Photos by Ginny Kropf

MEDINA – Patriotic banners are strung across Main Street this morning in observance of the Fourth of July and the country’s 250th celebration and the Fourth of July. This view is looking north from near the railroad tracks.

(Left) Village of Medina DPW employees string patriotic banners across Main Street in Medina. In the buckets are Brad Freeman and John Fike. (Right) Medina DPW employee Brad Freeman attaches the wire for a patriotic banner to an anchor on the Main Street buildings, which are the ones used for the holiday banners at Christmas.

There are eight banners, four on either side of Main Street. Jason Watts, the DPW superintendent, said it took about a half an hour to install each one, using the existing hardware on the buildings. The banners will remain up through Labor Day, he said.

The banners were requested by Medina Area Partnership and funded with a $3,000 grant from the New York State 250th Commemorative Commission, with the money from the New York State Education Department. Orleans County was approved for $15,000 from the state to help commemorate the country’s 250^th anniversary.

Other funding approved by the local 250^th committee and the Orleans County Legislature includes: Albion Strawberry Festival, $1,500; Barre Betterment Committee, $750; Lyndonville Lions Club, $3,585; Medina Area Partnership, $3,000; Town of Albion, $1,000; Town of Kendall, $740; Town of Murray, $275; Town of Yates, $500; Village of Holley, $1,700. The remaining $1,950 is to be spent at the discretion of the NY250 Committee in Orleans County.

Photos by Tom Rivers

MEDINA – Lilly Caleb and Avangelene Nash celebrate next to the “2026” that was on display outside Vets Park during graduation this evening.

The two were among 100 students who graduated from Medina.

The grads toss their caps after everyone was awarded their diploma.

Ava Blount, the class president in front, is happy after the commencement program. She is followed by Penelope Schalck, the class vice president, and Izabella Garcia, the class secretary. The Daisy Chain members are behind them in white dresses.

Tatianna Maxon is congratulated by school administrators and Board of Education members for receiving her diploma.

The Daisy Chain continued as part of commencement in a Medina tradition that goes back to 1922. Daisy Chain members – the top 16 girls and top two boys in grade point average among juniors – create two 27-foot-long chains of daisies.

The Daisy Chain members include Maya Anderson, Teagan Balaban, Madalyn Clute, Madelyn Elliott, Camden Fike, Aspyn Garley, Grace Goodrich, Samantha Heschke, River Jones, Adelynne Lacy, Sofia Lopez, Madeline Mark, Lillian Maynard, Natalia Olsen, Isabelle Perez, Carmen Stalker, Madison Watts and Arabella White.

Bellaflor Gomez-Hernandez gets ready to move her tassel to signify graduation.

Class valedictorian Bellaflor Gomez-Hernandez shared a message, “From Google Meets to Senior Seats.” She recalled how the class was disrupted by the Covid-19 pandemic during middle school, sending them home during sixth grade in March 2020.

They needed to learn through online school during the pandemic.

“It didn’t break us,” she said about the Covid pandemic. “It built a foundation of adaptability that will serve us the rest of our lives.”

Lilah Class

Gomez-Hernandez, who is headed to Fordham University to major in international studies, thanked the Medina teachers and the graduates’ families for their support.

“Teachers, thank you for holding us to high standards and seeing the potential in us when we didn’t see it in ourselves,” she said.

Lilah Class, the salutatorian, shared a message, “Our Next Step.” She said failures are to be expected in life’s journey, and graduates should learn from their mistakes and struggles.

“We have made it this far,” she said. “Everyone is capable of great things.”

The grads are stepping out in “endless possibilities,” Class said. She urged them to be support themselves with encouragement and to be their own personal cheerleader.

“Be proud of how far you’ve come and where you are going,” she said.

The graduates sit in chairs on the football field and listen to a message from Dr. Julie Webber, Medina’s Assistant Superintendent for Instruction and AVID District Director.

She presented a message, “Your Destiny Awaits.” All of the speeches were prerecorded and displayed on the scoreboard.

Dr. Webber said she was the primary school principal when the graduates were in third grade. She reflected on a comment from famed orator William Jennings Bryan, who said destiny is not so much based on chance but on choices.

She said luck is passive, while destiny is active. The graduates so far have had their daily schedules tied to school. But starting tomorrow, the structure of their lives is up to them.

“The canvas becomes entirely yours,” Dr. Webber said.

Dr. Julie Webber gives the commencement address.

In the future, not everything will go to plan, no matter their best efforts, Dr. Webber told the grads.

“Detours are not a dead end,” she said, urging them to pivot and try a different door or direction. “Don’t give up.”

Dr. Webber urged them to be life-long learners, and she congratulated them on earning their high school diplomas.

“You did the hard work,” she said. “You are the proud product of a community that believed in you.”

Kymberlyn Brady feels joy after receiving her diploma.

Casey Reeves walks onto the field in the processional with her classmates.

Brennan Woodruff gets some help arranging his cords from friend Kylee Howard, who graduated in 2025. Woodruff served as the Student Association president and also was a student representative on the Board of Education. He is headed to Geneseo State College to major in philosophy/politics/economics. He wants to be a Constitutional lawyer.

He appreciates his education at Medina.

“It’s been a great foundation for what I want to do,” he said. “All the teachers are ushing you to be your best. They are all so supportive.”

Rhoswyn Oakes is congratulated by Mollie Mark, the assistant junior-senior high school principal.

Lyla Page hams it up while getting her photo taken after getting her diploma.

Luke Duffina goes through the receiving line and receives congratulations from Medina school officials.

The grads walk off the football field while the scoreboard displays a message, praising them for earning their diplomas.

Seneca Chief makes 20-mile trek through Orleans, part of 3-week journey on the canal

Photos by Tom Rivers

The Seneca Chief heads west on the Erie Canal on Thursday. The replica of the famed boat that carried Gov. DeWitt Clinton across the newly constructed Erie Canal in 1825, is shown in Albion in a photo taken from the Presbyterian Road Canal Bridge.

The Seneca Chief travelled from Holley to Medina on Thursday. The boat carries a crew from the Buffalo Maritime Center. Each stop it also gives a ride to about a dozen people. This group, including Orleans County mascots Orly the Ox and his brother Scout, were able to ride the boat from Albion to Medina.

Because the replica has no engine, the 33-foot historic wooden tugboat C.L. Churchill is used to push and maneuver the vessel along the Erie Canal.

Volunteers at the Buffalo Maritime Center worked for four years to recreate the Seneca Chief. The 73-foot-long replica received great fanfare last year as part of the 200th anniversary celebration of the Erie Canal. It went from Buffalo to New York City and spent the winter in Waterford near Albany.

The Seneca Chief is doing a “Back to Buffalo” tour this month. It leaves Medina today for North Tonawanda, and then on Saturday will reach its destination in Buffalo.

It was raining pretty hard when the Seneca Chief passed under the Main Street lift bridge in Albion around 2:30.

Two brothers from Oakfield, Titus (right) and Jed Dart, pour water from the Erie Canal in Medina into a barrel. The Buffalo Maritime Center did a similar “Gathering of the Waters” ceremony last year on the 200^th anniversary voyage of the Seneca Chief, collecting water at each stop and then using it to water an Eastern White Pine tree in New York City.

This time the water collected along the journey will be used to water an Eastern White Pine in Buffalo.

Last year, the Maritime Center had a tree planted at each stop, including one in Medina that is at State Street Park close to the canal.

Paul Winnie watches the two brothers pour the water into the barrel. Winnie is a member of the Tonawanda Seneca Nation. He noted the Eastern White Pine symbolize peace and represent a chance to bury quarrels among people.

Brian Trzeciak, executive director of the Buffalo Maritime Center, said the journey across the canal last year and this year has been a goodwill mission, helping to bring the communities together.

“This is a tour of hope and optimism,” he said.

Debbie Padoleski, the mayor of Medina, thanked the Buffalo Maritime Center for their effort sin creating the Seneca Chief replica and for bringing it to Medina the past three years. Medina was included in the boat’s test run in 2024 before the big journey last year from Buffalo all the way to New York City.

The “Back to Buffalo” journey went from near Albany to Buffalo.

The Seneca Chief pulls up along the canal wall in Medina’s Canal Basin at the end of Thursday’s trip that started in Holley.

Provided photos – (Left) Iroquois Job Corps pre-apprentice students in the International Masonry Institute brick masonry program grind the Medina Sandstone on the wall at Boxwood Cemetery. From left are Michael Whitfield, Imani Palmer and Jayden Sharp. (Right) Iroquois Job Corps’ IMI brick masonry instructor David Gonzalez, right, shows Center director Eric Seppala the technique on how to point and finish the Medina Sandstone wall.

MEDINA – Boxwood Cemetery Commission recently partnered with the Iroquois Job Corps to do much-needed masonry work on the cemetery’s Medina Sandstone wall, preserving it well into the future and saving the Cemetery many dollars.

On June 1, students in the International Masonry Institute’s brick masonry program began work to help restore the historic Boxwood Cemetery’s sandstone wall. The Preservation League of New York state and their program partners at the New York State Council on the Arts helped fund this project, as they have recognized the significance of Boxwood Cemetery, according to information from Job Corps Operations Director John Thomas.

Jacob Hebdon, chairman of Boxwood Cemetery Commission, reached out to Iroquois Job Corps to see if the center could offer any assistance with the project. IMI Brick Instructor David Gonzalez worked with Todd Bensley of Friends of Boxwood Cemetery and village of Medina historian.

Village historian and Friends of Boxwood member Todd Bensley, center, pose with International Masonry Institute pre-apprentice students from the Iroquois Job Corps, Michael Whitfield, left, and Jayden Sharp in front of the sandstone wall they recently repointed.

The students in the Brick Pre-Apprentice Program at Job Corps donated all of their professional brick masonry labor skills to assist with the preservation project at Boxwood Cemetery. The students worked a week, grinding, pointing and re-finishing the sandstone that had been worn down over 175 years and was crumbling in some areas of the wall.

“It has been a pleasure working with Dave Gonzales and his students,” Bensley said. “The quality of their work and their enthusiasm for the project are amazing.”

Bensley said by partnering with Job Corps, the Friends of Boxwood Cemetery has been able to stretch their dollars further, which means they can accomplish more in regards to the restoration of the cemetery.

“The work Job Corps has done repointing the walls will stand for years to come,” Bensley said.

Photos by Tom Rivers: Sarah Stornelli, a resident of Ohio Street, speaks during a public hearing on Monday and said an on-street parking ban was posing hardships to residents and their guests.

MEDINA – The Village Board on Monday rescinded a decision from Nov. 24 when Medina banned on-street parking on Ohio Street between Park Avenue and West Center Street.

Residents have been vocal at recent village meetings, saying the on-street parking ban has posed hardships on the affected residents and their guests, who often have to walk a couple blocks on uneven sidewalks when driveways are full.

The board held a public hearing on Monday about allowing on-street parking again, with vehicles allowed to park on the west side of the street for 525 feet of Ohio Street between Park Avenue and West Center Street.

Sarah Stornelli lives within the 500 block of Ohio Street. She said she and her family have to keep rearranging vehicles in the driveway because they can’t park a car in the street anymore.

The on-street parking ban makes it harder and dangerous for older people with mobility issues, she said.

Matt Anelli lives on Ohio Street and has pushed for the parking ban, including back in November when it was approved by the Village Board. He said Ohio Street is narrow, especially in the winter. If people park on the street it’s hard to get out of his driveway.

Jill Chudy also asked to rescind the parking ban due to the inconvenience for residents and their guests.

Mayor Debbie Padoleski read a petition signed by about 15 people asking for the parking ban to be rescinded. That petition was submitted by Patricia Stacey, who spoke at a board meeting last month about the challenges of no on-street parking.

The Village Board was unanimous in voting to put the on-street parking back the way it was. Medina will allow on-street parking on the west side of the street on Ohio, between Park Avenue and West Center Street.

Dave Berry suggested the Village Board make Ohio Street a one-way street and allow on-street parking.

Village plans to use the site for parking

Photo by Tom Rivers

MEDINA – This photo from last Wednesday shows a donated lot that the Village of Medina DPW is working to make available for parking.

The DPW is removing concrete from the lot this week and will then cover the site with asphalt millings. Jason Watts, the DPW superintendent, told the Village Board during last evening’s board meeting that he then wants to allow those millings to settle for a year before determining what to do with the site permanently.

The village was given the 100-by-132 foot vacant lot at 115 Pearl St. It was donated by 415 West Avenue LLC, which is owned by Dr. Syed Shah, a cardiologist.

Dr. Shah initially offered the land for the Medina Fire Department but that lot isn’t a good fit for the fire department. The village instead can use it as a municipal lot.

The lot is between the Hometown Wellness Center at 119 Pearl St. and MDS Consultants at 105 Pearl St.

Photo by Isabella Zasa, Orleans County Tourism Department: Orly the Ox rides a hydro-bike on the Erie Canal in Medina on July 18, 2025.

MEDINA – The Orleans County YMCA will again be allowing people to use hydro-bikes and kayaks in the Erie Canal this summer.

The Y has offered the program for several years. People can rent a hydro-bike or kayak for free. Bent’s Opera House is covering the cost for the YMCA to have staff managing the program.

Last year 1,300 people used the equipment. The Y will have four hydro-bikes and 10 kayaks available. Two of those kayaks are tandem.

Andrew Houseman, senior program director at the Orleans County YMCA in Medina, told the Medina Village Board he expects the program to start next week, with online reservations available later this week. People soon can sign up on Event Brite and rent them for free. (Go to eventbrite.com and search for kayaks and hydro-bikes to make a reservation.)

The program will run from Thursdays to Saturdays, from noon to 9 p.m. and will continue until Aug. 17.

Most of the equipment will be kept in a trailer in the Canal Basin behind Captain Kidz restaurant at 143 East Center St. The Village Board is allowing the Y to use one dock slip as well.

The Y received the kayaks and hydro-bikes in 2020 through grants from the Ralph C. Wilson Foundation and the Erie Canalway Corridor’s Consolidated Fund.

Students saved nearly $180 throughout school year for pantry

Photos by Ginny Kropf: First graders in Allison Woodburn’s class at Oak Orchard Primary School pose on the steps of St. Peter’s Lutheran Church, where they visited the food pantry. At rear is Robin Dubai, left, food pantry coordinator, and class teacher Allison Woodburn.

MEDINA – Teaching her class about kindness and giving has become an annual message for Allison Woodburn and her first-grade students at Oak Orchard Primary School.

She calls the class “Camp Woodburn,” because they are a camp-themed classroom, and teaches all about kindness through several projects and activities, she said. One of those projects is saving their small change every day to support the Food Pantry at St. Peter’s Lutheran Church.

Then, just before school ends for the year, they walk to St. Peter’s with their backpacks full of groceries they have bought to donate to the food pantry.

Every day, they say the class quote together – “In a world where you can be anything, choose to be kind.” At Christmas, the class read the book “The Giving Tree” by Shel Silverstein and learned about how the tree always had a full heart when it gave to others. So the students decided to have their very own giving tree and donate their favorite cereals to put under their Christmas tree instead of exchanging gifts with each other.

Allison Woodburn and her first-grade students pose around the cart filled with groceries they purchased and brought to St. Peter’s Food Pantry.

In the spring during math the students learn all about coins and money, which they and their families have donated during the year. They sort the coins, roll them up and this spring counted $179.55. The students wrote a shopping list of needs and wants for the food pantry. Woodburn shopped for all the food on their list, and was still able to donate a $40 gift card to give the pantry, in addition to all the food purchased with the monetary donations.

Woodburn has been doing this with her class for six years and always feels like she is teaching them the most important lesson in life, which is to always show kindness to others without expecting anything in return.

The Food Pantry has been managed by Robin Dubai for 32 years, who first started in 1994 when her son went to nursery school.

“People have been very generous to the food pantry,” Dubai said. “I think it’s wonderful how Mrs. Woodburn is teaching kindness. I love working with her and her class.”

The food pantry has seen a slight increase in demand this year, now providing food monthly to 72 families, Dubai said.

Although the students are taught to be kind, while not expecting anything in return, Dubai wanted to show her appreciation and bought doughnuts for the class.

Robin Dubai, left, explains to Allison Woodburn’s first-grade class how a food pantry operates.

Photos by Tom Rivers

MEDINA – Brandi Zavitz was at the Medina Dog Park on Wednesday evening, creating a new mural that will feature portraits of about 35 dogs.

The new mural will have a celestial theme and will include many dogs that will be painted with angel wings, to signify they have passed away, said artist Brandi Zavitz.

She painted a 32-foot-long mural last year that included 69 dogs, 3 cats and Orly the Ox (the county’s bicentennial mascot).

The requests kept coming to be included on the initial mural. The 35 dogs are mostly requests from 2025. Zavitz wanted to include them on the new mural.

Like last year’s mural, she will pet them with personality, showing them doing some of their favorite things. She expects there will be tennis balls, and squirrels to chase in the new mural that will be 8 feet high and 16 feet long.

There was an overwhelming response to the mural after it debuted last year. Many people were amazed how Zavitz painted dogs as superheroes with capes, or doing their favorite activities – carrying sticks, playing with balls, eating ice cream or watching a Bills game.

Zavitz enjoys painting on site and chatting with people and seeing their dogs scamper about the dog park, which is on North Gravel Road near Boxwood Cemetery.

Zavitz sketched out some of the dogs on the board for the mural. She expects to complete the project in mid to late July.

Brandon Johnson brings back dance studio for 23^rd year

Photos by Tom Rivers

MEDINA – Brandon Johnson, owner of the Dance Theater, is joined by Amazie Phillips in cutting the ribbon for Dance Theater Premier Performing Arts. It is located at 415 West Ave., Suite #4.

Johnson at age 19 opened Dance Theater and for 22 years the studio was on Main Street. He moved to Florida about a year ago and worked as a judge at dancing competitions. He is glad to be back in his home community working with local dance students.

Brandon Johnson welcomes people to the grand reopening celebration for Dance Theater. His staff of dance instructors includes Alaina Sproile, Makenzie McGrath, Lizzy Zacher and Carly Voelker.

McGrath was a student at Dance Theater for 13 years. She is currently studying music education at Nazareth University. She said the community will respond to having Dance Theater back. Dance Theater served about 120 students from ages 3 to 18.

“It’s good they have this opportunity back,” McGrath said. “Dance is good for the mind and body.”

She said Johnson is very organized, and is a skilled teacher who is very good a showmanship. Most of all, he creates a welcoming environment, McGrath said.

During an open house, kids were able to try an obstacle course on one side of Dance Theater.

The studio will be offering summer camps before the fall season kicks off. Johnson announced the recital theme for 2026-2027: “Gingham and Glitter, a Homecoming Country Celebration.”

Johnson has emailed and messaged many of the dance families that have been with Dance Theater. He is pleased so many have been enthusiastic about his return.

“Dance Theater has always been more than just a place to dance,” Johnson said. “It is a place where dreams are nurtured, confidence is built, last friendships are formed, and creativity and performance come to life.”

Johnson said Dance Theater will provide a positive, welcoming and inspiring environment for dancers of all ages and abilities.

The studio provides classes in ballet, tap, jazz, hip hop, lyrical, modern, contemporary, acro and technique to dancers ages 3 to 18 years old.

Brandon Johnson meets with families during the grand opening celebration on Wednesday evening.

He said he enjoyed working as a judge at dance competitions for 18 weeks last year, but the experience confirmed his true calling in running his own studio and being a dance teacher.

“As a judge I offered critiques and corrections,” he said. “I loved it, but it reminded me my place is in a classroom where the kids can create dance.”