MEDINA – The Medina Senior Center welcomed a full house to its annual Christmas luncheon on Monday. As has been customary for more than 20 years, the luncheon was followed by a visit from a portion of Medina High School’s A’Cappella Choir.

Choir director Rachel Trillizio explained the Select Choir is made up of students in 10th to 12th grade, who excel in voice and have to audition to be chosen for the choir.

“I love, love, love how I get to spend my time with these kiddos,” Trillizio said.

She also said it was evident the students also were having a good time.

She reminded the audience of the A’Cappella’s annual Christmas Concert at 7 p.m. Dec. 17 at St. Mary’s Church, during which they will perform 15 different pieces. They will also present a concert at school on Dec. 22, to which the public is invited.

Monday was also the Senior Center’s monthly meeting, which included raffles of money, gifts and poinsettias.

Center director Kelly Shaw reminded the seniors of the large basket raffle , starting at 9 a.m. Saturday. The public is invited to support this event, which is one of the Center’s vital fundraisers.

Shaw also announced membership has risen to 300. She encourages any senior to join for only $10 a year. Benefits include exercise classes on Wednesday, cards three days a week and free day-old baked goods from Tops almost daily.

The Medina Senior Center had a full house Monday for their Christmas lunch and entertainment by the Select Choir, part of Medina High School’s A’Cappella choir.

MEDINA – The Grinch who stole Christmas captured kids’ hearts when they came to visit him Sunday at Bent’s Opera House.

For the first time, Bent’s hosted brunch with the Grinch, complete with the storybook character and green eggs and ham.

Faye Conley, events coordinator for Bent’s Opera House, said the idea to host the Grinch was a combined brainstorm of the staff.

“Everybody does breakfast with Santa, and we wanted to do something different,” Conley said.

The opera house was filled with tables covered in green cloths and colorful holiday decorations. The stage was ornate with two decorated Christmas trees and a red chair for the Grinch, where he sat and threw candy canes at the children.

The breakfast brunch included mini muffins with green frosting, pancakes, fruit, green eggs and ham, apple pudding casserole, bacon and sausage and more.

Viggo Lubahn, 7, from Erie, Pa., loves the Grinch and when his family saw the breakfast advertised, his grandma Terri Lubahn said she, her husband John and Viggo’s uncle Nik had to bring him. She grew up in Lyndonville and has family there, so she was very familiar with the Medina area. They also came last week for the Parade of Lights and said it was spectacular.

“You must be very proud of your town,” she said.

The Grinch slinks across the stage at Bent’s Opera House while entertaining children at a breakfast brunch Sunday morning.

Mazie Phillips, 5, is also crazy about the Grinch. Her grandma Debbie Fuller, wearing a Grinch shirt, said they have an animated Grinch at home, and Mazie gives it a big hug every day.

“When I saw the breakfast advertised, it was all over it to make sure I got tickets,” she said.

Mazie was more interested in teasing the Grinch than in eating. She was delighted when the Grinch came down into the crowd and interacted with the children.

All the children who came to breakfast were entered in a drawing to win a giant stuffed Grinch.

It’s a sure bet they will have the Grinch back again, Conley said.

The next big event for the Opera House will be a New Year’s Eve celebration with a buffet and live band.

MEDINA – Two agencies which assist families at Christmas got a big boost for their holiday programs Friday morning with the donation of toys at Canalside Tattoo in Medina.

Community Action of Orleans Genesee and MAAC’s Red Barrel program picked up the toys which were collected by Canalside Tattoo during the Parade of Lights on Nov. 25.

Canalside has been collecting the toys since 2017. Andrew Szatkowski of Medina approached Canalside owner Shawn Ramsey with the idea, after the Corporate Toy Challenge in Medina was discontinued.

“Andrew and I both grew up realizing the need in the community,” Ramsey said. “I’m in a position now to be able to help and I wanted to affect a change. Being conveniently located on Main Street and Park Avenue, we decided to take advantage of the thousands of people in town for the annual Christmas celebration.”

Ramsey advertised for people to drop off new toys at his store, and the donations poured in.

Ramsey stressed that all toys collected stay to help children locally.

“That was Andy’s directive,” Ramsey said.

Each year the toys are divided between Community Action and MAAC.

On hand with their staff to collect the toys were Katrina Chaffee, director of community services and reporting for Community Action, and Sherri Tuohey, head of MAAC’s Red Barrel Program, with assistance from Jim Sipple.

Chaffee said Community Action already has 110 families signed up for Christmas assistance. Sixty of those families have children.

“And that’s just in the Albion area,” she said. “We depend heavily on these donations. Otherwise, we would have to turn to the community to adopt families.”

Jeanette Worsley, case manager at Community Action, said volunteers from Baxter are coming in this year to help them pack Christmas boxes.

Tuohey was likewise very appreciative of the donations.

“We have such a great need this year in the Medina community,” she said. “Any kind of help is much needed and appreciated. It is so wonderful what Andy started and Shawn is continuing here.”

Press Release, Medina Lindy

MEDINA – Medina Lindy in the Village will hold its second annual “Cool Yule” themed Holiday Lindy Hop swing dance on Thursday, December 14th from 6:30 to 10:00 p.m. at Bent’s Opera House.

DJ Tommy Sprinkles from Swing Buffalo will serve up holiday jazz hits of yore, including classics by Ella Fitzgerald and Louis Armstrong, for area dancers in Bent’s historic opera house, now gorgeously decorated for the season.

Unlike previous monthly dances, December’s dance falls on the second Thursday of December. In the past, dances have been held on the third Thursday of each month. Going forward, dances will fall on the second Thursday of the month unless otherwise noted.

The “Cool Yule” dance caps off Medina Lindy in the Village’s second year of community-centered social dances at Bent’s Opera House. A free beginner lesson at 6:30 will be included as part of the evening’s festivities, with the dance itself immediately following at 7:30.  Tickets for the dance are $10 for adults, $5 for students, and $30 for families, all of which include the free lesson.

All dance levels including beginner and spectator are welcome. Holiday attire is optional but encouraged. The “Cool Yule” holiday dance event will feature an all-blue decoration theme for a spectacular visual backdrop to an evening of swing jazz holiday fun.

“Cool Yule” celebrates both the season and the ways in which 2023 was an eventful year for Medina Lindy in the Village. This December dance will be the group’s twelfth monthly dance of the year. Medina Lindy dances were featured on WHAM and WKBW ABC News stations.

They held a successful “Swing Pink” fundraiser dance for breast cancer research, hosted a huge live band event featuring Gordon Webster’s Jazz Septet, held a Lindy Exchange featuring dancers from all across the region, and have continued to hold free weekly Lindy Hop lessons throughout the year. Medina Lindy’s founder, Medina resident Phil Berry, is now in active development on a feature film involving Lindy Hop dancing to be filmed this summer in both Sweden and in Western New York and will host an information session about the project in January.

For more information about Medina Lindy in the Village, or upcoming dances and lessons, visit www.MedinaLindy.com, or www.facebook.com/groups/medinalindy, or email info@MedinaLindy.com.

MEDINA – Saturday’s 15th annual Parade of Lights is in the history books – the largest ever, with 71 entries, including 51 lighted floats, four marching bands and police and fire vehicles.

The parade is the highlight of Medina’s Olde Tyme Christmas celebration, which brought throngs of people into town to shop, ride the Polar Express at Medina Railroad Museum and watch the spectacular parade.

Medina resident Todd Bensley, selected as this year’s grand marshal for the Parade of Lights, welcomed the crowd before lighting the Christmas tree in Rotary Park.

By 4 p.m., restaurants were becoming packed with people who arrived early to get a parking space and then came in to eat while waiting for the start of the parade.

Evening festivities began with welcome remarks by Marguerite Sherman, deputy mayor, parade co-chair Jim Hancock and parade grand marshal Todd Bensley.

Hancock said Medina’s parade has become the largest Parade of Lights in the state.

Bensley said people of Medina always pull together.

“My successes are your successes,” he said.

Bensley then performed the ceremonial lighting of the giant Christmas tree in Rotary Park, before heading to Park Avenue to lead the parade down Main Street.

Handling the announcer’s duties for at least the 12th year was Assemblyman Stave Hawley.

Looking out over the crowd which filled Main Street, Hawley said, “This is Americana. This is Main Street America, where the stories of yesterday are now the stories of tomorrow.”

Parade entries included a number of first-timers, such as Coffee Pot Café, North Star Cruises, Logan’s Landscaping, Medina Sports Boosters and Terry’s Corners Volunteer Fire Company in Gasport.

The four marching bands included the Medina Mustang Marching Band, Mark Time Marchers, Pembroke High School Marching Band and Prime Time Brass, who entertained in Rotary Park prior to lighting of the Christmas tree.

Fire companies, in addition to Terry’s Corners, were Albion, Medina, Shelby, Ridgeway, Oakfield, Hartland and East Shelby, which observed its 70th anniversary this year.

Participating FFAs came from Medina, Albion and Roy-Hart.

“These local kids are the heartbeat of our community,” Hawley announced.

The North Wing at Medina Memorial Hospital entered a patient van with several residents from the unit riding in back.

Several floats paid tribute to the Buffalo Bills, including Blissetts, whose theme was “Bills-etts,” with a bride in her wedding dress standing at the end of a football field.

Santa and Mrs. Claus, riding in their sleigh, arrived in the final float built by Takeform.

Crowds quickly thinned out in Rotary Park after the giant Christmas tree was lit, to seek out their spot to watch the more than hour-long Parade of Lights. Santa later took up residence to greet children in the North Pole house.