Photos by Tom Rivers

ALBION – The Elks Lodge #1006 in Albion on Saturday teamed with WIC representatives to distribute baby food, diapers, clothes and others supplies to new parents. Pictured from left include Donna Boland, WIC nutritionist at Oak Orchard Health; April Flesch, trustee for the Elks in Albion; Lynda Standish, secretary for the Elks; and Linda Johnson, WIC outreach coordinator for Oak Orchard Health.

The Elks in Albion used a $4,000 grant from the grand lodge to assist 15 households in a community baby shower. Elks volunteers and teamed with representatives from WIC to buy supplies needed for new mothers.

The expectant moms received a diaper bag, sippy cups, onesies, crib sheet, stroller, portable crib, bottles, diapers, books, rattles, soothing baby noise machines, a baby bath tub, pack and play and other materials.

The WIC (Women, Infants and Children) program provides free, healthy foods and personalized nutrition education, breastfeeding support and referrals to other services. WIC staff were able to refer expectant mothers in Albion to Saturday’s community baby shower.

“It’s beautiful,” Donna Boland of WIC said about the Elks effort on Saturday. “It’s nice to be able to help people when they need it.”

A baby doll is in a portable crib. In the background, Betty Sue Miller from Hoag Library met with some of the mothers about the importance of reading to young children.

Photo by Tom Rivers: David Beach and his wife Debbie were celebrated last Sunday at the Gaines Carlton Community Church on Route 104. Beach led the church the past 16 years as the pastor.

GAINES – David Beach can relate to his congregation when delivering messages from the pulpit.

Becoming a pastor has been a second career for Beach. He worked at the former Lipton’s in Albion for nearly 10 years until it closed in 1980. He then worked at Ames in Medina for 2 ½ years before spending a long tenure at Ontario Food and later Associated Brands in Medina.

Through it all, Beach was active at his church as a youth leader, a church moderator and very involved member. Church leaders – Bob Mowatt at the First Baptist Church in Albion and Karen Allamon at the Barre Center Presbyterian Church – would encourage him to consider becoming a pastor. Beach said he felt that call and pursued a certificate in ministry at Northeastern Seminary in Rochester at Roberts Wesleyan.

At age 61 he retired from Associated Brands and began a life dedicated to ministry. At that time 16 years ago, there was an opening at the Gaines Carlton Community Church. It was an ideal situation with the church close to home and affiliated with the American Baptist Churches USA.

File photos: (Left) David Beach speaks during a service on Nov. 17, 2019 for the 50th anniversary of the church. The congregation at 14585 Ridge Rd. was formed as part of a merger of three churches in East Gaines, the Bridges and Kent. (Right) During a baccalaureate service on June 5 for Albion’s Class of 2022, Beach prayed for some of the soon-to-be grads, including his grandson, James Beach.

Beach has retired as pastor at age 77. His wife Debbie has been a key part of the ministry, going back to when they were volunteer youth leaders. Gaines Carlton honored the couple last Sunday with a reception.

“They made a good team,” said long-time member Peggy Bropst. “They live their faith. They are kind, gentle people.”

Pastor Dave said many people, including some of the local clergy, had seen him as a church leader long before he made it official as a pastor.

“What took you so long?” he recalled some of the pastors telling him.

Beach said he has enjoyed giving the Sunday sermons to the congregation, welcoming children in the services, doing visitations and offering some guidance to church and community members.

“I didn’t do counseling,” he said. “I did listening.”

Beach has some advice for people considering a role in ministry: find a mentor and pursue that desire.

But, ultimately, he said God needs to direct their path.

“I felt this calling,” he said.

He is grateful to have been able to serve at Gaines Carlton Community Church for 16 years, where he said many are long-time members with roots going back several generations.

“I have enjoyed getting to know the people better,” he said. “I enjoyed relating to the children, and trying to inspire and teach the congregation.”

David and Debbie raised three sons – Mike, Darryll and Matt. They are all married. The Beaches have five grandchildren and a great-grandson. They all attended the reception last Sunday.

The church is looking for a pastor. Right now, two local church pastors are alternating in delivering the sermons on Sunday: Susan Boring from the Eagle Harbor Methodist Church and Marsha Rivers from the First Baptist Church in Albion.

Press Release, Congresswoman Claudia Tenney

DANSVILLE – Congresswoman Claudia Tenney (NY-24) today hosted a Welcome Home Ceremony to celebrate the safe return of Ryan Corbett, a Dansville native who was wrongfully detained by the Taliban from Aug. 10, 2022, to Jan. 21, 2025.

Ryan Corbett, a husband, father, and native of Western New York, was wrongfully detained by the Taliban in Afghanistan on August 10, 2022, and held without charge for 893 days.

After learning of Ryan’s case in 2023, Rep. Tenney became a leading advocate for his release and well-being.

“Our family is deeply grateful for Congresswoman Tenney’s help in bringing Ryan home after 893 days of wrongful detention by the Taliban in Afghanistan,” said Anna Corbett, Ryan’s wife. “She not only showed personal concern for Ryan’s health and safety, offering encouraging words to the children and I but also put her words to action by pushing for the Wrongful Detainee designation, introducing a House Resolution asking for Ryan’s immediate release, inviting me as her personal guest to the State of the Union Address and setting up a meeting with the incoming National Security Advisor during my trip to Florida. We will be forever grateful for her support.”

Tenney successfully pushed for his official designation as a wrongful detainee by the U.S. Department of State on October 10, 2023.

Additionally, Rep. Tenney introduced H.Res. 965, a resolution calling for Ryan’s immediate release, which passed the House in June 2024. Rep Tenney also played a key role in arranging a January 2025 meeting between the Corbett family and the Trump administration’s National Security Advisor Mike Waltz.

“After nearly 900 extremely challenging days for the Corbett Family, NY-24 and the nation are thrilled to welcome Ryan Corbett home,” Tenney said. “The strength and courage displayed by Anna, Ketsia, Miriam, and Caleb has been truly astonishing, and it has been a privilege to work alongside them in this fight to get Ryan home. Today’s event celebrated Ryan’s safe return to our community and demonstrated our profound gratitude to all, including President Trump and National Security Advisory Waltz, who made Ryan’s return possible.”

MEDINA – Orleans Community Health has announced the date for its annual spring wellness fair.

“The 2025 Spring Wellness Fair at Medina Memorial Hospital is an excellent opportunity for the community to prioritize their health and well-being,” said Scott Robinson, director of marketing.

The free event will take place from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on April 5. Attendees can access a variety of health screenings and services at no cost, including three informative clinics – Lumps and Bumps, hearing tests at the Eye, Nose and Throat Clinic, and Pediatrics.

In addition to these clinics, there will be several crucial health screenings available, such as ultrasounds for the aorta (to detect aneurysms), carotid arteries screenings (to check for potential stroke risks due to occlusions), ankle-brachial index (ABI) which helps to identify peripheral vascular disease and Echo screenings which provide valuable insight into heart health.

Laboratory testings include Hemoglobin A1c (for diabetes management), Prostate-Specific Antigen (PSA), Thyroid Stimulating Hormone (TSH) and cholesterol screenings. The cholesterol screenings are new this year, Robinson said.

Thanks to a sponsorship by the Greater Rochester Health Foundation, the event is entirely free. This means there will not be a $10 fee for tests, and the pediatric clinic will be distributing bicycle helmets as part of child safety efforts.

This event is designed to give the community easy access to important health assessments and resources. Whether one is due for a routine check-up or seeking specific tests, the Spring Wellness Fair is a great way to take charge of your health this season, Robinson said.

They will also be offering spots for community groups to join in as well.

“We’re holding this event on a Saturday in hopes that will accommodate those who have not been able to attend during a week night,” Robinson added.

Clinics are all walk-ins and no appointment is needed, however, patients still need to register for radiology and laboratory procedures by logging on to https://app.10to8.com/book/ujlltdlinupxwqtekv/.

MEDINA – This year, for the first time, Orleans Community Health will launch a virtual, on-you-honor fundraising challenge that highlights the dedication and physical demands of nursing.

“Walk a Month in a Nurse’s Shoes” will coincide with National Nurses Week and Hospital Week throughout May. Participants will commit to walking 105 miles – the average distance a nurse walks in a month during their shifts.

Supporters can register, track their progress and rally donations from friends and family to celebrate and support the nursing staff, said Scott Robinson, director of Marketing at Orleans Community Health.

“Join us in honoring nurses, while raising vital funds for healthcare in our community,” he said.

Registration for the challenge is $5 and participants are asked to commit to raising $105 from family and friends.

Packets can be picked up later in April, to be sure they have enough T-shirts and everything printed with sponsor logos. They will also mail packets for anyone 20 miles or more away from the hospital, to encourage out-of-towners to participate.

Participants will receive a T-shirt, water bottle (for which they already have a sponsor), and hopefully a pedometer. They are still looking for a $500 sponsor for this.

Robinson reminds everyone this is intended to be a mission-focused event which focuses on the benefits of walking, highlights the hospital’s nursing teams and gives participants an opportunity to compete against others.

“That’s right,” Robinson added. “Find a friend, business or hospital department to challenge during the month of May.”

MEDINA – The Medina Dog Park opened in September 2020 at a fenced-in area on North Gravel Road, next to the village’s former compost plant, just south of Boxwood Cemetery.

The site has been a big success, drawing hundreds of regular users, with many form outside Medina, said Cindy Davis, vice president of Friends of Medina Dog Park.

Zavitz made this portrait of her brother’s Bassett Hound, Hazel, in a tutu. This dog would tap her feet when she walked.

The site has added features since its opening, with agility equipment, a water station and a gazebo.

Soon the park will add  large mural of local beloved dogs. Brandi Zavitz, a retired art teacher, will paint 50 portraits of dogs on the mural. She wants to show them with personalities, wearing super-hero capes, princess crowns, and other accessories to help shown when they are so loved.

Zavitz is backed by a grant from GO Art! to create the mural. She also painted the mural under the Glenwood Avenue canal bridge. She is teaming with the Friends of the Dog Park for an additional $100 fee to have a dog painted on the mural. Those proceeds will go towards the Dog Park which would like to add another water station, a second gazebo, another fenced-in area for smaller dogs and include more agility equipment, Davis said.

The mural will make a popular place even more special, she said, with all the portraits of dogs.

“In Medina you see so many people walking their dogs,” Zavitz said. “They love them like they are their children.”

She welcomes people interested in having their dogs in the mural to email her two photos of the dogs. She wants details about the dog’s personality (affectionate, goofy, etc.), whether or not it is living, if it is male or female, and some of the activities the dog enjoys.

If a dog has passed away, Zavitz will paint angel wings on that portrait.

For more information, contact Zavitz at brandizavitz@gmail.com or by text (585) 798-9780, or Davis at (585) 590-6543. Click here to see the Facebook page for the Friends of Medina Dog Park.

The mural will be 24 feet long. Zavitz said she will paint the portraits on site and expects the project to be done in the summer.

A retired Holley art teacher, Zavitz said she has been painting dog portraits for many years.

“This will be very spontaneous,” she said about the mural. “It’s going to be very exciting with a lot of movement.”

It’s almost time to turn the clocks ahead for Daylight Savings Time. The clocks officially spring forward at 2 a.m. tonight.

Local fire departments also urge people to replace smoke and carbon monoxide detector batteries, and recommend families discuss home emergency plans.

AAA warns that as Americans “spring forward” and set their clocks ahead one hour, they will be losing an hour of sleep. The change in daylight hours means motorists could experience drowsy driving and added distractions behind the wheel.

AAA urged motorists to take precautions against drowsy driving and be alert for kids walking home from school or playing outside.

Dr. Clark Godshall

ALBANY – Dr. Clark Godshall, who retired June 30 after 53 years as an educator and 43 years as a school administrator, received a Distinguished Service Award this week from the New York State Council of School Superintendents.

The organization met at the Albany Capital Center for its Winter Institute & Lobby Day. Godshall was honored by the group for an “exemplary commitment to public education.” The Distinguished Service award is the organization’s highest honor.

Godshall recently retired as the Orleans-Niagara BOCES after 24 years as the district superintendent. While leading the Orleans/Niagara BOCES, he was a member of the NYS Council of School Superintendents and was one of the group’s youngest presidents and led the NY Commissioner’s Advisory Council. He also was past president of NYS Association of School Business Officials and ASBO International Associations.

He was previously named a New York State Superintendent of the Year and represented New York State on the national stage of the American Association  of School Superintendents.

His accomplishments included his 34 years at the BOCES including five interim BOCES superintendencies, completing over 76 superintendent searches, mentoring  hundreds of school administrators and providing training to school board members and his peers.

During his acceptance speech, Dr. Godshall credited his success to the great teams that he had been associated with at the Orleans/Niagara BOCES, specifically, the Board of Education, component districts, New York State Education Department, the community and O/N BOCES employees.

“A great educational staff with community support is the foundation to a great education!” he declared.

A former high school science teacher, Godshall instructed biology, chemistry and earth science in the Hilton Central School District and started his administrative career as the assistant superintendent for the Penn Yan Central School District.

DOCCS sets today as deadline for staff to return to work and have health insurance reinstated and not face disciplinary action

Photo by Tom Rivers: Corrections officers on strike are shown Feb. 19 on Gaines Basin Road in Albion across the road from the Orleans Correctional Facility. Officers said they were working too much mandatory overtime, keeping them away from their families.

ALBION – Correction officers are not outside in a demonstration today across from the Orleans Correctional Facility.

They had been out there on Gaines Basin Road since Feb. 18, typically with about 100 current or retired officers gathered near burn barrels.

The state Department of Corrections and Community Supervision on Thursday evening announced it wouldn’t take disciplinary action against striking corrections officers if they returned to work today. DOCCS would also immediately reinstate their health insurance if they were back to work today.

Daniel Martuscello, the DOCCS commissioner, also vowed to create a committee focused on safety dealing directly with effects of the HALT Act. Corrections officers said the HALT Act was their primary motivation in going on strike. COs wanted it rescinded, saying that legislation, dealing with solitary confinement, had made prisons less safe for staff and inmates.

The commissioner also said DOCCS would continue a 2.5 overtime rate for 30 days from day employees return to work. Each prison will allow staff to transition from 12 to 8 hour shifts once normal operations return, and that will be determined facility by facility, Martuscello said. DOCCS will move away from 24-hour shifts, he said, to restore a life-work balance, he said.

DOCCS also will work with contractors to better screen mail to keep out contraband to better protect staff and the incarcerated population.

“I’m here to say that I heard my workforce,” Martuscello said in an on-line news conference. “I want to support them and continue to support them and continue to work on the safety issues that they’ve raised while out on the line. I want to end this illegal strike. We need to get back to some form of normalcy. and this delivers the things that they’ve asked for. I am determined to make sure that I deliver for them. They deserve it. We’ve heard them. We need them. They play an important role in public safety.”

The National Guard will remain in “a support posture” and will draw down their presence as staff return to prisons, he said.

Jackie Bray (left), commissioner of the state Division of Homeland Security and Emergency Services, and Department of Corrections and Community Supervision Commissioner Daniel Martuscello speak during an online news conference on Thursday.

Commissioner Bray said corrections officers and sergeants need to return today and won’t get another offer to return without discipline.

The state is prepared to remedy all of its rights, criminal and civil, to end the “illegal” strike, Bray said.

“We want you back, we need you back,” Bray said.

Those who have been terminated due to the strike will have their termination notices rescinded if they show up today at work, she said.

Some of the local corrections officers have returned to work, others have resigned and some are remaining on strike but are just staying home rather than being outside, a retired sergeant from Orleans Correctional told the Orleans Hub.

“Sadly it appears that this was all for naught,” the retired sergeant said about the strike that stretched 2 ½ weeks so far.

DOCCS appealed to corrections officers directly yesterday after the union declined to signa  memorandum of understanding with terms to end the strike. The New York State Correctional Officers & Police Benevolent Association represents about 13,000 corrections officers.

“NYSCOPBA was not appropriately engaged in the development of the currently circulating agreement,” union spokesman James Miller said in a statement Thursday. “This agreement was not negotiated with NYSCOPBA—the legally recognized entity through which all negotiations must be conducted. There are substantial legal issues that must be addressed, and as presented, this agreement does not represent the best interests of our membership.”

Press Release, Medina Central School

MEDINA – The application for Medina’s Full Day Universal Pre-K (UPK) program is now available on the Primary School’s website or by going to oak.medinacsd.org and looking under “News and Announcements.”

Parents of children not already enrolled in UPK who are interested in enrolling their child in Kindergarten for the 25-26 school year are also asked to complete the application form.

To be eligible for UPK, children must be 4 years old by Dec. 1, 2025. To be eligible for Kindergarten, children must be 5 years old by Dec. 1, 2025.

For any families looking to learn more about the full-day UPK program, the Medina School District will be hosting an Information Night on Thursday, March 13th from 5:30 to 6:45 p.m., held at Oak Orchard Primary School. Childcare will be provided for any children eligible to attend school in the 2025-’26 school year.

Doors will open at 5:15 p.m. and the evening will begin promptly at 5:30 p.m. There will be a brief general session for adults in the auditorium, and then participants will visit scheduled locations throughout the building. Please plan to arrive by 5:30 and stay for the duration, in order to receive all the information prepared.

Families interested in learning more about Medina’s UPK program are encouraged to attend the Information Night. If you are unable to attend, information will be shared afterward on Oak Orchard Primary School’s website.

Timeline for UPK Application, Acceptance, Registration and Screening:

February 26 – April 7: UPK applications accepted by calling the Oak Orchard Main Office, or through our website, starting on 2/26

Thursday, March 13: UPK Information Night 5:30 p.m. to 6:45 p.m. at Oak Orchard Primary

April 8: Families notified of acceptance into UPK Program or if program capacity is reached, that lottery is to be held.

Week of April 7: Lottery held, if needed, and registration packets mailed.

Week of May 19 – May 23: UPK Student Screening, applicants should bring all registration materials to the screening. A parent and the child are expected to attend the screening. Applicants will be contacted by phone to schedule their screening time.

Any questions can be directed to the Oak Orchard Main Office by calling (585) 798-2700, option 3 and then 0, between 7:30 to 3:30, Monday through Friday.

MEDINA – It is ironic the idea to pay tribute to Medina’s female business owners should come from a man.

The idea to observe International Women’s Day came from Scott Robinson, a member of the marketing committee and past president of the Medina Area Partnership.

Information online indicates National Women’s Day was first observed in the United States on Feb. 28, 1909, stating the Socialist Party of America designated the day to honor the 1908 garment workers’ strike in New York, where women protested poor working conditions.

An initial observance occurred in 1975, however, the day wasn’t officially designated until March 8, 1977.

March was declared as Women’s History Month by Barack Obama’s administration in 2011.

One of Medina’s many women business owners is Mary Lewis, who opened her first flower shop on Maple Ridge Road after Muchow’s closed in 2006. A year later she moved her business, Creekside Floral, to 422 Main St., and then in 2018 to her current address at 509 Main St.

“A woman brings everything to a business, especially mothers who are used to multi-tasking,” Lewis said.

Of more than 100 businesses who are members of Medina Area Partnership, more than 40 are owned or co-owned by women.

Some of those business owners came to Rotary Park earlier this week. Those business owners represented Creekside Floral, A lily and a sparrow, Bent’s Opera House, Hometown Wellness, Vintage Cigar, English Rose Tea Shoppe, Hans’s Bakery on Main, Ontario Shores Credit Union, Law Office of Katherine Bogan, Premier Cleaning Services, The Willows, RLW Cattle Co., KG Rentals and Author’s Note.

“I was thrilled with the turnout,” Robinson said. “Mary Lewis did the legwork of getting people there, even minutes before, making sure everyone had an opportunity. It’s a great testament to the business community and many of the powerful women helping it thrive.”