Press Release, Orleans County Job Development Agency

ALBION – The Orleans County Job Development Agency is now accepting applications for the department’s 2025 Summer Youth Employment Program.

In order to be considered for the program, an applicant must be a county resident between 14 to 20 years old (must be 14 at the time of application), coming from a household that meets certain income guidelines. Applicants in foster care or households that receive cash assistance, Medicaid, HEAP, SSI or SNAP are automatically eligible.

“Through this program, we strive to provide young people with the opportunity to earn money and gain meaningful work experience,” said Kelly Kiebala, director of the Orleans County Career Center in the Job Development Agency.  “Participants are able to gain exposure to various career pathways while exploring their interests and developing their workplace skills that better prepare them for future job opportunities.”

Applications, income guidelines and additional information for the program are available from the Job Development Agency website (click here).

Priority for job placements will be given to applications received by April 30. Applications are accepted on an ongoing basis until May 31 or until all spots have been filled.  Those with questions can call or text Peter Anderson at (716) 387-4081 or email OCSYEP@orleanscountyny.gov. Please note that submitting a completed application does not guarantee selection into the program or work site placement.

Photo by Tom Rivers

ALBION – The Orleans County Legislature on Tuesday presented a proclamation declaring May as “Motorcycle Safety and Awareness Month in Orleans County.”

County Legislator Skip Draper, right, presents the proclamation to Don Sloper, president of the Orleans County chapter of American Bikers Aimed Toward Education (ABATE); Steve Rosenberg, vice president of ABATE (second from left); and Becky Persons, member of ABATE.

There will be a motorcycle safety and awareness rally at 2 p.m. on May 4 outside the Orleans County Courthouse. The motorcyclists will then go on a 50-mile in the county that ends at the V.F.W. Post 1463 on East Center Street in Medina. Participants can begin to assemble outside the courthouse on East State Street at 1 p.m. on May 4.

Motorcyclists want the public to know they are back on the roadways. The motorcyclists urge drivers to “look twice” and use extra caution when making a left turn or pulling out onto the roadway.

ABATE is a not-for-profit organization dedicated to preserving the rights, safety and freedoms of all motorcyclists. ABATE’s position is to support all efforts and initiatives that will lead to accident prevention and rider safety.

Photo by Tom Rivers

ALBION – Ryan Flaherty, center, was recognized during Tuesday’s Orleans County Legislature for his local career in law enforcement. He is presented a “Special Recognition Award” from County Legislator Skip Draper, right, and Undersheriff Don Draper.

Flaherty started his career with the Holley Sheriff’s Department in 2002. In 2005, he joined the Orleans County Sheriff’s Department as a deputy on road patrol. He later worked in the courthouse for security and with the Marine Patrol Division.

Photos by Tom Rivers

ALBION – The dome at the Orleans County Courthouse was lighted up in red on Tuesday evening as part of “Light Up NY Red” campaign around the state this week, drawing attention to a volunteer firefighter shortage.

Over the last two decades, New York’s volunteer firefighter ranks have plunged by 33 percent, said the Firefighters Association of the State of New York.

FASNY President Eugene Perry encouraged all firehouses statewide to glow red this week. He also urged firefighters to light their homes and businesses with red lights.

“The lights symbolize their commitment to a tradition of neighborly help and the need for more volunteers,” FASNY said.

Additionally, Perry called on residents to join the effort by switching on red porch lights in support of their local fire departments.

Provided photo: Nick Mroz, director of Orleans County Veterans Service Agency, hands out Easter hams to veterans in front of the office on Friday.

Photo by Ginny Kropf: Nick Mroz, director of Orleans County Veterans Services Agency, holds a poster he distributed advertising free Easter hams for veterans.

ALBION – Since taking over last fall as director of Orleans County Veterans Service Agency, Nick Mroz has been busy planning various events to benefit veterans, the latest being giving free hams to veterans for Easter.

On Friday, Mroz and assistant Jackie Lonnen handed out hams to 100 Orleans County veterans.

The hams were purchased from Tops with a grant Mroz received from the Dwyer Peer to Peer program started by Earl Schmidt when he was director of Veterans Services several years ago.

Mroz said he advertised the hams on social media, by e-mails to Post commanders and with flyers in Tops.

The purpose of these programs is to get veterans in the community together and talking with one another, Mroz said.

“We are trying to promote healing and encourage veterans to share experiences and network with one another,” he said. “A lot of veterans in the county don’t know each other, and our goal is to get them together and talking about their experiences.”

Mroz has already arranged an afternoon of bowling for veterans in February and is planning a barbecue in the summer and a golf outing in August.

Provided photo: A grant from the Dwyer Peer to Peer program covered the cost of the 100 hams which were given out Friday.

Photos by Tom Rivers

ALBION – Orleans County Legislature Chairman Lynne Johnson welcomes a crowd of about 125 people to today’s bicentennial celebration for Orleans County.

The county for its first 165 years was run by a Board of Supervisors with the town supervisors from the towns also overseeing the county.

This gavel was carved from a walnut tree planted in 1856.

The government structure changed to a seven-member County Legislature in 1980. The Legislature’s seats have always been arranged in a semi-circular pattern, Johnson said. She quoted Stan Dudek, who was chairman of the new Legislature in 1980 and the first chief administrative officer beginning in 1982.

“That we all share equally in the rights, responsibilities and power vested in us as legislators; the side-by-side arrangement symbolic of our duty and desire to work together, with one common purpose, not to run, but to serve the County of Orleans; and facing the public, indicating our desire for clear and complete communication with the public we represent.”

Johnson also noted a gavel made from a walnut tree planted in 1856. Cary W. lattin, father of retired County Historian Bill Lattin, carved the gavel and presented it to Dudek at the first meeting of the Legislature in 1980.

“That means the wood from this gavel is almost as old as Orleans County itself,” Johnson said. “And just like this gavel, our county is as strong as ever.”

Orly the Ox enters the main courtroom in the Orleans County Courthouse during today’s bicentennial celebration for the county. About 125 people attended the ceremony.

The county has embraced the ox as a mascot for the bicentennial. Oxen were critical for the pioneers to travel on rough paths and settle the untamed land 200 years ago. The oxen were also needed to clear land and plow fields.

Orly (Isabella Zasa in costume) is lifting weights in his entrance to show the oxen’s brawn in helping the pioneer settlers.

The ceremony began with the ringing of the bell in the courthouse dome and the bells at the churches around the county, including the Courthouse Square.

Orleans County Legislature Chairman Lynne Johnson, right, accepts proclamations for Orleans County’s 200^thanniversary today from Andrew Dugan, district director for State Senate Minority Leader Rob Ortt, and Jayleen Carney, executive assistant for Assemblyman Steve Hawley. The two state legislators were in Albany for budget negotiations but secured a state legislative proclamation for the county’s bicentennial.

Ortt and Hawley’s proclamation noted Orleans County was officially established as a separate entity from Genesee County on Nov. 12, 1824 and commenced its operations on April 15, 1825. The county’s name may honor either Andrew Jackson’s victory in the Battle of New Orleans or the French Duc d’Orleans. It symbolizes a compromise among the county’s early leaders, the proclamation states.

The completion of the Erie Canal in 1825 played a “transformative role in the county’s development,” Ortt and Hawley stated. The inexpensive transportation fueled the local economy and supported Orleans County’s early agricultural success, he stated.

Orleans County today prides itself on in diverse farms that cultivate vineyards and orchards, grow vegetables, raise livestock and produce milk.

“The county is also known for its competitive sports fishing and diligent workforce for manufacturing agriculture and commerce,” the proclamation states.

Johnson also accepted proclamations from U.S. Rep. Claudia Tenney’s Office, the Office of the Governor Kathy Hochul (presented by State Canal Commissioner Brian Stratton) and the County Legislature.

Mackenzie Poynter, a Medina High School student, sang the national anthem, “The Star-Spangled Banner.”

Tara Thom, owner of the Town and Country Quilt Shop, spearheaded the creation of the bicentennial quilt. She speaks at the podium. She is joined by quilters Carrie Standish, Catherine Hooker and Brenda Radzinski.

Others who helped make the quilt include Kathryn DeMarco, Gayle Ashbery, Irene Henion and Susan Landis.

The quilt includes the 10 towns and when they were established and three foundational blocks of Farming, Faith and Family.

Carol Culhane also presented a painting for the bicentennial that she says honors the pioneers who tamed the land and lived modestly in log cabins. In her painting, she shows Main Street in Albion in the 1800s, and has images of a log cabin with livestock, and paintings of the County Courthouse and the Clerks’ Building.

Decades before the courthouse (built in 1858) and Clerks’ Building (constructed in 1888) were erected on the Courthouse Square, there was a log cabin there. A historical marker at the courthouse lawn notes the first settlers in Albion in 1811 built a log cabin where the Clerks’ Building stands. The late Al Capurso had that marker installed in 2013 to honor those pioneers – William McAllister and his wife.

A cake made by Peggy Bropst included a map of the county with the 10 towns: Albion, Barre, Carlton, Clarendon, Gaines, Kendall, Murray, Ridgeway, Shelby and Yates.

Holley Mayor Mark Bower served as master of ceremonies and gave a welcome address and the closing remarks.

“Like many other places in our country, we have seen many challenges and successes, overcome adversity, and marched on due to the founders of our county and those who have followed since,” Bower said.

Four county legislators stand and present a proclamation from the County Legislature. From left include Ed Morgan, John Fitzak, Fred Miller and Lynne Johnson.

The proclamation notes the 10 towns in the county and four villages of Albion, Holley, Lyndonville and Medina.

The county is “richly endowed with natural resources from shores of Lake Ontario to the Iroquois National Wildlife Refuge.”

The county has benefited from the Erie Canal, which opened in 1825, and continues to be a vibrant agricultural producer.

“Immigrants from many countries have found opportunity in Orleans County and made their homes here,” the proclamation states.

Many of those immigrants first cleared the land, dug the canal, quarried Medina sandstone, and labored in fields and factories.

Catherine Cooper, the current county historian, shared her admiration for the courage and heartiness of the pioneers who often suffered great hardship, losing young children to illness and enduring extreme financial stress.

“One wonders how they survived those early years,” said Cooper, who also heads the county’s bicentennial committee.

This display of portraits honors people who have served as Orleans County historian. County historians from left include Katherine Rowley, 1934-1938; Theta Hakes Brown, 1938-1944; Joseph Achilles, 1944-1957; Cary Lattin, 1958-1975; Arden McAllister, 1975-1978; C.W. “Bill” Lattin, 1979-2014; and Matt Ballard, 2015-2020.

Bill Lattin, retired Orleans County historian, shares how the County Courthouse was built in 1858 with the county committing to spend $20,000 on the building. It came in $153 under budget.

The ornate Greek Revival building was modelled after one in Wayne County. The Orleans County Courthouse remains in use as a courthouse.

Canal Commissioner Brian Stratton, left, is joined by JW Cook, Gov. Hochul’s Finger Lakes regional representative, in presenting a proclamation to Lynne Johnson.

Stratton said the Erie Canal, also celebrating its bicentennial this year, will continue to be an important resource for Orleans County for many years to come.

Sue Starkweather Miller, the Village of Albion historian and bicentennial committee member, said the community is fortunate to have so many first-hand accounts from the pioneers.

The Orleans County Pioneer Association formed in 1859 and a book of their experiences settling in Orleans County was published by Arad Thomas in 1871.

The county historians also have written many columns on local history, and the community has a deep database of older newspapers with local history.

Starkweather noted the Pioneer Association met in the same courthouse building in 1859.

Orleans County Court Judge Sanford A. Church speaks at the celebration today. Church comes from a lineage of lawyers and judges, including the portrait of the second man from left.

Church can trace his family ties to Orleans County back to 1835, when Sanford E. Church moved to Albion. Sanford E. later became county district attorney, assemblyman, state comptroller and lieutenant governor. His career culminated in service as chief judge of the Court of Appeals, New York’s highest court.

Photos by Tom Rivers

ALBION – Orly the Ox, the Orleans County bicentennial mascot, poses by a banner celebrating the county’s 200^th anniversary. Orly visited the banner on the courthouse lawn on Monday evening.

The courthouse dome also was lit in red, white and blue for the county bicentennial.

Orleans County will have a bicentennial celebration at the courthouse today beginning at 11:45 a.m. with the bell in the courthouse to be rung for a minute beginning at noon. Churches around the county are urged to ring their bells at 12 p.m. to celebrate the county’s 200^th birthday.

The county was officially formed on April 15, 1825 when it was recognized by the State Legislature. Orleans split from Genesee County. A swamp made a long journey from Orleans to Genesee even more challenging 200 years ago. The newly established Orleans had the economic prospects of a new Erie Canal which was complete in October 1825.

Seating is limited in the courthouse for today’s ceremony. The event can be viewed online through the Orleans County Tourism Facebook page.

Orly the Ox started celebrating the bicentennial a day early on Monday. The mascot is serving as the county’s ambassador throughout the year.

An executive order from Gov. Kathy Hochul prevented fired corrections officers on strike from seeking jobs with local municipalities.

That order from March 10 sparked widespread opposition from counties around the state, including Orleans County, which wanted to interview the COs for vacancies in local government.

But the counties, towns, villages and school districts weren’t able to hire the fired COs, based on Hochul’s order. Orleans County officials passed a resolution on March 20, calling for Hochul to rescind her executive order.

County legislators said the terminated COs should be considered to help fill vacancies in the county government.

“The governor’s executive order does a disservice to the public by taking away a pool of highly qualified applicants from jobs we need filled,” Legislator John Fitzak, a retired CO at Orleans Correctional, said on March 20. “It is mean-spirited, revengeful, and immoral and, as such, should be immediately repealed.”

The governor has allowed that executive order to expire on Wednesday.

The ban on the 2,000 fired COs from jobs in state government remains in effect.

The state fired the officers after they refused to meet a deadline for reporting to work on March 10 after a strike at state prisons that lasted 22 days.

Photos by Tom Rivers

ALBION – A banner celebrating Orleans County’s 200^th anniversary is on the courthouse lawn. The bicentennial celebration will be at noon on April 15 at the County Courthouse, beginning with the ringing of the bell in the courthouse dome. Churches throughout Orleans County are encouraged to ring their bells at noon for a minute on April 15.

The county will celebrate its bicentennial throughout 2025. Orleans officially separated from Genesee County on April 15, 1825.

The ceremony on April 15 will be livestreamed on the Orleans County Tourism Facebook page.

The courthouse dome will be illuminated in red, white and blue on April 14 and 15 in celebration of the county’s bicentennial.

The banner includes an ox, which was critical to helping bring the pioneer settlers to Orleans County, and then helping to clear the land and plant crops.