Chartered watercraft services or rentals will not be allowed, and restaurant activity at these sites limited to take-out or delivery

Press Release, Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s Office

Photo by Tom Rivers: A boater passes through the channel at Oak Orchard Harbor at Point Breeze in this photo from May 28, 2015.

New York Governor Andrew M. Cuomo, New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy and Connecticut Governor Ned Lamont today announced marinas, boatyards and marine manufacturers will be allowed to open for personal use as long as strict social distancing and sanitization protocols are followed.

Chartered watercraft services or rentals will not be allowed, and restaurant activity at these sites must be limited to take-out or delivery only, like anywhere else in the three states. This announcement aligns the policies of the three states on this particular service.

“Throughout this pandemic, we’ve worked closely with our friends in neighboring states to implement a uniform regional approach to reducing the spread of the virus,” Governor Cuomo said. “Aligning our polices in this area is another example of that strong partnership, and will help ensure there is no confusion or ‘state shopping’ when it comes to marinas and boatyards.”

“We’ve committed to working with our regional partners throughout this crisis to align our policies when and where appropriate,” said Governor Murphy. “A unified approach is the most effective way to alleviate confusion for the residents of our states during the ongoing public health emergency.”

“Our states share workforces, resources, public transit, and we all have share a connection on the water,” Governor Lamont said. “This is yet another example of how our states have shared interests, which is all the more reason to collaborate on these kinds of decisions. This decision provides uniformity across our marinas.”

Photo by Tom Rivers: The American flag is lowered outside the Murray Town Hall on Wednesday out of respect for people who have died from the Covid-19. Gov. Andrew Cuomo has directed flags to be at half-staff for Covid-19 victims while the state is on Pause, which continues to at least May 15. The state today reported 540 deaths from Covid-19 on Friday, bringing the state total to 13,362. The death toll has been decreasing in recent days, down from 630 on April 16, and 606 on April 15.

Orleans County has suffered its second death from Covid-19, the Public Health Department is reporting this afternoon.

“We are also saddened to report a second death related to Covid-19 has occurred in Orleans County,” said Lynne Johnson, Orleans County Legislature chairwoman. “Our sincerest condolences go out to the family and friends of this individual. Our prayers are with the grieving family. These are our neighbors who are passing away.”

The first death in the county from Covid-19 was reported on Thursday.

The Genesee and Orleans County Health Departments this afternoon reported there are five new confirmed cases of Covid-19 in Orleans County. That brings the county’s total cases to 48.

Genesee County has 30 new cases, bringing its total to 122. Of the total new positive cases for Genesee County, 29 are non-community spread cases at the Batavia ICE Facility. The individuals are detainees and all precautions are being followed to further protect other detainees and staff, the Health Department said in a news release.

Contact tracing has been initiated and all who have had direct contact with the individuals will be notified by Health Department staff.

There is currently no further information to release on ages and location. Mapping to include the positive cases from the weekend will be updated on Monday afternoon, the Health Department said.

“We encourage everyone to continue social distancing and staying home,” the Health Department stated. “If you need to go out, for essential needs, only one person should be running those errands so as not to risk further exposure. Face coverings are also to be worn when out in public. This is not a time for gatherings, play dates or date night. The life you save may be you or a loved one.”

Cuomo also issues executive order allowing New Yorkers to get a marriage license remotely

Press Release, Gov. Andrew Cuomo

Amid the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, Governor Andrew M. Cuomo today called for federal coordination of the supply chain to bring testing to scale so states can performing begin reopening functions.

Tests are currently produced by private laboratory equipment manufacturers – there are 30 large manufacturers in the U.S. – and these manufacturers sell the tests to smaller labs, who then sell the tests to hospitals and the public.

For a test to be performed, local labs must have the necessary testing chemicals known as reagents and there are different reagents for different manufacturer’s tests. The state asked the top 50 labs in New York what they needed to double their testing output, and all said they needed more reagents.

“Why is testing so important? Testing is how you monitor the rate of infection and it’s how we find people with the virus and trace their contacts,” Governor Cuomo said. “The challenge is to bring testing up to scale. We asked the top 50 labs in the state what they would need to double their testing, and they all said the same thing: they need more chemical reagents. We need the federal government to oversee the supply chain and help get labs what they need.”

The Governor is also issuing an Executive Order allowing New Yorkers to obtain a marriage license remotely and allowing clerks to perform ceremonies via video conference, a practice that is banned under current law. Many marriage bureaus have temporarily closed as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, preventing New Yorkers from getting a marriage license during the current health emergency; the Executive Order will temporarily suspend a provision of law that requires in-person visits.

Governor Cuomo also reiterated the bipartisan call from the National Governors Association for the federal government to provide $500 billion in unrestricted aid to the states to help stabilize the economy and allow the states to perform reopening functions. The federal government has passed three bills to address this crisis, including the federal CARES Act, all of which contained zero funding to offset drastic state revenue shortfalls.

Finally, the Governor confirmed 7,090 additional cases of novel coronavirus, bringing the statewide total to 236,732 confirmed cases in New York State.

Oak Orchard Health has been approved for $870,575 in federal funding through the CARES Act, Congressman Joe Morelle of Rochester announced on Friday.

These funds were awarded through the United States Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and made available through the CARES Act recently passed by Congress which allocated $1.3 billion to support these healthcare providers.

Oak Orchard Health has healthcare centers in Albion, Lyndonville, Brockport, Warsaw and Hornell, as well as a mobile dental unit.

“We were so grateful to see this funding come through when we needed it most,” said Mary Ann Pettibon, CEO of Oak Orchard Health. “Our patients rely on us to provide the health care that they deserve, and this funding allowed us to take care of our patients while keeping our healthcare workers employed during this crucial time. We not only serve a vulnerable population of uninsured and underinsured, but we work with the migrant farmworker population to educate them on the use of personal protective equipment (face masks and gloves), and educate them on how to prevent the spread of coronavirus.”

Morelle also announced funding for other community health centers in the Rochester area, including Mosaic Health, $2,382,830; Anthony L. Jordan Health Corporation, $952,970; and Regional Health Reach, Inc., $503,000.

“Our community health centers are on the front lines of the fight against COVID-19, and our entire nation is grateful for their dedication and patriotism under extraordinarily difficult circumstances,” Morelle said. “We have an obligation to ensure they have the resources they need to treat COVID-19 and keep families in our community safe. That’s why Congress took immediate action to allocate this funding, which will go a long way towards helping our local health systems respond to this unprecedented crisis.”

County officials fear plummeting sales tax revenue, state reimbursement cuts

Photo by Tom Rivers: County Legislator John DeFilipps, R-Clarendon, reads the resolution this morning calling for temporary county layoffs. It passed in a 7-0 vote.

ALBION – The county government workforce will shrink by 40 employees or about 10 percent as the county grapples with declining sales tax revenue and anticipated reduced state reimbursements.

The county could face big losses in sales tax revenue and expects cuts in state reimbursements for other services. The stock market decline also will mean local government will have to pay more in pension contributions.

“We’re in unchartered territory here,” said Jack Welch, the county’s chief administrative officer.

The county annually receives about $17 million in sales tax. March was down 9 percent and that’s only with nonessential businesses closed for about two weeks.

Early projections from the state comptroller estimated the county would take a minimal hit of about $559,000. That estimate for the minimal decrease has since been doubled to about $1.1 million. And that’s on the low side. The county could see a bigger loss.

“We have no idea how bad it could get,” Welch said.

The sales tax helps fund the county government, and reduces the level of property tax.

If the sales tax drops, the county would have to raise property taxes, unless it reduces expenses.

That’s why the County Legislature voted this morning to temporarily lay off 40 employees, initially for 30 days. The Legislature may extend that in two additional 30-day increments, ending July 31. After that day, if the county is in economic distress, it could make the layoffs permanent, according to the resolution adopted this morning.

The Legislature agreed to have the county continue to pay towards the health insurance of those employees during the temporary layoff.

Welch said employees will be asked if they want to be temporarily laid off. Once the county has a list of names, Welch and department heads will meet mid-week next week to identify 40 people by the end of the week, with the layoffs to start on a new pay period beginning April 26.

Welch said the reductions will include many departments, but not the Health Department or the Sheriff’s Office.

Welch said some county employees, with unemployment and the government stimulus checks for people on unemployment, could actually see more money during the temporary layoff.

Many of the employees have been working from home, or just are at home during the shutdown. Welch said the county isn’t in a position to keep paying people to stay home and not work, especially with a state-imposed shutdown continuing through at least May 15.

Lynne Johnson, County Legislature chairwoman, said the Legislature didn’t make the action lightly.

“Our employees and families are very important not only to county operations but to our community,” she said. “This is a temporary action to help stabilize the situation. Our employees are our most valuable asset.”

Johnson said the union representing the employees agreed later this morning to the temporary layoffs.

Hannah Pollard has turned shutdown into a mission

Provided photos: Hannah Pollard sits at her sewing machine, where she makes 50 to 75 masks a day for local residents and organizations.

MEDINA – When the government ordered the shutdown of all non-essential businesses, Hannah Pollard was no longer able to sell her crafts at her booth in Filomena’s Favorites.

So she turned her talent for sewing into making masks, which are now required when social distancing isn’t possible.

To date, she has made 1,200 masks for men, women and children.

Pollard, who retired in 2016 from Pollard Insurance, learned to sew from her mother Jane Pollard 20 years ago. Jane was a quilter and taught Hannah how to quilt by hand.

“I really enjoyed sewing and quilting so much, I opened a craft booth at Filomena’s,” Pollard said. “A day after the store was forced to close, someone said I should make masks, because people were going to want them.”

Pollard made a pattern and she was in business.

The first masks she made she offered for free to any healthcare worker, and they came in waves, she said.

The next ones she offered to corrections officers, and those masks also were in demand.

Then she started dealing with businesses and she was soon selling out of masks for $6 each.

She now has a four to five-day wait to fill orders for her masks. She has hit a roadblock, however, with not being able to buy any more elastic.

She ordered 400 yards online and tracking shows them at a post office in Rochester, but they can’t find them.

These are some of the children’s masks which Hannah Pollard is making in whimsical patterns.

“So now I’m using ribbon,” Pollard said.

Pollard is making between 50 and 75 masks a day, which she ships all over the United States, although her focus is on local orders. She has also shared her pattern with others.

She said she has other friends who are sewing caps and gowns for healthcare workers.

“Overlooked Orleans” – Vol. 6, No. 15

ALBION – This image, taken around 1900, shows a brick building on the north side of East Bank Street in Albion at the present site of Phoenix Fitness. In the years following this photograph, the office service as the telephone building prior to its relocation to Platt Street.

Based on identifying information on the obverse side of the photograph, we know that J. B. Gamble of Eagle Harbor produced the image. A handwritten note states that Freeman Herrick is the man seated atop the express wagon. A quick look at the 1900 U.S. Census shows us that Freeman Herrick, of State Street, was working as an expressman in the village. His work in this office began around 1880, working first as a commission agent, then as an express messenger operating the Albion to Buffalo line. The wagon is fully loaded with boxes, either prepared for transport to the railroad depot on Clinton Street, or awaiting delivery to residents in Albion.

The sign over the storefront indicates that this building was an American Express office. Started in 1850 at Buffalo, NY, the American Express company handled express freight shipments by railroad. Growing exponentially in the latter quarter of the 19th century, the company’s total assets by 1903 totaled approximately $28 million; only second to the assets held by the National City Bank of New York. In 1857, American Express launched their money order business in order to compete with the U.S. Postal System’s money order option.

To the right of the American Express office was the Western Union Telegraph Office. Established at Rochester in 1851 by Samuel Selden and Hiram Sibley, their New York and Mississippi Valley Printing Telegraph Company eventually combined with another company to form the Western Union Telegraph Company in 1856. Just as the American Express Company had established in 1857, Western Union developed their own money transfer service in 1871.

The identity of the two men and boy standing in the doorway are unknown, though it is presumed that one of the men is the office agent. In early 1901, John Napier was sent from Batavia’s express office to assume management of the Albion office. In turn, A. W. Myers of Albion was sent to Batavia to replace him.

As an aside, Freeman Herrick’s daughter, Margaret, met a young man in this office around 1903 and the two fell in love. According to local reports, Margaret was “addicted to the liquor habit” and her new beau attempted to break her habit. In December of 1903, Margaret wrote to the man and asked him to see her. When he refused, she committed suicide by taking a lethal dose of carbolic acid in Rochester.

The Governor’s executive order requiring people to wear a mask or a cloth covering their mouth and nose takes effect at 8 p.m. today. The order applies when people are out in public and can’t maintaining social distancing.

Children under age 2 or those medically unable to wear masks are exempt from the directive.

Andrew Cuomo announced the new executive order on Wednesday. He said local governments should enforce the executive order, but people won’t be subject to criminal penalties. However, if there isn’t widespread public acceptance of the executive order, Cuomo said the state could impose civilian penalties.

“I understand, I’m getting a lot of not happy phone calls,” he said on Thursday during a news conference. “I’m sorry it makes people unhappy. I don’t consider it a major burden and it is really a simple measure that can save lives.”

Paul Pettit, public health director in Orleans and Genesee counties, urged people to follow the directive. It provides extra protection for the public. It reduces spray and spit from people wearing the mask or cloth covering.

Pettit praised many in the community who have made masks and cloth coverings.

“It is the requirement the governor has put in place,” Pettit said today. “The whole idea is to slow the spread.”

‘A perfect storm of financial difficulty for Orleans County’

ALBION — Orleans County legislators are looking at temporary layoffs in county government due to anticipated steep reductions in revenue.

Legislators will meet at 9:30 a.m. on Saturday to discuss the issue. They are hoping the labor unions among county employees will be a partner in a temporary layoff.

“We are trying to weigh all the factors involved here to do what’s right for our employees and the county taxpayers,” said Jack Welch, the county’s  chief administrative officer.

Welch and county legislators say the financial impact to the county from Covid-19 will be dramatic in 2020 and next year. Sales tax projections will be down at least $500,000 and perhaps much more, with state reimbursements also expected to be cut. Losses in the stock market also will likely mean higher pension contribution rates over the next several years.

“The 2 percent tax cap was made permanent in state law and tied to several state reimbursement formulas,” Welch said in a news release. “These factors come together to create a perfect storm of financial difficulty for Orleans County.”

County officials say a temporary layoff now could ease some of the damage to the county’s finances.

“This is not a course of action that we are pursuing lightly,” said Lynne Johnson, Legislature chairwoman. “Our employees and families are very important not only to county operations but to our community. This is a temporary action to help stabilize the situation. Our employees are our most valuable asset.”

7 new positives in Albion and 1 in Ridgeway, Health Department reports

The charts are made available by the Public Health Departments in Orleans and Genesee counties.

Orleans County has eight new confirmed cases of Covid-19 today, the biggest one-day increase for the county since the Covid-19 pandemic began, the public health department reported.

Orleans County now has 43 confirmed cases. Of the eight new cases today, seven are in Albion and one is in Ridgeway.

The age groups for the new cases include one individual in the 50s, 2 in the 60s, 2 in 70s and 3 in the 80s.

Orleans also had one person officially recover from Covid-19, bringing that number to 15. Of the current active cases, four people are hospitalized, said Paul Pettit, public health director for the Genesee and Orleans County Health Departments.

The town by town breakdown of the cases in Orleans County includes: Albion, 20; Carlton and Ridgeway, 4; Barre, Shelby and Kendall, 3; Murray, Gaines and Yates, 2; and Clarendon, 0.

Genesee County has 5 new positive cases of Covid-19, bringing Genesee’s total to 92 positive cases. Of those, 45 people have recovered.

The new cases include one person in the 20s, one in the 30s, one in the 50s, one in the 60s and one in the 90s.

In Genesee, three of the active cases include people who are currently hospitalized.

Pettit said he is encouraged that the number of active cases seems to be plateauing, but he said it is difficult to fully understand the scope of the virus’s impact in the two counties because there isn’t widespread testing available yet.

There has been more testing recently and he is encouraged that the test results are coming back sometimes the same day or the next day. Those results were taking more than a week, Pettit said.

Press Release, Gov. Andrew Cuomo

Photo by Tom Rivers: The flags are lowered at the Village of Holley Firemen’s Park today out of respect for people who have died from the Covid-19. Gov. Andrew Cuomo has directed flags to be at half-staff for Covid-19 victims while the state is on Pause, which continues to at least May 15. The flag to the left is for emergency medical services and the other flag is for the fire department. The state reported 630 deaths from Covid-19 on Thursday, bringing the state total to 12,822.

Amid the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic, Governor Andrew M. Cuomo today announced he will issue an Executive Order directing all public and private labs in New York to coordinate with the State Department of Health to prioritize coronavirus diagnostic testing.

This action is part of the State’s efforts to ramp up testing, a key component of the Governor’s blueprint to un-Pause New York. The Executive Order will help ensure the 301 laboratories and hospitals in the state that are licensed to perform virology operate in a coordinated fashion to overcome the testing challenges that every state in the nation is now facing.

The Governor also reiterated his call for the federal government to provide unrestricted funding to the states to help stabilize the economy and allow the states to perform reopening functions. The federal government has passed three bills to address this crisis, including the federal CARES Act, all of which contained zero funding to offset drastic state revenue shortfalls.

The Governor also launched an awareness campaign encouraging low-income New Yorkers to claim their Economic Impact Payments under the CARES Act. The Act provides $1,200 payments to individuals making below $75,000 and $2,400 payments to married couples making below $150,000. However, taxpayers will only receive their payments automatically if they filed 2018 or 2019 federal tax returns.

Because the federal filing threshold is roughly $12,000 for individuals and $24,000 for married couples, hundreds of thousands of the lowest income New Yorkers who are not required to file returns will not receive their payments unless they provide their information to the IRS.

To support the Governor’s awareness campaign, the Department of Taxation and Finance launched an Economic Impact Payment information: what you need to know web page and will do direct outreach to taxpayers who may not automatically receive the payments they’re owed (click here for more information). The Tax Department will also partner with the Office of Temporary and Disability Assistance, NYS Division of Veterans’ Services, the Department of Labor and local community organizations to raise awareness and ensure action is taken by those who need this benefit most.

“As we work over the next several months to un-pause New York, the testing and tracing is going to be our guidepost,” Governor Cuomo said. “No state is currently capable of doing the large-scale COVID testing that is needed. We have 300 laboratories and hospitals across the state that do virology testing and we must coordinate them to become one system — like we did with the hospitals — to get our testing capacity where it needs to be. I am going to issue an Executive Order that says the Department of Health will coordinate all of these labs so we can ramp up testing and get more people back to work.”

Finally, the Governor confirmed 7,358 additional cases of novel coronavirus, bringing the statewide total to 229,642 confirmed cases in New York State.

(Editor’s note: Counties with more than 500 cases include: Sullivan, 505; Putnam, 578; Albany, 619; Ulster, 788; Monroe, 975; Erie, 1,929; Duchess, 2,152; Orange, 6,084; Rockland, 8,987; Westchester, 22,476; Suffolk, 25,035; Nassau, 28,539; and New York City, 127,352.)

300 boxes of food were gone quickly

Photos by Tom Rivers

ALBION – Community Action of Orleans & Genesee employees help serve boxes of food and bags of potatoes this morning in Albion, including Ricky Standish, lower right.

Community Action and the Office for Aging in Orleans County teamed with Foodlink to serve 300 boxes of food that were each 25 pounds.

They were set up in the parking lot on South Main Street in front of Community Action’s Main Street Store. This photo was taken about 10 a.m., when the line was noticeably much shorter.

The event was advertised to be from 9:30 to 11:30 a.m. But people started showing up after 6 a.m. with lines forming by 7:30 a.m.

Foodlink arrived with a truck by 8:30, and the food distribution started soon after that. By 10:45, the boxes were all gone.

People who arrived when the food was gone were offered a bag of potatoes and were also encouraged to try the Community Action food pantries in Albion and Holley.

Albion Police Chief Roland Nenni helped set up the plan for the event. Vehicles would enter the parking lot from Chamberlain Street and were then split into two lines.

An Albion police officer directs traffic on Platt Street. This photo was taken about 9 a.m., when there was already a long line for the food distribution, which wasn’t supposed to start until 9:30.

Annette Finch, community service director for Community Action, said she is working with Foodlink to have another distribution in the near future.

Finch estimated that 40 percent of the people who pulled up for a box of food were senior citizens. Many others were younger adults with families.

Jeff Atwell of Community Action carries a box to the trunk of a car. Drivers and passengers all had to stay in the vehicles with the windows closed. They pulled up with the trunks open. When the food was put in the trunk and closed, Atwell and other helpers tapped the trunk for people to drive away.

Greg Gilman of Community Action directs motorists on which line to enter. Albion Mayor Eileen Banker, left, assisted with the distribution this morning.

There were small bottles of hand sanitizer given to all the people helping move the boxes to trunks of vehicles. After each interaction, the volunteers or Community Action employees needed to sanitize their hands. The sanitizer was packaged by inmates at the Albion Correctional Facility.

Provided photo. These Office for the Aging employees assisted with the food distribution this morning. They include, front row, from left: Leanne Donovan and Samantha Koons. Back row: Becky Karls and Susie Miller.

Photo by Tom Rivers

CLARENDON – A utility pole was knocked down by a tractor trailer at about 11:20 today on Route 237, just north of Lake Road.

The driver of the truck swerved to avoid a deer and hit the pole.

Holley and Clarendon firefighters are on the scene providing traffic control.

No other information is available.

Local State Assembly representatives, Steve Hawley of Batavia and Mike Norris of Lockport, are among 42 Republicans in the Assembly seeking state assistance for the agriculture industry.

The Republicans in the Assembly have signed a joint letter to asking Gov. Andrew Cuomo and Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie to ease some regulations for farmers.

The Assembly members said efforts to prevent the spread of the coronavirus have led to severe disruptions to the dairy industry’s supply chain, dramatic reductions in demand, and have forced many farmers to dump valuable product.

“Farmers are one of our most important working groups, especially in a situation as dire as this one,” Hawley said. “If there’s any way to give them more support and more relief during this troubling time, we’re obligated to do so. It’s about keeping the supply chain running, keeping a small family farm’s doors open, and making sure everyone has food on the table. We can all agree we need to protect our farmers.”

The Assembly Minority Conference has compiled a list of recommendations to help farms survive and stabilize state and local economies.

“Farmers need immediate help,” the Assembly members state in the letter. “I hope that we can work collaboratively, along with the appropriate State agencies, to implement these changes and get New York’s agricultural community back on track.”

New York has more than 200,000 confirmed cases of the virus, which has killed more than 12,000 New York residents.

“No state has felt the social, economic, and public health effects of the virus like New York,” the Assembly members write. “As we identify ways to manage and minimize the devastating impacts of the virus, we must consider immediate steps to provide critical relief to New York State’s agricultural industry.”

The Republicans in the Assembly made the following recommendations:

• Suspend, for 1 year, DMV registration requirements for agricultural vehicles and farm trucks;
• Suspend the highway use tax, special hauling permit fees, and collection of New York State tolls for vehicles used to transport agricultural products, including milk;
• Suspend, for 1 year, the 60-hour overtime threshold for farm laborers enacted as part of the 2019 Farm Labor bill;
• Suspend, during the state of emergency period, the 24-hour agricultural rest requirement;
• Extend the Milk Producers Security Fund to help producers who are unable to sell because of COVID-19;
• Use additional federal stimulus money for direct cash infusions for Cornell Cooperative Extensions to assist in the provision of emergency services;
• Use federal stimulus funding to invest in rural broadband infrastructure to assist in the provision of services to farms/rural areas during uncertain social and economic times;
• Provide vouchers for food banks to purchase local dairy and agricultural products; and
• Stipulate “green nurseries” as essential businesses for the remainder of the COVID-19 crisis, so that these businesses can re-open while following social-distancing guidelines.

Press Release, Cornell Cooperative Extension in Orleans County

KNOWLESVILLE – Cornell Cooperative Extension of Orleans County is promoting gardening during the coronavirus pandemic as a way to boost morale and personal food supply – a modern day Victory Garden.

Historically, Victory Gardens were promoted during WWI and WWII to ease the strain of food shortages brought on by wartime efforts. Today, because the coronavirus pandemic has impacted people’s lives in countless ways, NY residents are again looking to their own backyards or sunny windowsills to support their family’s food consumption.

Horticulture departments at CCE associations statewide have been seeing surges of inquiries from residents interested in learning about gardening. To respond to this need, Cornell Cooperative Extension has developed the “Just Plant it, NY!” program to support the efforts of home gardeners across the state.

The CCE Garden-Based Learning website has compiled gardening resources from Master Gardener Training and other teaching forums and made them available free to the public to support gardening efforts during these challenging times.  Click here to find video tutorials, tips for starting a garden, and garden-based activity ideas for youth and adults.

At the local level, Orleans County CCE Horticulture Educator Katie Oakes created CoronaVictory Garden Seed Kits with seed packets left over from last year’s Library Seed Bank program. The seed kits will be offered for free on the front porch of the Orleans County CCE office. Each seed kit contains 3-4 packets of food-based seeds (vegetables, fruit, or herbs) and 2-3 packets of flower seeds.

The envelopes are sealed to ensure the safety and quality of the seed packets inside – and also to keep the specific varieties of seeds a surprise for participants. Seeds are available on a first-come, first-served basis, and to make sure the program has the furthest reach possible in our community, we are asking that each family take just one seed packet. Seeds are self-service and supplies are limited. The Orleans County CCE office is located at the 4-H Fairgrounds, 12690 State Rt 31, Albion, NY.

Orleans County CCE 4-H Coordinator Kristina Gabalski also recognizes the importance of growing a garden for both physical and emotional health.

“I plan to encourage all of our 4-H families in Orleans County to consider growing a Victory Garden this year,” Gabalski said. “It will be a way to build community during a time of physical distancing as well as grow knowledge and self-sufficiency. Gardens are a great source of hope in the future and can be therapeutic in times of stress and uncertainty.”

Gabalski has already heard from at least one 4-H family that is planning a Victory Garden this year. The Gregoire family of Murray has already selected some seeds from the extension office to get a head start on growing their food plants.

“Mom taught us why Victory Gardens were planted,” the Gregoire children wrote in an email to Gabalski describing their Victory Garden. “We have already picked out most of the seeds, and we are going to purchase tomato plants through the 4-H Leader’s Plant Sale from Kirby’s.”

The Gregoires have also amended their garden beds with rabbit and horse manure to increase the nutrients available for their plants once they are in the ground.

But gardening isn’t limited to just those with rabbit and horse manure! Anyone with a small yard or even a sunny patio or window can grow something.

“I really want to make sure that people don’t feel intimidated by starting a garden,” Oakes said. “With a little guidance, some basic materials, and a willingness to try, gardening can be a really fun and rewarding hobby.”

To further support our county’s residents in starting a garden, Oakes will be offering a free Seed Starting class via Zoom on Thursday, April 23 at 7 p.m. The class will focus on basics like reading a seed packet, materials needed to get started, seedling maintenance, etc.

To join the class, please email Katie Oakes at klo54@cornell.edu to receive the Zoom invitation link. Oakes is also available by email to answer any gardening questions that come up throughout the growing season. Find more details about local horticulture or 4-H programs as well as other extension resources at orleans.cornell.cce.edu.