Medina

Hamlin man shares passion for CCC boys who built State Park

By Ginny Kropf, correspondent Posted 22 May 2024 at 8:05 am

Ed Evans has now given 239 presentations about Hamlin Beach State Park, POW Camp

Photos by Tom Rivers: Ed Evans is shown last August at one of the shelters made of Medina Sandstone at Hamlin Beach State Park. The park was indicted into the Medina Sandstone Hall of Fame in 2023.

Dave Miller describes a kiosk on Medina sandstone which will be placed in the Hall of Fame for visitors to use.

MEDINA – Ed Evans, a retired teacher from Hamlin, has become a passionate speaker about Medina Sandstone and he gave a stirring address last week to the Medina Sandstone Society during its annual meeting at the Comfort Inn.

Evans, 82, has now given 239 presentations about Hamlin Beach State Park, how its many Medina Sandstone buildings were built by the Civilian Conservation Corps which was established there in 1935. The park’s buildings, headwalls, culverts, drinking fountains and fireplaces are made of Medina Sandstone.

Evans intended to retire from given the presentation. But he made an exception last week for the Sandstone Society. The group last October honored him with an inaugural “Heritage Award” for his 32 years of work in uncovering the sandstone legacy at Hamlin Beach.

Evans’ interest piqued about the park after he became the liaison to Hamlin historian Mary Smith in 1985. At that time she was planning a reunion for 40 CCC guys who were still alive. Evans taped the event. He spent every year after that trying to be allowed to get on CCC site, but the park fought him all the way, he said. Finally, a new park manager was interested in the site and the clearing began.

Guest speaker at the Medina Sandstone Society’s annual meeting Wednesday night was Ed Evans of Hamlin, who talked about the Civilian Conservation Corps which existed at Hamlin Beach State Park in the late 1930s and early 1940s. Much Medina Sandstone was used throughout the park. Evans was honored with a “Medina Sandstone Heritage Award” last October by the Medina Sandstone Society for his efforts to chronicle the history of Hamlin Beach.

“Ed remains proud of the work the CCC accomplished – about 80 years after they did the work,” said Dave Miller, a board member and former president of the Sandstone Society. “Starting in 2008, Evans and his wife Sue and friends began clearing away decades of thick underbrush and fallen trees on the eight-acre site which was used as a POW camp after the CCC closed. Over the next 10 years, they carefully mapped the camp buildings and pieced together much of the camp’s history.”

Photo by Dave Miller: Ed Evans marvels at the accomplishments of the CCC crews who built an everlasting state park in Hamlin. He gave a 40-minute presentation to the Medina Sandstone Society. He said he could talk for hours about the CCC workers and the POW camp in Hamlin.

The CCC camp constructed at the park in 1935 was part of a program by President Roosevelt to provide poverty relief from the Great Depression. Evans said the Hamlin CCC camp was the second largest in Western New York, down to the Pennsylvania line. He said there were more than 4,500 CCC camps in the United States and its territories. If there remain four sites in each state as well preserved as Hamlin’s site, Hamlin’s camp would be rated one in 200 of the most unique CCC camp sites in the country, Evans said.

He added Hamlin’s camp was also one of only 377 WWII prisoner of war branch camp sites in the United States. Most of them are now only marks on maps or roadside historical markers. Very few have spawned museums or a reconstructed building, Evans said. If each of the 46 states that had POW branch camp sites still had one site that had not been contaminated by urban sprawl, that would make Hamlin’s site rank one in 46. But only a few of those were also former CCC camps, which would place Hamlin uniquely in the top 10 historical sites of its kind in the country.

Young men who worked at the CCC camp were paid $30 a month. Many were not yet 18 and got to keep $5, while $25 went to their families, Evans said. The young men were fed, clothed and provided with educational and recreational opportunities. The camp was closed when the war was over.

Evans said when the CCC program was discontinued in 1941, most of those more than 4,000 camps were completely dismantled.

“Ours survived,” Evans said.

Early in 1944, the camp was modified to accommodate German prisoners of war. An eight-foot high barbed wire fence was erected, guard towers were put in place and the enclosed area was lighted. CCC cots were replaced with bunk beds so 400 prisoners could be housed.

The first German POWs arrived June 30, 1944 and stayed until the camp closed Jan. 11, 1946.

Unlike most other similar historical sites, Evans said the footprint of this camp and buried artifacts remained intact, untouched by post-war construction projects. Dense vegetation protected the site for 65 years, until volunteers began slowly turning it into a history trail.

In 2014, the history trail at the former CCC POW camp was opened.

Evans shared a slide show of photos of CCC workers he has accumulated and pictures of POWs. Most of them were from Mary Smith’s collection, which she left him when she died.

Photo by Tom Rivers: Ed Evans gives a tour of Hamlin Beach State park last August and notes some of the fine workmanship in one of the shelters. Evans is hoping to train his successor to give tours of the park and detail the history of the CCC.

He also located 90+ year-old Hazel Lake who has visited and walked around the entire Hamlin CCC site on three different occasions, clutching a 1937 photo of her late husband George posing in from of a CCC barracks. On each visit, she experienced a little more of what George must have felt when he lived in that camp. This was important to her because every weekend George walked from Hamlin to Medina and back to visit her, his 17-year-old sweetheart. He wore out a pair of shoes in the process and more than once got assigned extra KP for getting back to camp after Sunday night curfew.

Evans talked about Medina Sandstone that was used to build all areas of the park. A huge pile of sandstone was found while cleaning up the area for the history trail. He said every scrap of sandstone was used for something. Nothing was wasted.

“Letchworth, which also had a CCC camp and sandstone buildings, and Hamlin don’t realize what they have,” Evans said. “The history of Medina Sandstone should be made into a documentary which would run for two or three days.”

The Medina Sandstone Society last year inducted Hamlin Beach Satte park into the Medina Sandstone Hall of Fame.

Dave Miller, who serves on the Hall of Fame Committee, said Sandstone Society created a new Heritage Award last year to recognize a community act or individual who contributed to our understanding of local history and preserving it. Evans was the first recipient. (Jennifer Wells-Dickerson also was honored with the award. She has documented the efforts of her great-grandfather, Pasquale DiLaura, who was a stone cutter, business owner and promoter of Medina Sandstone. He operated a quarry in Clarendon and the stone from that site was used for Hamlin Beach and the Lake Ontario State Parkway bridges and culverts.)

Photo by Ginny Kropf: Dave Miller describes a kiosk on Medina Sandstone which will be placed in the Hall of Fame for visitors to use.

Sandstone Society vice president Matt Holland conducted the annual business meeting, and introduced two new members to the board. Jesse Cudzilo serves as director of the YMCA in Medina. Michael Lepkyj is a technology teacher in the Medina school district.

Holland asked for reports from the various committees within the Sandstone Society.

Peggy Schreck reported she had received a letter from a company in Buffalo hired by the Erie Canalway Heritage Fund, who is organizing the 2025 World Canals Conference in September 2025. They are planning a day of field sessions and want Medina to be one of their sessions.

Miller announced the Hall of Fame nomination period had begun and names may be submitted online. He said he and Jim Hancock will begin visiting sites in June. Hub editor Tom Rivers will be the next chair of the Hall of Fame Committee, he said.

Miller also showed a new kiosk which will be installed in the Hall of Fame. Visitors only have to touch the screen to read about sandstone buildings in the area or watch a video. Miller hopes they will be able to place others in libraries and other public buildings.

The Sandstone Society is now on Instagram, Miller said.

Sue Holland, Kathy Blackburn and Gabrielle Barone are on the Events Committee and would welcome help from the community with special events, such as mailing newsletters and organizing the Hall of Fame luncheon at Bent’s Opera House. It is hoped volunteers would consider helping with special projects and/or joining the Sandstone Society by logging on to their website.

Holland recalled events they have done in the past, going back to 2008 to remember the late Bob Waters, a founder of the Sandstone Society who thought tours were meant to promote sandstone, not be a fundraiser.

She said they thought of ways to put information on the Medina Sandstone Society out in the public, and decided on walking tours.

“They were very successful, but we exhausted our locations,” Holland said. “So then we went to Boxwood Cemetery, which has a lot of sandstone markers and a sandstone chapel. We were fortunate to have Bill Lattin, former Orleans County historian, lead these informative tours.”

In 2018, the Sandstone Society decided to do a bus tour, and hired a small 30-passenger bus to tour Medina, Clarendon, Holley, Albion, Mount Albion Cemetery and St. Joseph’s Cemetery.

“We got brave the next year and rented a real bus,” Holland said. “We went to Buffalo and toured the Richardson complex which had recently opened. We also saw some of the Hall of Fame buildings in Buffalo. In 2023, we decided to go east, and visited Rochester and Sonnenberg Gardens. This year, we are going back to Buffalo and the Richardson complex.”

Holland said the winner of the John Ryan Scholarship will be announced by Medina High School this Friday. This year the students were asked to make brochures advertising Medina Sandstone or talk about cathedrals made of the local sandstone.

The next meeting will be at 5:30 p.m. July 17 at the Walsh Hotel.

Medina gearing up for fast-charging stations at Canal Basin

By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 21 May 2024 at 3:54 pm

MEDINA – The village expects to nail down the details to move along a project that would add four fast electric charging stations to the Canal Basin.

The village was approved in April 2023 for $245,184 in state funding for two direct-current fast charger pedestals. Each pedestal has two chargers. The project, however, totalled $317,850.

National Grid agreed to pay the costs over the state grant of about $73,000. However, the village hasn’t received those funds yet from National Grid.

The village’s consultant for the project would like Medina to get the chargers in soon. However, village officials are also concerned that medina has to front the money for the state grant and then wait to get reimbursed. Medina would have to do short-term financing at what is expected to be about $10,000 in interest while it waits to get the state money.

The Village Board sees the fast charging stations as a draw for visitors with electric vehicles. The users will have to pay to use the electric chargers, at a fee to be determined.

Mayor Marguerite Sherman said she will reach out to the Village of Sherman in Chautauqua County which recently put in chargers to see how that community handled the short-term financing and also determined its fee for using the chargers.

“We are moving forward with this,” Sherman said about the chargers.

One resident, Jim Sipple, told the board he thinks the electric chargers would be better left to private businesses. Burger King has units in Medina that aren’t fast chargers.

Medina seeks action on burnt-out stone building on Main Street

File photo: This photo from last October shows a three-story Medina sandstone structure at 613 Main St. that was badly damaged in a fire on April 7, 2023. The village wants some action at the site, either a plan to stabilize and repair the building, or perhaps have it demolished.

By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 21 May 2024 at 3:25 pm

MEDINA – Village officials have been waiting more than a year for some action on a stone building that was badly damaged in a fire on April 7, 2023.

But the building, with collapsed roof and floors, has largely been untouched in the past year, village officials said.

The three-story structure is the first building on Main Street next to the railroad tracks. Medina officials worry about how steady the building will remain. A year ago an engineer felt it was stable.

But village officials eye the site with concern after it went through a winter and a big pile of rubble remains inside the building.

The village has cited owner Jeff Fuller due the building’s ongoing disrepair. Fuller appeared in Ridgeway Town Court on Monday morning and Town Justice Joe Kujawa set a trial for July 29.

Fuller has told the village he wants to make the repairs and has a contractor lined up. But little has happened in 13 months. Fuller did not have insurance on the site.

Code Enforcement Officer Dan Gardner said it’s a difficult situation for all parties, a project requiring a big expense with no funding apparently in place.

Gabrielle Barone, vice president of business development for the Orleans Economic Development Agency, said the building looms next to the railroad tracks and a viable track is critical to five businesses in Orleans County.

“It’s in severe condition,” Barone told the Village Board. “It’s a serious public safety emergency.”

Barone acknowledged there are no easy answers for solving the problem. The village doesn’t want to step in and assume ownership and face a daunting cleanup, demolition or rehabilitation cost.

She would like to see the building stay on Main Street, but she said no one with enough resources has stepped forward in the past year.

“I don’t want to see it go away,” she said about the building. “But I don’t see a viable opportunity. I do see a lot of liability for everybody.”

Medina scales down fire hall addition to one bay

By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 21 May 2024 at 12:59 pm

Village seeks engineering proposals to design project

Photo by Tom Rivers: Medina Fire Chief Matt Jackson listens to a speaker during Monday’s Village Board meeting. Jackson said he favored a smaller addition to the fire hall to accommodate a new ladder truck that is expected in December 2025.

MEDINA – The Village Board has scaled down an addition to the fire hall to one bay so the Medina Fire Department has space for a new ladder truck that is expected to be delivered in December 2025.

The village was looking at a two-bay addition, but an engineering firm said the costs could top $6 million. That is far too expensive for the Medina, Mayor Marguerite Sherman said.

The Village Board may deem a one bay addition is cost prohibitive, too. It doesn’t have a precise estimate on the cost.

The board voted to seek proposals from engineering firms on a design of the project and estimated cost.

The board discussed having Barton & Loguidice do a feasibility study for three options: one bay and two bay additions, and also an option of digging down in the floors and driveway to make more space for the ladder truck. B & L said it would look at the feasibility of all three for $26,000, which is money not budgeted by the board.

The village officials decided to drop the feasibility of the three options, and instead go to an engineering report for the one-bay addition. The board felt the two-bay addition is well beyond the village’s means right now.

The option of digging into the concrete floors, which are already shifting and in disrepair, could have costly unintended consequences, the board and Fire Chief Matt Jackson said.

He suggested doing the one-bay addition as a bare bones option to house the new truck. The new truck is too big by about 2 feet in height to fit in the fire hall.

“I feel a single bay is the most cost effective and the safest,” Jackson told the board.

Board members met with B & L staff to tour the fire station on April 29, and trustees wondered if it was possible to change the order for the ladder truck to a smaller truck that would fit the existing building.

Jackson checked with the manufacturer, and other fire truck makers, and the special order smaller ladder trucks aren’t an option. Board members also wondered about the possibility of canceling the order for the $1.7 million truck. Jackson said there would be a penalty at $172,000 or 10 percent of the truck’s cost and would still leave Medina in need of replacing a ladder truck that is 29 years old and often not reliable.

To then reorder the truck again in the near future would result in a bigger bill, perhaps over $2 million.

“We need a ladder truck no matter what,” Jackson said. “It’s a danger to us and the community.”

Mayor Sherman said she would reach out to state and federal officials for funding assistance with the truck and fire hall addition, and try again to see if the County Legislature would loosen up any of the local sales tax revenue. The county has kept the village and towns frozen at the same level since 2001.

Mike Maak, a mayoral candidate in March and a retired Medina firefighter, urged the board to look long-term and not put too much money in the current fire station, which was built around 1930 originally for the DPW. The floors weren’t intended to hold such heavy fire trucks, Maak said.

“This is not a new problem and it’s not going away,” Maak said.

He believes the village should look to build a modern public safety building for the fire and police departments, a facility that could serve the community for the next hundred years. Putting it outside the historic district also would give the village more flexibility in the design, Maak said.

But Sherman said the village doesn’t have the money for a big new building.

“We have to shake the trees for money,” she said. “There has to be someone who can help us achieve.”

‘Medina Oscars’ celebrate outstanding community leaders, organizations

Photo from Medina Central School: The Medina Oscars was a chance to dress up and celebrate people and organizations making a big difference in the school and community.

Posted 21 May 2024 at 10:50 am

Press Release, Medina Central School

MEDINA – Medina Central School District on May 16 hosted the first Medina Community Oscars at the historic Bent’s Opera House with 170 people in attendance.

The grand ballroom was simply fashioned with golden gunmetal banquet chairs, flowers that draped the apron of the stage adorned with two life-size Oscar statues. As the elevator opened a red carpet ran through the center of the venue, allowing all to have their moment on the “Red Carpet.”

The sold-out event quickly filled. Daniel Doctor, Community Partnership Director for the Medina Central School District, took the stage to welcome attendees and to congratulate all nominees. He then graciously turned the microphone to Julie Webber, Curriculum Director of Instruction for the Medina Central School District who was the Mistress of Ceremony for the remainder of the evening.

The purpose behind the event came to fruition. All individuals, businesses or organizations that either got nominated or won were most deserving. To enhance the excitement of the “opening of the envelope” to unveil the winners, the audience found the musical performances more entertaining.

Ava Blount, a poised and graceful sophomore at Medina and performer at West Side Academy of Performing Arts and Dance, got to repeat her performance of “I Dreamed a Dream” from the 1980 musical Les Misérables.

Joseph Mangiola, an alumnus of Medina and worship leader at Calvary Tabernacle, took command of the stage focused on low tones and soaring vocals. He sang, “Music of the Night” from Phantom of the Opera.

Holly Lederhouse, a third alumnus of Medina and performer with BGB Studio, provided the audience with her powerful soprano vocals singing “Never Enough” from the film The Greatest Showman.

And the final performer Brandon Noreck, song writer, R&B, Pop and Soul recording artist and alum of Medina Central School District, showed the audience regardless of what happens, “The show must go on.” He sang “Maria” acapella, due to internet failure. The song is from the 1957 Broadway musical West Side Story, sung by the lead character Tony which he portrayed for the Medina Musical Theatre Department when it was under the direction of Daniel Doctor. Noreck did not miss a beat nor note as he effortlessly floated his high tenor voice.

Guest speakers in attendance included Mrs. Kathy Valley, a retired teacher from Medina who addressed the audience on the importance of volunteering and charging them to, “Think about it first, then do.” Mrs. Noori Bibi, a volunteer from Project Life, also gave a message, informing the audience of the work that is done in the Medina community to support children who are in need of receiving an education, medical support and restoration to lost childhood of victims of war and natural disasters. Funds raised at this event will go to Project Life to continue the support for Ahmed, a 9-year-old Medina student with several health challenges.

This Medina Community OSCARS was a win! And the winner goes to…

Spotlight Award: Viviana Neroni
Community Impact: Shawn Ramsey, owner of Canalside Tattoo
Outstanding Service to Veterans Award: Jennifer Thom
Boy Scout/Girl Scout Troop Award: Mindy Cogovan of Troop 82096
Arts and Culture Award: Medina Central School District
Community Collaboration: Todd Eick
Outstanding Student Award (K-2) – Hollis Green and Landyn Dorgan
Outstanding Student Award (grades 3-6) – Lauren Allis
Outstanding Student Award (grade 7-12) – Roosevelt Mitchell
Volunteer of the Year: Melissa Valley
Event of the Year: Parade of Lights, chairman Jim Hancock
Inspirational Educator Award: Krista Duhow, Medina Jr./Sr. High
Community Service Award: Medina Rotary Club
Organization of the Year (under 10 employees) – Case-Nic Cookies, Mary Lou Tuohey owner
Organization of the Year (more than 10 employees) – Medina Central School District
Community Leadership: Daniel Doctor
Unsung Hero Award: Nicole Tuohey
Lifetime Achievement Award: Roger Hungerford
Thank You: Kathy Valley

New interpretive panels added at State Street Park for WWI monument, Burroughs family

Photo courtesy of Chris Busch: Interpretive panel No. 12 was recently installed at the World War I monument in State Street Park, describing the British field gun situated there.

By Ginny Kropf, correspondent Posted 20 May 2024 at 7:59 am

MEDINA – Medina’s trail of interpretive panels just became a little larger with the addition of two new panels in State Street Park.

Installing interpretive panels throughout Medina’s downtown historic district was a project conceived more than 10 years ago by the Orleans Renaissance Group and The Print Shop owner Ken Daluisio, said Chris Busch, ORG’s president.

Medina was seeing a growing number of tourists and it was felt something was needed to provide visitors with a more meaningful experience, according to Busch. The interpretive signs would tell the story of historic people, events and architecture – interpreting local history and giving visitors a further reason to explore downtown and the village, Busch said.

The 2013 project was spearheaded by the ORG and Print Shop, with backing from the former Medina Business Association, now Medina Area Partnership. Several sponsors paid for the sign bases and The Print Shop donated the panels. The panels themselves were researched and designed by Busch.

Since then, visitors from around Western New York and the country have been observed lingering over the 11 sign panels, immersing themselves in the rich history of Medina’s people, events and architecture, Busch said.

The panels, now 10 years old, were beginning to show signs of wear and needed to be replaced. Again, ORG, working with Daluisio and The Print Shop tackled the job, ensuring the story of Medina’s culture and history would continue to be preserved and told. ORG has underwritten the cost of replacing the panels with fabrication being done by The Print Shop and installation by the Medina Department of Public Works.

“The new panels will be exactly as the originals, with a few minor corrections,” Busch said. “It’s really gratifying to have seen so many visitors enjoy them over these past 10 years. The panels tell the incredible story of a 19th century boom town on the Erie Canal – and that is a story worth telling. People who visit Medina and experience that remarkable story will come away from their visit knowing this place truly matters.”

This interpretive panel just installed in State Street Park, tells the story of Silas Burroughs Jr. and his contributions to Medina and Orleans County.

In addition to the 11 original panels on the trail, Panel No. 12 recently installed in State Street Park features the World War I monument and field gun. Panel No. 13 describing the Burroughs family and estate which once existed on the site, will be installed soon.

“These two new panels tell the story of the British field gun and World War I memorial, along with the remarkable story of the Burroughs family, whose mansion once stood in what is now State Street Park,” Busch said. “The story of the Burroughs family’s contribution to the history of our state, nation and the world is one of Medina’s little known, but greatest tales.”

Each year, the panels are removed for the winter and reinstalled in the spring by the DPW, Busch explained.

“To save on wear, tear and damage throughout the winter months, the signs are removed and stored by the DPW until they are reinstalled in the spring,” Busch said. “The guys take great care of the signs and we’re extremely grateful for it. Their efforts have added years to the life of these signs.”

Over the past 10 years, the signs have generated tremendous community pride and have boosted awareness of Medina’s historic, architectural and cultural resources – all of major significance, Busch said.

The panels, now numbering 13, feature a wide scope of the village’s history – its sandstone; Erie Canal and railroad prowess; its notable characters, entrepreneurs and community leaders; the impact of immigrants who worked on the canal, in the foundries and in the quarries; and now the World War I monument/British field gun and the Burroughs family story.

“This is one of the best projects I have ever been associated with,” Daluisio said. “It’s been an absolute success and I think people have been quite pleased, not only with how they look, but with the incredible stories they tell. They illustrate how Medina matters in both our regional and national history. It’s a point of community pride.”

Sponsors of the original 2013-14 project include the former Medina Business Association, Gabrielle and Andina Barone, Andrew W. Meier, ORG, David and Gail Miller, Hartway Motors, Rita Zambito/Zambito Realty, Medina Sandstone Trust, the late Marcia Tuohey, Christopher and Cynthia Busch and the Medina Fire Department Local 2161.

The new World War I monument panel was sponsored by Butts-Clark American Legion Post No. 204, under commander Jim Wells. The Burroughs family panel was sponsored by the Medina Sandstone Society, Christopher and Cynthia Busch and the Hon. James P. Punch.

Text and photos for the Burroughs panel were contributed in part by British author Julia Sheppard, who has authored a book on Burroughs.

Information Busch shared from lutterworth.com states, “Julia Sheppard graduated in history from the University of Newcastle upon Tyne and has spent her career working with military and medical archives. She was recently chair of the British Records Association, and as head of the research and special collections at the Welcome Library, she was instrumental in the acquisition of Burrough’s papers. He has fascinated her ever since.

“I am personally grateful to Julia, not only for her contributions to this project, but for her encouragement and support,” Busch said. “Her assistance was invaluable. She was a true champion of this project and of the Burroughs story.”

More information on ORG can be found at medinaalive.com.

The Burroughs family home is pictured on one of the latest interpretive panels to be installed in State Street Park, site of the former Burroughs estate. The mansion was considered one of the finest residences in Medina.

Food truck with smoked meats new addition to farmers’ market in Medina

Photos by Ginny Kropf: Scott Gypson recently acquired this high-tech smoker, in which he smokes brisket, pork and chicken. He learned the technique while living in Tennessee. In the background is his new food truck.

By Ginny Kropf, correspondent Posted 20 May 2024 at 7:42 am

MEDINA – When Medina’s Canal Village Farmer’s Market moves from North Main Street to its summer location on West Center Street and West Avenue and the end of the month, it will have a new business to serve customers.

Scott Gypson of Gasport will be there selling breakfast sandwiches and smoked meats.

Gypson is a native of Middleport and son of Lowell and Wendy Gypson, having grown up there and graduating from Royalton-Hartland Central School. He entered Roberts Wesleyan College to study music, and for several years, playing bass in a band was his livelihood.

He had started taking violin lessons in third grade, but switched to bass to play in Roberts Wesleyan’s band. He played music all over the country during the summer of 2008. He returned to college and was sitting in algebra class, when the thought came to him, “What am I doing here?”

Scott Gypson of Gasport stands in his food truck, which he recently started to sell his smoked meats. He will be set up at Medina’s Canal Village Farmers’ Market for most Saturdays during the summer.

He had visited Nashville and fell in love with city, and in 2009 he moved there, where he played music for 14 years. He also was on Broadway and made some recordings.

Gypson comes by his musical talent naturally. His mother was music teacher at Roy-Hart and was accompanist for all their musicals. His dad was pastor of Hartland Bible Church.

Gypson’s wife Brooke was his high school sweetheart. They were married in March 2018 after breaking up for 10 years and then reconnecting. They moved back to New York in December 2022 and now live on Earnest Road with their two children.

“When you grow up in the country, like Middleport, and then live in an urban city like Nashville, you can’t get out of there fast enough,” Gypson said.

They moved back to the Middleport area in October 2023.

Gypson became familiar with smoked meats while living in Nashville.

“I started it as a hobby after a weekend barbecue in 2014, and fell in love with it,” he said.

His first efforts were using a pellet smoker, but in 2016 he acquired an offset smoker, which burns real wood, rather than pellets.

“How peaceful it is, to get up early in the morning, tend the fire and smell the aroma of the big hunks of meat,” he said.

When he took some smoked pork shoulder into work one day, it was such a hit he knew he had something big in the works.

“That was my ‘ah ha’ moment,” Gypson said. “Here I was in Tennessee serving pulled pork sandwiches off the tailgate of a pickup truck and everyone raved about it.”

In 2018, he started taking orders. His favorite meat is brisket, but he also smokes beef short ribs, pulled pork, pork ribs and chicken wings.

He started pursuing smoking seriously as a job in 2019, doing catering and serving meat from his driveway. Then Covid hit and he had to wear a mask.

“Tending a fire wearing a mask in the intense heat was terrible, but it was fun,” Gypson said.

In 2020, he began visiting farmers’ markets.

“It was always my dream to grow a barbecue business,” he said.

His smoker is built from a propane tank and it took him a year to get it working, he said.

Gypson said Brooke, who is a wealth planner, is incredibly supportive of him.

He is also grateful for connecting with Chris Busch, president of Orleans Renaissance Group, who offered him the opportunity to set up at the Canal Village Farmers’ Market, which ORG sponsors. It turns out Chris’ wife was Gypson’s kindergarten teacher and now she is their son Hans’ pre-K teacher.

In addition to being at the farmers’ market on most Saturdays, Gypson will be at various summer festivals and once a month plans to do a collaboration pop-up at Terroira General Store on Market Street in Lockport. Last month there, he said the line was out the door for his menu of barbecued beef shortribs, French onion soup and pulled pork. On Memorial Day, he will be set up at Middleport’s parade.

With his menu of smoked meat, he offers two sides, such as macaroni salad and broccoli salad.

Anyone who wants to order smoked meats can contact Gypson at www.tnsmokehouse.com.

Author will discuss and sign Civil War book with scenes in Niagara, Orleans

By Ginny Kropf, correspondent Posted 19 May 2024 at 6:34 pm

Tim Wendel will give presentations May 28 at Author’s Note

Rebel Falls is a book of fiction based on actual facts and people in the Niagara Falls area. Tim Wendel, a Lockport native, will be in Medina for a book talk and signing on May 28.

MEDINA – A Lockport native and noted author will launch his newest book at a book signing May 28 at Author’s Note in Medina.

Tim Wendel grew up in Lockport, where his parents lived on Canal Road, and graduated in 1974 from Royalton-Hartland Central School. He has always loved to write and during high school he was correspondent for the Niagara Gazette.

Now a resident of Charlottesville, Va., Wendel is writer-in-residence at Johns Hopkins University and the author of several books, including Summer of ’68, Cancer Crossings (featuring cancer doctors at Roswell Park), High Heat and the historical novels, Castro’s Curveball and its sequel Escape from Castro’s Cuba.

Rebel Falls is fiction, set in the late summer of 1864 and based on actual, yet long-obscured events and people of the Civil War in the Niagara Falls area, including Medina, Orleans and Niagara counties, Wendel said.

He became interested in the Civil War after reading Doris Kearns Goodwin’s Team of Rivals and Carl Sandberg’s Lincoln. Wendel discovered while most of the fighting was going on in the south, espionage and spying was taking place all along the Canadian border. At the center of it were two spies, John Yates Beall and Bennet Burley, whom President Lincoln had refused to pardon for their crimes.

Their goal was to seize the USS Michigan, the only warship left on the Great Lakes, and create enough dissension that people would blame Lincoln and he would lose the election, which was to take place the day after the spies planned crime. They also planned to bomb Buffalo, Cleveland and Toledo.

Wendel said he was a history buff, yet he had never heard of Beall and Burley.

“The more research I did, the more I realized there was more going on than what history has reported,” he said.

He also learned John Wilkes Booth had been accepting money from a bank in Montreal, and a bank note was found in his pocket when he was apprehended about two weeks after assassinating President Lincoln.

Wendel’s book also hits on the role the Cataract Hotel played in the Underground Railroad in Niagara Falls.

The author said it took him three years to write the book. He said Niagara Falls is such a beautiful area, he is considering to focus it in his next book.

Author’s Note has scheduled two sessions with Wendel on May 28. One is at 6 p.m. and the other at 7 p.m. Anticipating a large turnout, Author’s Note owner Julie Berry said they are selling tickets for $5 each to reserve a seat at either presentation. The $5 will then be deducted from the cost of purchasing a book. She encourages purchasing tickets in advance at the store or online.

Attendees are asked to be in their seats 10 minutes before their scheduled session. Those not there by five minutes before will lose their seat.

Those unable to get a ticket can still come and meet Wendel and have their book signed. They are asked to arrive just before 6 or just before 7 so if anyone couldn’t make it, a seat might be available. People waiting for just the signing will be allowed in at 7:45 p.m. Berry said Wendel will only sign books purchased at Author’s Note.

Wendel will also give his presentation at 6 p.m. May 29 at Woodward Memorial Library in Le Roy.

Medina Rotary donates $500 of meat to food pantry

By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 19 May 2024 at 5:03 pm

Provided photo

MEDINA – The Medina Rotary Club donated 125 pounds of meat worth about $500 last week to the Medina Food Pantry.

Pictured form left include Rotarians: Gary Lawton, Gloria Brent, Edee Hoffmeister, Cindy Hewitt, Peter Bartula, Joel Payne, Ben McPherson and Bill Bixler.

Rotary Club members also volunteer twice a month at the food pantry which is located at St. Peter Evangelical Lutheran Church on West Avenue in Medina.

State announces $4.5 million for 8 projects in Medina

By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 17 May 2024 at 9:31 am

Transformed Canal Basin parking lot, expanded farmers’ market get largest grants in NY Forward funds

Photo by Tom Rivers: The north end of Main Street in Medina is pictured in September. A $4.5 million state grant will pay for eight projects in the downtown area, including apartments at 409-413 Main St., the light green building at left.

MEDINA – Gov. Kathy Hochul has announced this morning how the state is divvying up a $4.5 million NY Forward grant in Medina.

The money will go to eight projects, with one of them a Small Business Fund that will assist small business owners with façade improvements, window repairs and smaller projects. A redesign of the Canal Basin parking lot is the biggest project at more than $1.3 million of the grant.

“The Village of Medina is very appreciative and excited to be selected as a recipient of this year’s New York Forward grant,” Medina Mayor Marguerite Sherman said in a news release from the Governor’s office. “The transformations, upgrades, and renovations will enhance Medina‘s ability to meet its goals in recreation, business, and housing for residents, visitors and businesses. The future is bright and promising in our beautiful historic village. I wish to thank everyone who played a role in making this happen. We can’t wait to get started!”

Medina officials and a committee of community volunteers worked last year to identify projects that would be submitted to the state for a final review. Medina’s committee had more than $9 million in considerations in the downtown and canal waterfront. The state whittled the list from 22 projects to eight that are approved for funding.

The eight projects include:

• Transform Canal Basin Park into a Waterfront Gateway – $1,345,000

Renderings from Empire State Development and Governor’s Office

The parking lot along the Erie Canal will be turned into a “waterfront gateway” complete with green space, seating areas and boater/cyclist amenities.

• Expand the Canal Village Farmer’s Market – $675,000

Upgrade the Canal Village Farmer’s market campus by modernizing the existing building, constructing a pole barn for additional vendor space and beautifying the site with green space.

• Redevelop the Walsh Hotel – $560,000

Convert the upper floors of the former Walsh Hotel into studio and one-bedroom apartments.

• Upgrade the Hart House Hotel – $500,000

Upgrade the Hart House Hotel with new amenities including an enhanced outdoor courtyard space, a gourmet gastropub, a hotel guest lounge, a new front porch and an improved facade.

• Develop Arenite Brewing Company on the Canal – $500,000

Create a microbrewery with tasting room and outdoor seating overlooking the canal, complete with a rooftop solar installation.

• Rehabilitate the Upper Floor Apartments at 409-413 Main Street – $370,000

Renovate the second floor into a mix of one-bedroom and two-bedroom apartments.

• Establish a Downtown Small Project Grant Fund – $300,000

Create a pool of funding to support business and property owners with smaller-scale projects like facade improvements, window replacement and other repairs.

• Install Downtown Wayfinding Signage – $250,000

Implement a system of directional, informational, and interpretive signage to direct visitors to key locations and destinations throughout downtown.

The NY Forward program favors upper-story redevelopment in buildings for housing and additional commercial space rather than new construction. The state guidelines prioritize elevating cultural, historical qualities that enhance the feeling of small-town charm. The state also made the program focus on a tight commercial activity area with an opportunity to enhance cultural heritage.

The governor’s announcement this morning also included $10 million of projects in the Village of Perry for the Downtown Revitalization Initiative and $4.5 million in Geneseo for another NY Forward community in the Finger Lakes Region.

State Senator Robert G. Ortt said, “It’s wonderful to see New York investing in local businesses throughout our rural parts of the state. The Canalside Village of Medina has seen a recent explosion of new stores, restaurants, and other local businesses and the recently awarded $4.5 Million in NY Forward grants will ensure economic growth and revitalization efforts continue to steam ahead in Medina for years to come,” said Senator Ortt.

Assemblymember Stephen Hawley said, “I’m proud to see the Village of Medina secure these projects through the NY Forward Program. This community has long been one of Western New York’s greatest hidden gems and these projects will help bring improvements for education, transportation and overall quality of life. This is a great step in the right direction to provide our upstate community and I look forward to seeing the impact it will have on the region.”