village Board is looking to follow the lead of the county and several other municipalities in expanding the income eligibility for senior citizens to qualify for a discount on their village taxes.

The board held a public hearing on the issue last week and plans to vote on increasing the income levels for the tax discount during the 7 p.m. meeting on Monday.

The County Legislature voted in November 2022 to increase the income levels for residents 65 and older to qualify for the tax break. The senior exemption previously was last changed in 2014.

The senior exemption previously gave 50 percent off property taxes for those 65 and older with an annual income at $15,500 or less and then dropped in 5 percent increments.

The new exemption levels offer 50 percent off at annual incomes of $19,000 or less. It then drops in 5 percent increments until bottoming out at 20 percent off between $23,800 and $24,699.99.

‘We feel very blessed to have the types of neighbors who show up when they are needed. They came together to help us at this trying time and asked for nothing in return.’

Provided photos: Ron Jackson is shown with his grandson Cole Jackson and daughter-in-law Jamie Jackson.

Press Release, Orleans/Niagara BOCES

MEDINA – Last month Ron and Debi Jackson’s family were devastated to watch their roof of their 40 by 90-foot barn off during a vicious windstorm that rocked the Medina area.

“It was just horrible,” said Ron, who is a welding teacher at Orleans/Niagara BOCES’ Orleans Career and Technical Education Center.  “We had our hay stored in there and there were metal pipes flying everywhere.”

The following day 18 inches of snow fell and then another 10 inches a day later.

“We were blessed that no one got hurt and some of my students, friends and neighbors came and helped us move the hay, remove some of the pipes and shovel off the snow floor so there was not more damage,” Jackson said.

“I really have to thank my friends, neighbors and students Jimmy Poler, Noah Poler, Jeremy Botting, Mike Gehl and his son Matthew who all were first on the scene,” Jackson said. “There was a lot of site work to prepare for the barn raising, we needed many hands and could not have been completed without the help from Dave Alt from Alt Farms, brother-in-law Dean Bancroft, son and daughter Josh and Mikayla Jackson, Jay Wozniak from Absolute Property Maintenance, Robert Schumacher, Elliot Vanderwalker, Amanda Baker and two of my students Hanna Zastro and Conner Dwyer. It meant so much to our family that they were there.”

They are also fortunate to live in an Amish community who consider the Jacksons not only neighbors, but friends. One of those neighbors, Marcus, stopped at their farm and told Ron that his church heard about his plight and they wanted to help.

“I was completely in awe of their generous offer to help us out by the community donating their time and raising a new roof,” Jackson said.

“We feel that it was something we wanted to do,” said community member Jonathan. “The Bible teaches us to ‘Love your neighbor as yourself’ and to ‘Carry each other’s burdens, and in this way, you will fulfill the law of Christ’.”

More than 20 members of the Amish community came together the beginning of February to rebuild the barn roof starting at 8 a.m. and finishing the project before sundown.

“Thanks to our insurance company’s speedy response we were able to get the wood, metal and trusses paid for that we needed to get the project done,” Ron said about Porter Insurance. “We used an Amish business, Lake Shore Metal, for the materials and when the company that makes the trusses heard our plight, they pushed up production and got us the materials two weeks ahead of schedule. It is very touching to see how many people were willing to help us with this catastrophe. I am really blown away.”

The Jacksons says they were overwhelmed by the response of the volunteers who showed up on a cold winter day to help then out. Their neighbor Roger Yutzy who owns Fairview Fencing said he and the rest of the volunteers are not only there to help a neighbor, but are enjoying the camaraderie of working together.

“I think technology has made many people more isolated and disconnected from each other,” Yutzy said. “You would not believe how many times I am working with a customer and they tell me they don’t ever talk to their neighbors. I find that so sad. In stressful times we should be pulling together.”

To thank their volunteers Ron, Debi, Nate and Jamie Jackson made a spread of food for lunch: smoked brisket and pork, macaroni and cheese, cole slaw, baked beans and corn bread to share.  “Their acts of kindness and concern have made us so grateful for the connection we have with them,” Jackson said. “We feel very blessed to have the types of neighbors who show up when they are needed. They came together to help us at this trying time and asked for nothing in return. We are very fortunate to live in this community and to be able to count these people as friends.”

133 ‘Hometown hero’ banners can be picked up Wednesday, Thursday at village office

File photo: The banner for Asa Hill, a  Civil War soldier, was among the 133 banners that debuted in 2021. He was wounded in battle and lost a leg due to the injury. He came home to Shelby and was a farmer until his death in 1881.

MEDINA – A new group of Hometown Hero banners will go up this spring and 133 banners that first went out in 2021 won’t be back.

The banners from three years ago will be available for pickup at the village office at 119 Park Ave. on Wednesday from 8:30 to 11:30 a.m. and 1 to 4 p.m., and then on Thursday from 8:30 a.m. to 1 p.m.

Mary Woodruff, coordinator of the program, will be at the village office on the two days. She has the banners organized with a signature sheet in the crate with a serviceman/woman’s last name.

She asks people having someone else picking up a banner to notify her at mbwoodruff16@gmail.com.

“I am most humbled by your tolerance while you all waited so patiently for your banners,” Woodruff said in a message to the families. “2021 was the year that broke the record of banners sponsored by all of you. While cleaning each banner, I was sure to say goodbye to each serviceperson and a prayer for each also. I get sentimental when the banners are sent back home where their families/friends have waited for their return.”

This year there will be 78 new banners going up. They will join others from 2022 and 2023, making for about 190 total.

The banners are on a three-year cycle from when they first go out and then are “retired.”

Woodruff thanked the Medina Village Board, the DPW led by Superintendent Jason Watts and village clerk’s office led by Jada Burgess for assisting with the banners and supporting the effort.

“When you think the world is becoming a negative hive of angry, uncaring people stroll down the streets of Medina and your attitude will soar towards positivity in a moment!” Woodruff said.

Woodruff in July will start to accept applications for new banners for 2025. Woodruff said she already has a waiting list for 2025.

‘The squeaky wheel gets the oil and we need to start squeaking’

MEDINA – Village officials say they aren’t abandoning hope that the Orleans County Legislature will hear their plea for a bigger slice of the local sales tax pie.

“We need to be in it for the long haul,” said Village Trustee Jessica Marciano. “This is going to be a long fight.”

The Medina Village Board last year sent a formal resolution to the county, asking for an increase in the local sales tax. All four villages in the county, and eight out of the 10 towns sent resolutions to the county, asking for more sales tax. The county hasn’t increased the amount the towns and villages since 2001. The 10 towns and four villages collectively receive $1,366,671 in sales tax.

The total local amount has more than doubled since 2001, and grew another $600,000 in 2023 to $23.1 million. The amount has now grown by more than $5 million since the $17.7 million in 2019. The county keeps 94 percent of the total.

The Village of Medina this year will get $160,160 of the total, which is expected to be near $25 million. That is less than 1 percent of the total in the county.

Mayor Mike Sidari said it is frustrating to get such a low amount because many of the businesses in the village are generating the sales tax that the county is reaping.

Marciano said the village shouldn’t relent and accept such a low number, especially as the village grapples with trying to prevent a big tax increase to pay for services, including a new ladder truck and addition to the fire hall.

Legislature Chairwoman Lynne Johnson last month was asked about distributing more of the local sales tax to towns and villages, but she said in a brief response that would only push up county taxes. She spoke at the Orleans County Chamber of Commerce’s Legislative Luncheon.

Marciano said county legislators need to see village and town taxpayers as county taxpayers, too, who need relief in their town and village taxes.

“The county is doing a disservice to their own residents,” Marciano said about the sales tax freeze to towns and villages. “We’re a major population center, and we have all these people who want services.”

Mayor Sidari said the village also gets short shrifted by the state with AIM payments or Aid and Incentives to Municipalities. Medina gets $45,523 in AIM from the state as a village of 6,047 people or $7.53 per person.

But other small cities with similar populations as Medina get far more in AIM. The City of Mechanicville, population 5,163 in Saratoga County, gets $1,649,701 for a per capita $319.52. The City of Salamanca in Cattaraugus County, population 5,929, gets $928,131 in AIM funding or $156.54 per capita.

Michael Maak, a retired Medina firefighter and a candidate for mayor in the March 19 election, said Medina should push to become a city to access the AIM funding, and also to get more of the local sales tax. That is a drawn-out legal process that needs the blessing of the state Legislature, something that hasn’t been approved in about 75 years, Maak said during last week’s Village Board meeting.

He said Medina shouldn’t give up the fight for more money in the sales tax and from the state for AIM.

“We provide a lot of services and they should give us what we’re due,” Maak said. “The squeaky wheel gets the oil and we need to start squeaking.”

Provided photo: Jim Hancock, left, with Medina Lions is presented with a collection of eyeglasses and cases from Joe Byrne, an eighth-grade teacher and president of the Medina Teachers’ Association. More than 70 pairs were collected from faculty and staff to show their appreciation for what the Lions Club does to provide vision care to Medina students.

MEDINA – The Medina Lions Club was recently presented with a donation of more than 70 pairs of eyeglasses by the Medina Central School district.

Lions Club president Jim Hancock accepted the donation and thanked the school for its act of kindness.

The donation was initiated by Joe Byrne, an eighth-grade social studies teacher. He sent an e-mail to staff, urging them to start the new year with a vision of giving.

Throughout the month of January, donation boxes were placed in the main offices of Oak Orchard Primary, Wise Intermediate and Medina Junior-Senior High School.

The donations benefit the Lions Club Eyeglasses Recycling Program, which accepts used eyeglasses, prescription sunglasses, hearing aids and eyeglass cases.

“Let’s make a difference in someone’s life by providing the gift of clear sight,” Byrne urged in his e-mail.

School Superintendent Mark Kruzynski added his approval of the project.

“The Lions Club has been very active in improving vision for anyone who needs help,” Kruzynski said. “For many years now, members of the Lions Club have been providing free vision screenings to all our kindergarten students so that any vision issues can be identified while they are still young. I am proud that our faculty and staff have been able to donate over 70 pairs of eyeglasses to the Lions Club, so that those in need will not have to worry about vision care. Thank you to the Medina Teachers’ Association for organizing this eyeglass donation.”

Hancock said the Lions are very thankful for the donation. He said of 85 to 95 students

who annually have their vision screened by Medina Lions, typically 10 percent are found with some problem. In the case where a family may not be able to pay for an eye exam or eyeglasses, the Lions Club will step in and help.

He added his appreciation for the school’s donation, and said they will be turned over to the district Lions, which then recycles them. Last year, Medina Lions turned in almost 600 pairs of eyeglasses to the district.

Photo by Ginny Kropf: Laura Gardner, owner of a lily & a sparrow and a member of the Medina Area Partnership, introduces Chet Fery of Brockport, known as the “Bread Man,” at MAP’s February get-together at the Coffee Pot Café in Medina. Everyone in attendance went home with one of Fery’s home-baked loaves of bread.

MEDINA – If there is one thing Chet Fery values in life, it’s kindness, and the Brockport resident has spent the last 22 years spreading kindness all over the country, one loaf at a time.

This week, he brought his message of kindness, along with several loaves of bread, to the Medina Area Partnership’s February get-together at the Coffee Pot Café.

A retired special ed teacher, Fery founded Bread Time Stories and More to promote random acts of kindness. He is also an amateur baker, storyteller, motivational speaker and kindness coach, who has baked and given away more than 130,000 loaves of bread.

“There’s something about baking bread that stays with us,” Fery said. “I started baking every Sunday for my children.”

Then on Mondays, he would take the extra loaves to work and put them on a table with a sign, “Free bread.”

“That seemed to change things,” Fery said. “People would come to work early, walk quickly to the bread table, pick up a loaf and smile.”

He said that changed his life, when he realized it was more than the bread – it was the act of kindness. He said kindness has the power to change things.

“We are happier, smarter, friendlier, work harder, heal faster and life longer,” he said. “Kindness is a choice that benefits the giver and the receiver.”

Fery also shared his admiration and respect for Medina.

“I bring my wife here every week in the summer for ice cream at Double Dips,” he said. “She won’t go anywhere else. I’ve been to Harvest and I love the book store and the chocolate shop.”

He invited by principal Brad Pritchard to spread the mission of kindness at the Albion middle school after the pandemic, to help the kids get back to normal, Fery said.

“Kids want kindness, too,” he added.

Fery can bake 44 loaves of bread at a time in his oven. He also makes pizzas and will do presentations at a house party, business meeting or any gathering.

Along the way, Fery got the idea to make a “Kindness” sign to accompany his loaves of bread. They have proven almost as popular as the bread. He has made and given away 200 of them.

MAP has a calendar of events planned for the spring and summer, including the annual Easter Bunny and Golden Easter Egg Scavenger Hunt on March 23 and a Murder Mystery on May 4. Complete information on those events will follow soon.

MAP has a new slate of officers for 2024-25. They are Cindy Robinson, president; Marc Shurtz, vice president; Jessica Rockcastle, secretary; Amy Crandall, treasurer; and Bill Bixler, Jesse Cudzilo and Michael Snyder, directors.

MEDINA – The Medina Fire Department is working with a grantwriter on federal grants to help pay for equipment, a ladder truck and an addition to the fire hall.

The Village Board in August hired G&G Municipal Consulting and Grant Writing for $7,990 to write up to five grant applications for the fire department.

G & G is working on three right now. That includes a grant for $100,422 towards a compressor/fill station and also 20 SCBA cylinders. The total cost of that equipment is $105,444. The village share would be $5,021 if Medina is successful getting the grant, Fire Chief Matt Jackson advised the Village Board on Monday.

The compressor-fill station would cost $68,486 and would allow firefighters to fill the cylinders right at the station, rather than going to the county Emergency Management Office in Albion.

Medina has 40 of the SCBA (self-contained breathing apparatus) that are breathing-air cylinders. The Fire Department wants to replace half of those 40 bottles, with the next half to be replaced in five years. The 20 bottles cost approximately $36,958, Jackson said.

The Village Board is expected to approve the grant application at its Feb. 25 meeting. The application is die March 8.

Jackson said the village also is working with G & G to pursue assistance through the U.S. Department of Agriculture for a new ladder truck and an fire hall addition.

Medina voted on June 26 to spend $1.7 million to buy a new ladder truck from Pierce Manufacturing in Appleton, Wisc., with a delivery time expected to take 2 ½ years.

The board on Aug. 14 authorized seeking a bond for up to $5.6 million to finance the fire hall addition. The board hasn’t determined the scope of that project yet.

Another fire truck from 1990 also should be on schedule for a replacement in the near future, Jackson said.

He also would like to pursue a grant for a specialized laundry machine to clean turn-out gear and remove any carcinogens.