Jace Conn, a senior at Albion, is making an attachment for the robot to pick up panel hatches. Conn, who wants to study electrical engineering in college, said it’s a lot of trial and error to get the attachment designed to work properly.

ALBION – A group of nine 4-H’ers are designing parts, measuring and cutting metal, running wires and putting in electronics for a robot that will perform a series of tasks.

This is the eighth year the 4-H’ers from Orleans County are competing in FIRST (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology). There aren’t many robotics teams from rural areas. They will be up against about 50 teams on March 14-16 during a competition at the Rochester Institute of Technology.

They started building their robot about three weeks ago when they opened a box with a pile of parts. They need to build the robot and program it to go to specific spots on a space about the size of a basketball court. They will program the robot to move forward and backward, sideways and diagonally.

Each team gets about six weeks to build the robot. On Feb. 19, all of the teams have to stop work. The robot needs to be sidelined until the competition.

The robot will have attachments to pick up balls and hatches with a circular opening. The balls will be dropped through the hatches.

This year the theme is “Destination Deep Space,” in honor of the 50^th anniversary of the Moon landing on July 20, 1969. The course for the FIRST challenge will include replicas of cargo ships and rockets, and the robots need to complete challenges with those elements.

The team has three main mentors – Erik Seielstad, Jody Neal and Jason Foote – as well as other assistants.

Seielstad has been with the program since it started. He works as a systems engineer with computers for Kodak Alaris, a spinoff of Kodak. His son Morgan, now 22, was part of the team in the beginning. Morgan recently graduated from college with a degree in computer programming. Some of the past members of the team are pursuing engineering degrees in college. One is also studying to be a pharmacist.

Jacob Foote, an Albion ninth-grader, is at work on Tuesday.

Seielstad said the kids do the work, with the mentors providing some guidance.

Zachary Neal, an eighth-grader on the team, stands next to last year’s robot. It has a lift to perform some of the tall tasks.

“It’s a lot of fun,” he said, explaining why he has stayed involved in the program.

It is also a relatively short-term commitment, with the teams building the robots over six weeks, and then having the three-day competition at RIT.

The team gets together three to four times a week. The Orleans team is unusual because it isn’t connected to a school district. Most of the programs are through school districts, with paid staff leading the teams.

The Orleans team has team members from at least three different school districts, and is led by volunteers.

It costs about $15,000 to run the program – to buy the robot and pay the competition entry fees. Xerox in Rochester and Baxter Healthcare in Medina have been the main sponsors for the program. BCA Ag Technologies allows the team to use its facility on Route 31A to build the robot.

The FIRST program is in its 15^th year, and has a goal of helping to develop leaders in science and technology.

All of the teams have names, and the Orleans team initially was known as “Joe’s Average Slackers.” But team members decided to rebrand the program to “Hardwired” last year.

Seielstad said some of the team members didn’t like calling themselves “slackers” because of all the work, commitment and skills needed to build the robot and get it to complete the challenges.

Jack Finley, 17, of Albion has been with the program for several years, starting with the First Lego League in elementary school. Students in the FLL build a robot through Legos and program it to do many tasks.

Finley likes the current program better because he said the equipment is higher quality and the robot can be programmed to do very specific tasks. He is looking to pursue a career in a technology field.

These team members are at work on their robot. From left include Dan Squires, Jacob Draper, Jace Conn, Zachary Neal and Jayden Neal.

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HOLLEY – Orleans County sheriff’s deputies have a new weapon in their arsenal – prayer shawls.

Recently Sheriff Randy Bower was put in touch with a parishioner of St. Mary’s Church who told him of a prayer shawl ministry there.

Although they have no official name, the group of eight to 10 ladies who meet monthly to crochet make more than 1,000 items a year, said Buffie Edick, who founded the group about 10 years ago.

“We are always looking for a new project,” Edick said.

The ladies have provided a dozen crocheted prayer shawls so each deputy, as well as investigators, can have one in their car. The ladies have also committed to keeping the Sheriff’s Office supplied with shawls in the future.

“In case of inclement weather when we respond to an accident or incident, or someone needs comforting, we can provide a warm prayer shawl,” Bower said.

They also have stuffed animals to comfort a child.

These women from the Holley area have crocheted prayer shawls for Orleans County sheriff’s deputies to carry in their patrol cars to comfort anyone in distress when they answer a call. Seated are Marge Kruger, left, and Cathy Renko. At rear, from left, are Kat Tsoukatos, Marcia Crosier, Dianne Colucci and Buffie Edick. Members not pictured are Linda Rossi, Lynn Szozda and Jeanne Sheffer.

Before the shawls were delivered to the Sheriff’s Ofice, they were blessed at St. Mary’s Church.

Edick was taught to crochet when she was 7 by her grandmother. After back surgery about 10 years ago, Edick said she had time on her hands and wanted something to do.

The group now meets once a month at St. Mark’s in Kendall. They have donated items to more than 50 local organizations.

New members are always welcome, even if they can’t crochet. They are looking for someone to make prayer cards and deliver them.

One member now takes donated yarn and washes and re-spins it so that all finished items are clean and sanitary. Most of the women in the group buy their own yarn.

They donate a lot of items to migrant workers.

“Every month we have a new project,” Edick said. “We like to keep our donations local.”

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Press Release, Sheriff Randy Bower

ALBION – In the month of December, the Orleans County Sheriff’s Office 911 Dispatch Center processed 1,982 police incidents, including 765 events for Sheriff’s Road Patrol, 179 for the New York State Police and 1,038 calls for the Village police agencies of Lyndonville, Medina, Albion and Holley.

There were 526 Fire/EMS related calls dispatched countywide with 385 of those emergency medical in nature and a total of two drug overdoses.

Sheriff’s Office Road Patrol Deputies handled 76 automobile accidents, including 13 with injury and 41 car-deer collisions.  Road patrol also made 56 service attempts and successfully served 24 subpoenas, civil or court papers. The Orleans County Jail processed in 98 inmates and handled 23 prisoner transports to court appearances.

The Sheriff’s Animal Control Division handled 59 incidents including nine stray dogs, two dog bite complaints, nine neighbor dog problems, and several other miscellaneous animal calls. In addition, 10 animals were taken in to shelter on voluntary surrenders.

In December the Sheriff’s Office assisted the Lord’s House Church, Waterport in spreading holiday cheer to those less fortunate. Members of the Sheriff’s Office helped collect and distribute goodies to over 100 area children in 40 families through the “Toys for Tots” program.

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Skip Helfrich, Leadership Orleans director, leads a retreat on Wednesday. He went over personality profiles, and how different types of personalities tend to thrive or struggle in different situations. Some people thrive on getting things done in an efficient manner. Some are very focused on details. Others are very social and like to involve many people in the process.

LYNDONVILLE – Leadership Orleans welcomed the second class of the program with a kickoff retreat over two days that will help members learn about themselves, their classmates and the community.

The class has 26 members and started with a two-day retreat on Wednesday at the White Birch Golf Course in Lyndonville. That retreat will conclude this evening.

Leadership Orleans started in 2018. The year-long program meets monthly and the comes from a cross section of the community, including government department heads, farm leaders, agency directors and other business officials. The program picked residents who have demonstrated leadership abilities, interest in community affairs, and a commitment to Orleans County’s future.

Each month the group learned about a different sector of the community, including government, arts and culture, volunteerism and non-profit organizations, community health, tourism and recreation, agribusiness, economic & workforce development, and education.

This year’s class includes:

• Delano Alvarez, Quality Associate III, Baxter Healthcare

• James Bensley, Dir. Dept. Planning and Development, County of Orleans

• Melissa Blanar, Dir. Orleans County Office for the Aging, Orleans County

• Michele Bokman, Director of Operations, SUNY GCC

• Beth Brown, Business Administration Manager, Orchard Dale Fruit Company, LLC

• Sean Casher, Human Resources Business Partner, CRFS, LLC

• Nicole Davis, Director of Residential Services, GCASA

• Angela DiRosa, Executive Director, Orleans Community Health Foundation

• Daniel Doctor, Community Outreach Liaison, Medina Central School District

• Jessica Downey, Health Educator/Community Outreach, Orleans Community Health

• Ellen Eaton, Dir. of Recruiting and Employee Experience, Quorum Group dba Takeform

• Elizabeth Haibach, Librarian, Hoag Library

• Tessa Hartway, Dir. Of Marketing and Branding/Business Development, Talis Equity

• Rachel Hicks, Agent/Customer Services, Albion Agencies

• Susan Howard, 1st Assistant District Attorney, Orleans County

• Pattie Kepner, Assoc. Exec. Dir. Quality/Corp. Compliance, Arc of Genesee Orleans

• Steve Mowers, President, CRFS, LLC

• Jonathan Oakes, Winemaker/Cidermaker Vice President, Leonard Oakes Estate Winery

• James Olinger, Farm Operations Assistant Manager, Sandy Knoll Farms, Inc.

• Sarah Olinger, Credit Analyst, Farm Credit East, ACA

• Amanda Pollard, Assistant Branch Manager, Tompkins Bank of Castile

• Greg Reed, Executive Director,  GLOW YMCA – Orleans County YMCA

• Brittany Scott, Sr. HR Representative, Baxter Healthcare

• Jerod Thurber, Sales Mgr./Cider Mgr., Leonard Oakes Estate Winery/Lynoaken Farms

• Carly Ward, Dir. of Planning and Oper., Community Action of Orleans & Genesee, Inc.

• Vanja Zinaja, QA Manager, Baxter Healthcare ​

Skip Helfrich leads a discussion at the opening retreat.

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