By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 21 July 2013 at 12:00 am
Photos by Tom Rivers
Erik Olsen, right, and his son Levi entertain as the “Singing Vikings” during today’s “Old Tyme Day” celebration at the East Shelby Community Bible Church. Olsen is the church’s pastor.
There were several teams of horses giving wagon rides today as part of the “Old Tyme Day” celebration at the church on East Shelby Road.
Andrew McKee, 13, of Medina gets ready to sling a gumball at a big painting of David, as part of a “Slay the Giant” activity at Old Tyme Day.
Pie, lemonade, ice cream and other treats were all a penny.
The East Shelby Community Bible Church started “Old Tyme Day” about two decades ago. The church has built the West Jackson Corners village across from the church, and continues to add more old-fashioned activities to the annual festival.
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 20 July 2013 at 12:00 am
Photos by Tom Rivers
MEDINA – Josie Waverly portrayed Patsy Cline during a concert tonight at Medina High School. About 150 people attended the event, which was a fundraiser for the Shelby Volunteer Fire Company.
The fire company has been fortunate to have a wave of new recruits who could all use new turn-out gear and air packs. It can cost $8,500 to outfit each firefighter with the proper gear, said Gary Williams, a member of the fire company who took the lead in organizing the Waverly concert.
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 8 July 2013 at 12:00 am
‘We have an obligation to proceed. This is what we were elected to do.’ Medina Mayor Andrew Meier
MEDINA The Village Board hired a consultant and formed a committee to develop a plan for the orderly dissolution of the village, an end result that ultimately will need voter approval to become a reality.
The village was awarded a $50,000 state grant in February to develop a plan to dissolve the village and fold those government services and assets into the towns of Shelby and Ridgeway.
The board tonight voted to hire the Center for Governmental Research based in Rochester to help develop the plan. CGR will be paid $55,555. The organization assisted Medina and towns of Ridgeway and Shelby with a consolidation study about two years ago. That project showed the costs of providing services could be reduced by $200,000 to $400,000 with consolidation of services, plus the state would likely give the communities $600,000 annually as incentive aid for reducing layers of government.
“We’re beyond the study phase,” said Andrew Meier, the village mayor. “I’m hopeful we can come up with a plan that will reduce the taxes and preserve the services. That will be the question.”
The board hired CGR and also formed a citizen committee to help with the plan. Don Colquhoun, the retired executive director of The Arc of Orleans County, will lead the committee. Colquhoun participated in the consolidation study.
“He has extremely good organizational skills and he is respected by the two towns,” Meier said. “He is a godsend.”
Other committee members include Cindy Robinson, a Main Street business owner and president of the Medina Business Association and the Orleans County Chamber of Commerce; Charlie Slack of Slack Insurance; Thurston Dale, a retired veterinarian; Meier; and Village Trustee Mark Irwin.
The committee and CGR could have a plan in place in six to nine months. The Village Board could then accept the plan and schedule a referendum for village residents. Town residents outside the village don’t have a say at the polls on the village’s fate.
Meier believes reducing the village’s layer of government will cut taxes for village residents. Medina has the highest combined tax rate – village, town, school and county – in the Finger Lakes region. That rate is about $54 per $1,000 of assessed property, with the village accounting for about $16 of that tax rate. Residents outside the village don’t pay a village tax.
“We have a problem in the village and the county with very high tax rates,” Meier said.
He wants to reduce the taxes for village residents to make the community more attractive for residents and businesses for years to come.
“We’re going to get at solutions, not just Band-Aids,” he said about the tax problem. “We have an obligation to proceed. This is what we were elected to do.”
The committee and CGR could look at establishing districts for police and fire protection. Those districts could extend beyond the current village boundaries so there is a bigger tax base to support those services. Meier noted many of the properties on Maple Ridge Road enjoy village services and access to the village population base of about 6,000 people without currently paying village taxes.
“It makes intuitive sense,” Meier said about lower taxes with less government layers. “Let’s flesh out the data and see where it takes us.”
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 19 May 2013 at 12:00 am
Medina site aims to be top riding camp in Northeast
Photos by Tom Rivers – Mary Herbert, owner of Forrestel Riding and Sports Camp, opens the doors to the new indoor riding arena today after a ribbon-cutting ceremony.
Margaret Darroch, Forrestel’s operations director the past six years, said the new indoor arena will help make Forrestel a year-end center.
MEDINA – Forrestel, a riding and sports camp on Main Street in Shelby, showed off its new indoor arena today.
The farm also is opening its original farmhouse from 1825 as a bed and breakfast with two rooms. Forrestel will soon kick off its 33rd season of English horseback riding camps. It draws campers from all over the world. Half of the 20 camp counselors come from Britain and spend the summer in Shelby.
The site has a mix of modern amenities and it’s steeped in history, with buildings from Shelby’s mill days in the 1800s.
“We are transitioning to a year-round business,” said Margaret Darroch, the Forrestel manager. “I can really envision this place bring the place for horse people in the Northeast.”
The arena is 148 feet by 68 feet and includes a viewing area that’s 64 feet by 12 feet.
Forrestel leaders believe the camp offers a riding, sports and outdoor adventure program that is among the finest in the country.
Forrestel owner Mary Herbert led a ribbon-cutting celebration for the new arena this afternoon. She exuded enthusiasm about the improvements at Forrestel, saying the arena will make for the best camp season ever.
The new arena is 148 feet by 68 feet, and includes a 64 by 12 foot viewing area for parents and spectators to watch the action.
Forrestel also is open for receptions, parties and historic tours. Forrestel has a kitchen and the facilities to feed a crowd.
“We’re adding more, but we’re primarily about the horses,” Darroch said.
The original farmhouse from 1825 now has two rooms open as a bed and breakfast.
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 19 May 2013 at 12:00 am
Photos by Tom Rivers – Willow Groth, 6, of Albion is thrilled to pet a horse at Forrestel, a riding and sports camp at 11380 Main St., Medina. The camp, going into its 33rd year, held an open house today from 1 to 4 p.m. Willow’s mother, Laurie Genagon-Groth, is the camp’s art program director.
Karolina Korytko, 9, of Buffalo befriends one of the horses at Forrestel in Medina. Karolina will attend camp this summer as a beginning rider.
MEDINA – I moved to Orleans County 17 years ago and finally made it to Forrestel Farm today for the first time.
I will have a story later about Forrestel’s new indoor riding arena. That facility will give the sports and riding camp more options when there is rainy or cold weather, and should extend the program to a year-round operation.
Forrestel also held its annual open house today and the place was nearly overrun with girls. (My 7-year-old daughter was one of the kids in her glory, petting the horses and feeding them grass.)
I wanted to post some photos right away from the visit because I have so many and won’t be able to fit them all in the one story. Forrestel is a photographer’s dream.
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 13 May 2013 at 12:00 am
Shelby site is listed on National Register of Historic Places
Photos by Tom Rivers – The Millville Cemetery, which was established in 1871 on East Shelby Road, includes this iron arch with the cemetery name. The large statue in the background marks the grave for Asa Hill, a Civil War soldier and prominent local farmer.
This wood frame chapel has a Medina sandstone foundation. It was built into a hill and also served as a receiving vault and office.
SHELBY – Last month I write about Hillside Cemetery in Holley being nominated at the state level to join the National Register of Historic Places, a decision that is expected to be announced this month by the U.S. Department of the Interior.
In doing research on Hillside Cemetery, I discovered that two other cemeteries in Orleans County were on the National Register. I knew Mount Albion was recognized, but I didn’t realize Millville Cemetery made the list in 2007.
I stopped by the cemetery Friday evening on the way to the East Shelby fire hall. Millville Cemetery is impressive, especially the monument to Asa Hill, a Civil War soldier who returned to community and became a prominent farmer. His family put up the large monument, where local lore suggests he is looking towards Sanderson Road, keeping watch on the family farm, said Bill Lattin, the county historian.
The monument for Asa Hill honors the Millville resident who served in the Civil War.
If we ever establish a Civil War Trail in Orleans County, Asa Hill’s monument should certainly be on the list. Several other Civil War soldiers are buried at Millville.
The wood frame chapel in the cemetery was built in a Gothic Revival style in 1894. It includes a Medina sandstone foundation. The chapel also served as the cemetery office and receiving vault.
Millville Cemetery was established in 1871. A sandstone retaining wall faces East Shelby Road. The monuments and Victorian funerary art reflect the prosperity of the community back when it was home to three sawmills, gristmill and turning mill, according to the description of the site on the National Register.
There are many enormous and grand trees in this cemetery.
The cemetery is elevated in an otherwise flat area. “The landscaping and roads and the plantings make it an exemplary vernacular rural cemetery,” according the Department of the Interior, which decides whether a site meets the threshold to be on the National Register.
The Millville Cemetery Association, like many independent cemetery associations, recently disbanded and turned the cemetery over the to town. Shelby is now owner and guardian of the cemetery. Hillside also folded and the Town of Clarendon is the site’s owner.
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 7 May 2013 at 12:00 am
Photo by Tom Rivers
The East Shelby Community Bible Church stands tall on a beautiful spring day this evening on 5278 East Shelby Rd. The congregation has worked to renovate and expand the church since 1989. The church was built in 1854 and includes stained-glass windows from 1919.
MEDINA – The chairman of the Committee on Open Government will be in Medina today to discuss changes to the Open Meetings Law, the Freedom of Information Act and the Personal Privacy Protection Law.
Robert Freeman is the leader of the state agency on open government. He will speak at the Shelby Town Hall at 7 p.m., a visit coordinated by the League of Women Voters in Orleans County.
Residents are welcome to attend the free presentation, which will include time for questions and answers. The Town Hall is located at 4062 Salt Works Rd.
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 24 April 2013 at 12:00 am
New visitor center and administration building at 10,808-acre site
Photos by Tom Rivers – Tom Roster, manager of the Iroquois National Wildlife Refuge, stands outside the new visitor center and administration building on Casey Road in Basom. The building includes solar panels and more exhibit space, as well as room for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s Division of Fisheries.
BASOM – The 50,000 to 75,000 visitors to the Iroquois National Wildlife Refuge now have a better place to kick off their experience to the 10,808-acre site in the towns of Shelby and Alabama.
The refuge has a new visitor center and administration building. New exhibits will come in the fall. For now the expanded and revamped building includes a bigger store, new bathrooms, and “cams” that show bird nests and a marsh. The marsh cam allows viewers to pan the camera to focus on the wildlife, which includes bald eagles.
“It’s a big improvement,” said Carl Zenger, a long-time volunteer with Friends of the Refuge. “It’s a larger room. There’s more room for exhibits.”
Zenger and refuge staff and volunteers are busy this week preparing for one of the site’s busiest weekends, the annual Spring Into Nature event this Saturday from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Many free activities are planned for the day that will draw on 70 volunteers and other partner agencies.
The $3.5 million project, which gutted and upgraded the previous building and added 5,000 square feet of space, was driven by the co-location of the refuge staff with employees of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s Division of Fisheries. The 18 to 20 employees from Fisheries moved from East Amherst to work out of the refuge.
Fisheries employees focus on issues with the Great Lakes and invasive species. They had been leasing space in Erie County.
Carl Zenger, a volunteer with Friends of the Refuge, checks a marsh cam inside the new visitor center.
The refuge has four employees and is looking to fill two vacancies, said Tom Roster, the site’s manager. He said refuge and Fisheries are sharing some duties, and he expects more cost-savings in the future with joint bookkeeping, filing, mailing and some administrative functions.
He is looking forward to new exhibits that will introduce visitors to the refuge. The goal will be to whet their appetites and then send them out to experience nature on the trails.
“At the visitor center we just want to give them a taste of what’s going on the refuge,” Roster said. “We’ll be targeting exhibits that get our message across and can be interactive, without being too high maintenance.”
The new building also includes solar panels that provide electricity and heat water inside the building. Roster said an exhibit will show how much energy the panels are producing, and how many saved trees that represents.
The refuge is located between Rochester and Buffalo and has draw bigger numbers of visitors in recent years. Roster said there is a fine balance in drawing people, while also safeguarding the habitat for the animals.
“We’re not a park,” Roster said. “The National Parks cater to people. Here, our mission is to make wildlife the priority, not that people can’t enjoy the refuge.”
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 15 March 2013 at 12:00 am
MEDINA – Every spring and fall, the Shelby Volunteer Fire Company has traditionally raffled off guns as a fund-raiser.
But those events may be over after the state passed a new gun control law, the SAFE Act, in January. Gary Williams, a long-time volunteer for the company, said Shelby is looking at other fund-raisers.
He would like to invite Josie Waverly, a country music singer from Hilton, to the community as a benefit for the fire company. However, the fire hall isn’t the best venue for a concert, he told Medina school officials during a March 12 Board of Education meeting.
“We could have it in our hall, but people would enjoy it more if it was in the auditorium,” Williams said.
Jeff Evoy, the district superintendent, said school facilities can be used by the public. But he wouldn’t support a Waverly concert in June, when the school calendar is so packed.
“My biggest concern is June because it’s such a pressure-cooker,” Evoy said.
Williams spoke with Waverly’s manager and there are dates open in July. Evoy said he would support a concert that month. Shelby may have to pay the school for the cost of custodial services and assure the district it has insurance for the event.
Waverly was in concert March 1 at the Lee-Whedon Memorial Library in Medina, performing music from Patsy Cline. Williams said Waverly should appeal to people of all ages.
