MEDINA – The Medina Rotary Club is trying a new event that promises an awesome meal highlighting the “foodie” strengths of the local community.

The club will offer a “Taste of Autumn” at 5 p.m. on Nov. 9 at the Sacred Heart Club. Chef Lionel Heydel will prepare a five-course gourmet dinner, paired with wine from Leonard Oakes Estate Winery.

“Medina gets to showcase the culinary talent in the area to people from all across Upstate NY,” said Peter Bartula, Medina Rotary president. “It will raise money for the Rotary Club that we will give back to the community, and our members and guests get to have a great meal!”

There is space for 65 people at the event. Tickets are $95, and proceeds go toward Rotary’s projects in the community. Tickets can be purchased on online by clicking here.

“Since we have such great food, wine, and chefs in the area it is a great event to showcase the talent and produce from Orleans County,” Bartula said.

Photos by Tom Rivers

MEDINA – Alma de México does a folkloric dance on Saturday during a Day of the Dead celebration at the Orleans County YMCA.

The event was co-sponsored by GO Art!, the YMCA, Mariachi de Oro Mexican Grill, and Maizal Mexican Kitchen.

There were 325 people at the event in the first two hours of the four-hour celebration. They were on pace of surpassing last year’s record crowd of 425 for the event.

Carys Dumitrescu of Penfield gets her face painted by Dan Butler, an artist from Perry.

There were at least four artists doing face painting. There also were Mexican crafts, dance and music performances, ofrenda displays, and food tastings.

An ofrenda was created by Lionel Rosario and his wife Delores Alvarado, and the display drew many onlookers.

The Mexican Day of the Dead Celebration (Mexican Día de los Muertos) is a time of joyful remembrance of deceased loved ones, filled with an array of colors, scents, sounds and stories, said Karen Canning, director of GLOW Traditions at GO Art!

An ofrenda is an altar that is typically in homes. The altars welcome returning souls and feature candles, wild marigolds, incense, photographs, mementos and loved ones’ favorite foods like fruit, tortillas, tamales, chocolate and bread.

There was also a community ofrenda where people could place a an electric candle and write a remembrance of loved ones.

Many people wrote notes remembering their loved ones.

Mary Lou Tuohey and her daughter Nicole of Caee-Nic Cookies made these frosted cookies for the Day of the Dead. The skulls are used to honor the dead.

Other hosts and volunteers came from Della’s Chocolates, The Downtown Browsery, Oak Orchard Girl Scouts, Orleans Head Start, and Medina High School students. Canalside Tattoos offered temporary tattoos. Las Toxicas had Mexican jewelry and clothing. Candy Creations Facepaint of Medina hosted face painting, and Mariachi de Oro will provided samples of Mexican hot chocolate and pan de muerto (bread of the dead), a typical food of the holiday. Maizal Mexican Kitchen had several items for sale, including tamales, fruit with tajin, and snacks.

Press Release, Medina Central School

Photo courtesy of Medina Central School: English Teacher Beth Dickhut holds a copy of her first published novel, “Still Water.”

MEDINA – For many years Medina Junior-Senior High School English teacher Elizabeth Dickhut toyed with the idea of writing her own novel, “Still Water.”

“Several years ago I was thinking about some students I had who had experienced losing a parent suddenly,” she explained. “They were obviously going through a very hard time and I couldn’t help but think what was going on in the inside. It inspired me to start writing about a group of boys who were friends and experienced that loss.”

Mrs. Dickhut kept returning to her story throughout the years refining it until she felt comfortable enough to share with colleagues.

“I am so grateful to my coworkers and friends who took time out of their busy lives to read this and give me their honest feedback,” she said. “It really meant so much to me.”

Dickhut says “Still Water” is a story of loss and grief; but is also a story of hope, the kind that is rooted in friendship, family and forgiveness.

Another key element of the book deals with the romantic side of adolescence and the protagonist having feelings for one of his friend’s girlfriends.

“I do think young adults will really enjoy the story,” Dickhut said. “I hope they see themselves in some of the characters.  I really want this book to be a teachable moment for some of them and I want them to know that their teachers do care about what is going on in their lives.”

There were a couple more hoops to jump through before she could publish her book. In “Still Water” two poems are referenced, “The Peace of Wild Things” by Wendell Berry and Robert Frost’s “Going for Water.”

There is also a passage from the book “A River Runs Through It and Other Stories” by Norman Maclean. “I had to get permission to use Maclean’s and Berry’s works, and I was so thankful to the estate and the publishing company to allow me to use them since they meant a great deal to me and to the story. The Maclean estate sent along a nice compliment and said they found the story compelling and wished me the best of luck.”

She also designed the cover in Canva. With her book getting ready to launch on Amazon on Nov. 8, Dickhut said she can barely contain her excitement.

“I won’t lie, I am nervous, but it just feels awesome,” she said. “I have a real sense of accomplishment that I finished the book and people are going to get to read it. It would be really great if I saw students here carrying it around since they inspired it.”

To learn more about the book and Beth Dickhut, you can follow her on Instagram @elizabeth_d_writes.

“Still Water” will be available in paperback and Kindle formats.

MEDINA – A Medina student has been charged with making a terrorist threat for allegedly making a threat on social media.

Medina police interviewed witnesses and collected evidence and determined there is no threat to school staff, students of community members, Medina Police Chief Todd Draper and district superintendent Dr. Mark Kruzynski stated in a press release.

The student has been charged with a felony. The police and school district were made aware of the threat on October. 18, and the student was charged on Monday. The name isn’t being released due to the age of the person.

The police department and school district urge community members to report any threats so they can be investigated.

“The Medina Police Department and Medina Central School District recognize and take very seriously any mention of violence or threats made against our school district or community,” Draper and Kruzynski stated in the press release.

Photo by Ginny Kropf: Bill Dunn and Kathie McMoil are longtime members of the Grove United Methodist Church, where they work together on fundraising dinners for the church. Dunn is the chief cook in the kitchen, while McMoil oversees the dining room. They will be heading up the church’s first turkey dinner since before Covid on Oct. 26.

MEDINA – Turkey dinners were a major fundraiser for the former Medina United Methodist Church, now the Grove United Methodist Church, until Covid hit in March 2022. And every meal for several decades always found Bill Dunn in the kitchen and Kathie McMoil taking care of business in the dining room as events coordinator.

The church is resuming its turkey dinner on Oct. 26, and Dunn and McMoil are already busy making plans.

Dunn got interested in cooking while in college in Kentucky and he worked at several restaurants there, including one at Churchill Downs, to pay his way through college.

When he returned to Medina intending to teach, he found he needed several more credits, and not wanting to go back to college, he went to work at Kodak. That lasted about a year and a half and he decided it wasn’t for him.

“I was in the dark room and I never knew if it was day or night,” Dunn said. “I liked to cook got a job at a restaurant in Clarence, and I also worked at the Basket Factory in Middleport.”

Then his parents told him there was an opening at the Apple Grove Inn, and he applied. He would work as an assistant chef for four owners of the Apple Grove Inn, including Walt Hilger.

When he started attending the Methodist Church, he stepped right in to cook for their dinners, which are major fundraisers for the church. Proceeds of this year’s dinner will help to pay off their debt, particularly the mortgage on the church, McMoil said.

The church had drive-through pulled pork and brisket dinners during the summer, but the turkey dinner will be the first to include sit-down dining since before Covid. The date is five years to the day since the last one. A spaghetti dinner is in the works for November.

Dunn and McMoil are thankful for the support they get from church members and the community. The congregation donated half the bread for the turkey dressing, while another 30 loaves of bread and 27 dozen dinner rolls was donated by Tim Oswald and Son, a neighbor who works for a bread distributing company.

The turkey dinner will be available for takeout from 3:30 to 7 p.m., while dine-in will be from 4 to 7 p.m. Tickets are $15 for adults and $10 for children under 12. They can be purchased at the church office from 8 a.m. to noon Tuesday through Thursday or by calling (585) 798-2142.

Photo and information form Medina Mustang Boosters

VICTOR – The Medina Mustang Marching Band competed on Saturday for the fifth time this season in Victor, where 13 bands performed in 6 classifications.

In SS1, East Irondequoit earned 1st place with a score of 86.35 and Medina in 2nd place at 81.60. Medina’s next competition is Oct.19 at Orchard Park and the championships are Oct. 27.

Photos by Tom Rivers

KNOWLESVILLE – Shea Hill of Albion and her granddaughter Lily, 4, work on a scarecrow today at the Orleans County 4-H Fairgrounds. They named their scarecrow “Sally.”

The scarecrow festival is an annual event put on the Medina Lion’s Club. The festival started at 10 a.m. and by noon about 170 scarecrows were made. The club expect to top 200 by the 3 p.m. end of the festival.

People paid $12 to make a scarecrow which included clothes, straw, and face on a pillowcase decorated by Medina art students.

Matt Kreutz, a member of the Medina Lions Club, served as one of the “surgeons” and tied the scarecrow together. Stephanie Corke of Barre made the scarecrow named “Wall-Eye” with her daughter, Lily.

Students in Jen Scott’s art classes at Medina High School painted many creative faces on hundreds of “scarecrow heads.”

Kim McAdoo of Medina and her son Mason Rodden, 5, worked together to make their scarecrow. McAdoo said she is getting her Halloween decorations ready and the scarecrow will help them celebrate the spooky holiday.

There was also a painting station set up by the Master Gardeners. From left include brothers Mason and Carson Bale of Medina, and their friends Evan and Cooper Kyle of Medina.

Many of the pumpkins were donated by Panek Farms.

The kids were able to paint on the pumpkins using acrylic paint pens.

Toni Bradshaw entered these pumpkins – Freddy Krueger at left and E.T. at right – in a pumpkin-carving contest. She won first place with E.T.

Richard Gudgel of Hilton did a pumpkin-carving demonstration as part of the day’s events.

Gavin Mosher, 11, of Holley won first place for best decorated pumpkins. He painted these pumpkins to look like doughnuts.

Anne Moyer of Lyndonville carved a pumpkin to look like a house, and decorated pumpkins to look like the Big Bad Wolf and the Three Little Pigs. She is shown with her daughters, Josie and Addison. They received second place for best carved pumpkin in a contest run by the Master Gardeners.

The Three Little Pigs are shown inside the pumpkin house created by Anne Moyer and her daughters.

Medina native Adam Wakefield will debut his first book at 1 p.m. Oct. 19 at Author’s Note, 519 Main St.

MEDINA – A Medina native with a career in marketing is testing the waters as a first-time novelist.

Adam Wakefield grew up in Medina, a son of Mike Wakefield and Jackie Lundgard and grandson of the late Donald “Doc” and Janet Wakefield. He graduated from Medina High School in 2001, plays drums and considers himself a local history buff.

He has always been a horror enthusiast and admirer, and always wanted to write books.

Encouraged by his wife Megg, Wakefield wrote his first book, The Usher, which he will debut and sign copies at 1 p.m. Oct. 19 at Author’s Note, Medina’s independent book store.

The Usher is a cosmic horror set in nostalgic small-town America. While carding for his grandparents, Wakefield said he was inspired by stories his grandma told him about the theater in Medina.

“There has never been a better time than now to write a horror book,” Wakefield said. “There is a big appetite for it now. People like to be scared.”

He took seven years to write his first book, often getting up at 5 a.m. to write before going to work. His second book is in the works and on schedule to be completed in seven months total.

 “The next book is going to be very different,” he said.

The Usher appears at first to reminisce about an affectionate view of the Americana of yesteryear, but soon introduces a supernatural and thrilling twist. The novel follows the main character John Bradford, a lost soul at the end of his rope struggling to find his place in the world. Amidst his difficulties, a chance encounter with an impossible visitor from the past changes everything and sets John on a journey to save everyone dear to him.

“Inspired by Wakefield’s upbringing in Western New York and his personal experiences, this love letter to a bygone era blends cosmic horror with nightmarish sense of paranoid psychedelia and existentialism,” said Author’s Note owner and best-selling author Julie Berry. “A haunting tale of small-town America addiction and redemption, Wakefield’s debut is a twisting, dreamlike quest to set the wrong things right.”

The Usher is perfect for lovers of horror, fans of comebacks against insurmountable odds and Western New York locals who want to see their home brought to life on the page, Berry added.

The Saturday afternoon event at Author’s Note is free and open the public. Pre-ordering copies is recommended. For those unable to attend, signed books can be ordered at www.authorsnote.com.