Money goes to Cat by Cat Inc. that works with feral cat problem in Orleans County

Photos by Tom Rivers

MEDINA – Caturday volunteers Shannon Blount, Ellen Blanc and Kelsey Dreisbach are shown at the Caturday fundraiser on Sunday where 184 baskets were up for raffle.

The event raised $29,000 for Cat by Cat Inc., which eclipsed the $24,000 from a year. Canalside has now hosted the fundraiser four years, raising $10,000 in 2022 and $18,000 in 2023.

Blount leads the local Cat by Cat Inc. that is trying to rein in the feral or community cat problem in Orleans County.

Cat by Cat seeks to humanely “TNVR” cats through targeted trapping. Cat by Cat focuses on a TNVR model – Trap, Neuter, Vaccinate and Return.

The team in Orleans County cares for about 150 cats a year. The last four years the local Cat by Cat has tended to 600 to 700 cats and adopted out about 100 a year.

“It’s a quality of life issue not only for the cats but for the community as well,” Blount said. “Nobody wants 100 stray cats wandering around.”

There were 184 gift baskets up for raffle. There were so many, the basket raffle was moved from outside Canalside Tattoo to a tent for the raffle.

That is up from the 150 baskets a year ago. Blount said many local businesses and residents contributed baskets to help support the cause.

Feral or community cats are a big problem all over the county, Blount said.

“Until you get the cats neutered and vetted, the cycle just continues,” she said.

The Caturday fundraiser will help pay for veterinarian costs, cat food, litter and other supplies.

Once a week Blount and volunteers take cats to vets in Blasdell and Hamburg for spay and neutering services, which is done at a deep discount.

“We absolutely need more volunteers to help drive,” Blount said.

To inquire about volunteering, go to the Cat by Cat website.

Canalside had 13 tattoo artists doing tattoos on Sunday for $100 each. They would do about 125 tattoos.

Shawn Ramsey, owner of Canalside Tattoo, works on a Buffalo Bills tattoo for Chris Barrett of Lockport. Barrett was at Canalside for the first time on Sunday and was impressed with the atmosphere of the place, and the push to raise money for a cause in the community.

Barrett believes the Buffalo Bills will win the Super Bowl for the first time in their history this season.

‘This is the year,” he said. “It’s gonna happen.”

Shawn Ramsey, who is engaged to Shannon Blount, praised the tattoo artists for volunteering their time on Sunday. Canalside has six tattoo artists on staff, and seven other visiting artists were part of the day, as well as piercers and Marked. by Janna doing eyebrow wax and shaping.

C.J. Cruickshank, one of the tattoo artists at Canalside, works on a tattoo for Olivia Miller, 21, during Caturday. Miller also got a tattoo a year ago on Caturday. That raccoon tattoo has prompted by smiles and fun conversation in the past year, Miller said.

On Sunday, her new tattoo was of a cat falling asleep while reading a book. Miller said the tattoo was a birthday present from her father.

“It’s fun getting a silly animal tattoo,” she said.

Miller also wanted to support Cat by Cat which has helped her family with two cats.

Provided photo

MURRAY – Organizers and volunteers of the Murray Tractor Pull this afternoon presented a check for $13,000 to the Ronald McDonald House, which provides hospitality for families with children fighting a serious illness.

The Christ family and a group of volunteers have been running the tractor pull for many years on a course they built on Groth Road. The setup includes a track, concessions stand and parking. This year’s pull was on July 19 and attracted more than 1,500 spectators.

The $13,000 for the Ronald McDonald House is up from the $10,000 in 2024, and the $8,500 donated in 2023.

Photos provided by Mary Ellen Ashley with permission: Mary Ellen Ashley has enjoyed a long career in show business. Albion native Patrick Riviere produced a documentary about her life, “Just a Broadway Baby: Mary Ellen Ashley.”

Press Release, Patrick Riviere

The award-winning short documentary film about the life and career of Mary Ellen Ashley (Broadway: The Innocent Voyage, Annie Get Your Gun with Ethel Merman and Yentl) is now available to screen on YouTube.

After a long film festival circuit run in which the 24-minute film was nominated at 14 festivals, won eight awards including five Best Documentary Short Awards (Art of Brooklyn, Chain Film Festival, Oregon Documentary Film Festival, Upstate NY Film Festival and New York Long Island Film Festival), Just a Broadway Baby: Mary Ellen Ashley is now available on YouTube. The film was also invited to be part of the permanent archives at New York Public Library for the Performing Arts (TOFT).

Patrick Riviere, an Albion native and Niagara University graduate, interviews Mary Ellen Ashley.

“We had been talking to folks at BroadwayHD and several other cable outlets but decided anyone and everyone who wants to see the film should be able to see it easily for free,” said Mary Ellen from her home in Los Angeles where she recently tap danced on Let’s Make a Deal and had Wayne Brady in stitches and is now featured in the film, Thump, which recently screened at the prestigious Raindance Film Festival.

The short documentary, directed by award-winning actor, playwright and filmmaker Patrick Riviere, follows Mary Ellen’s storied career from her Broadway debut in An Innocent Voyage at the age of seven, to being in the original cast of Annie Get Your Gun and growing up with the show for its entire run and then going on to star in radio and early television (cast as the Tootsie Roll Sweetheart on The Tootsie Hippodrome TV show).

She then opened for stars in Vegas and ultimately performing some of the biggest roles in the musical theater canon in National and International Tours, Off-Broadway and the best known regional theaters in the country from Maine State Music Theatre and Walnut Street Theater, to Paper Mill Playhouse and the Burt Reynolds Dinner Theatre, to ArtPark (where she starred as Dolly Levi in Hello Dolly and also graced the ArtPark stage in Carousel and George M!) and American Musical Theatre of San Jose to name a few. And that includes starring in over 12 productions of Hello Dolly!

“It is extraordinary that Mary Ellen is 89 and still going strong,” Riviere said. “She is a shining example of what it means to persevere and continue to share your light with others. We need that now, more than ever. And releasing this film so that everyone can see her positivity and infectious joy and energy is the icing on the cake to the success we’ve achieved with my freshman film.”

Riviere himself has had a successful career on the stage and in front of the camera (which began at Albion High School and continued on at Niagara University and ArtPark) and he most recently filmed a supporting role in the upcoming feature film Pointing Fingers, a first of its kind to star two minimally verbal autistic actors.

Indie Shorts Magazine had this to say about the film: “Ashley is instantly likeable. Her flair for drama blends with humour to produce excellent theatricality as she recounts the story of how she got her start. “Picket Fences”, the sequence that delves into a conflict between career and parenting, best showcases the film’s ability to throw in lower tones into the narrative’s colorful carousel and have it be richer for it.”

You can see the film by following the link: https://youtu.be/zjVsjCpdqpw.

Mary Ellen Ashley recently appeared on Let’s Make a Deal to the amusement of host Wayne Brady.

Photos courtesy of Susan Starkweather Miller

CLARENDON – Melissa Ierlan is shown leading a tour of Robinson Cemetery on Route 237 near Glidden Road last Sunday.

The tour was sponsored by the Orleans County Historical Association.

Some of the notable burials at Robinson Cemetery include:

• Chauncey Robinson (1792-1866): Veteran, War of 1812; Abolitionist
• William Lewis (1787-1826): First Sheriff of Orleans County
• John Dodge (1749-1830): Veteran, American Revolution
• Samuel Milliken (1752-1842): Veteran, American Revolution
• Thomas McManners: Escaped Slave; Veteran, American Revolution
• Shubael Lewis (1785-1861): Colonel, New York State Militia

Melissa Ierlan, the town of Clarendon historian, served as the guide of the tour at Robinson Cemetery on Aug. 10.

The Orleans County Historical Association has tours every Sunday evening beginning at 6 p.m. in August. Mount Albion was the first to be featured on Aug. 3, followed by Robinson on Aug. 10. The tours are free with goodwill donations accepted.

The remaining schedule includes:

• Millville Cemetery today at 4394 East Shelby Rd., Medina. Highlights will be a visit to the wooden chapel/memorial vault and a tour of some of the impressive monuments, including the gravestone of Asa Hill, a Civil War soldier who suffered amputation of a leg, yet returned to run the family farm a few short miles west of the cemetery.
• The tour on Aug. 24 Greenwood Cemetery, 16670 Roosevelt Highway/Route 18, Kendall, will focus on the first Norwegian settlement in the United States in 1825 in Kendall. Orleans County historian Catherine Cooper will lead this tour.
• Aug. 31 at St. Joseph’s Cemetery, 581 East Ave., Albion, will conclude the series of tours. Catherine Cooper and Sue Starkweather Miller will lead the tour, which will include a visit to the chapel to view the beautiful interior stained glass windows, and stops at several prominent gravesites.

Route 98 reopened today after being closed about a month for an emergency culvert replacement.

The road on July 14 was closed to traffic between Gillette Road in Barre and Ridge Road in Elba.

The state Department of Transportation shut down the section of the road after an inspection revealed deficiencies in a culvert beneath the roadway.

Travelers headed south towards Batavia will encounter a new four-way stop in Elba at Lockport Road and Route 98.

Photos by Tom Rivers: Employees from Environmental Enterprises, Inc. of Cincinnati work at a household hazardous waste collection today in Albion. The county has contracted with EEI to remove household hazardous waste for more than a decade.

ALBION – More than 500 Orleans County were able to get rid of leftover chemicals, batteries, tires, oil and solvents today during the household hazardous waste collection day.

EEI employees are at the solvent station where oil, anti-freeze and solvents are collected.

The county typically pays the company about $18,000 to collect and remove the household hazardous waste, with the state then reimbursing the county about half of the costs.

The collection continues to be in demand by local residents. There are 600 spots available and county officials said about 90 percent of the time slots were claimed.

Corey Winters, director of Orleans County Planning and Development, said the demand doesn’t seem to be slowing down for the annual collection. He expects it will continue again next year.

There seemed to be a lot of fluorescent bulbs and propane tanks today, as well as the usual oils, pesticide and random chemicals, Winters said.

 Orleans County Public Works Department employees remove tires from the back of a van. They were expected 4,000 to 5,000 tires by the end of the day. Some of that big pile came from other municipalities which brought dump trucks full of them that had be collected in the past year.

The DPW workers include James Camp Jr., Cal Stinson Jr., Vinny Zona and Andy Beach.

Corey Winters of Planning and Development helped collect the tires today.

Provided photo: The Yohe Family Farm in Albion will be offering wagon rides on Wednesday at Hoag Library.

Press Release, Hoag Library

ALBION – Hoag Library’s 2025 Summer Reading Program is winding down, but the fun isn’t over yet! We have a week full of activities for all ages as we celebrate the end of another great summer of reading.

There is an ongoing Story Walk at Mount Albion Cemetery. Take a stroll and enjoy a children’s story displayed page-by-page along the path.

Upcoming Events:

• Today at noon – Free concert with Andrew Flory, a Lutenist, Classical guitarist, educator
• Monday, Aug. 18 at 11:30 a.m. – Wildlife Rockstars, an educational program using birds, amphibians, and reptile animal ambassadors.
• Tuesday, Aug. 19 at 3 p.m. – Teen Faux Stained Glass
• Wednesday, Aug. 20 at 2 p.m. – Summer Reading Finale with Yohe Wagon Rides & Serenity Acres Farm. Celebrate with horses, wagon rides, and farm animals.
• Saturday, Aug. 23, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. – Red Cross Blood Drive

Join us to close out summer with music, art, animals, and community fun. All events are free.

Hoag Library is proud to support literacy, creativity, and community connection year-round. For more information, visit us at 134 S. Main St., Albion, call (585) 589-4246, or follow us on Facebook.

Photos by Tom Rivers

LYNDONVILLE – The fourth annual Street Dance on Friday night in Lyndonville drew a crowd to a blocked off section of Main Street.

The Buffalo-based band, Bleeding Hearts, played many popular classic rock songs from the ’60s, ’70s and ’80s. There were other kids’ games and a bounce house, as well as several food vendors.

Bleeding Hearts has been performing for more than three decades. The band features David Lloyd on drums and as lead singer, Tim Unger on guitar at right, and Bob Kupczyk on bass at left.

The Town of Yates is the lead organizer of the annual Street Dance, which started in 2022 as part of the town’s bicentennial celebration.

Main Street in the village is closed to traffic between Maple Avenue and Eagle Street.

David Lloyd sings and plays the drums for Bleeding Hearts. Some of the songs later in the three-hour set included, “Brown Eyed Girl” by Van Morrison, “I Want You to Want Me” by Cheap Trick, “Should I Stay or Should I Go” by Clash, and “Shut Up and Dance” by Walk the Moon.

The Lyndonville Sports Boosters were among the food vendors, selling tacos. Pictured from left include Stephanie Freas, Emily Aydelotte and Alisha Schwartzott.

The Boosters are raising money for a new scoreboard in the school gymnasium.

Photos by Tom Rivers: Walmart officials and leaders of the store in Albion, including store manager Cherry Hodge with scissors, cut the ribbon to mark the completion of a store remodeling.

ALBION – The employees at the Albion Walmart were in a  celebratory mood this morning as the store completed a remodeling that began in March.

The store has completed its first major revamping since it opened in June 2006 at 13858 State Route 31.

The Walmart put in new freezers and coolers, replaced every shelf, put in new registers, fixture and did a new layout for the store. Walmart also expanded with a new building dedicated to its online shoppers. That side of the business has grown since the Covid pandemic hit about five years ago.

The store also was repainted and rebranded. Most of the work happened at night.

“It’s beautiful,” said Cherry Hodge, the store manager since 2010. “It needed it. The customers deserve it.”

Cherry Hodge, store manager, is pleased with the bright new look inside the Albion Walmart.

The Albion Walmart has 180 employees. Hodge and Walmart leaders recognized 16 of those employees who have been with the store since it opened more than 19 years ago.

“This is a good store with good associates,” Hodge said. “We work together as a team. Walmart is a great company to work for. They’re good to their people.”

John Emery, market manager for Walmart, praised the employees and customers for their patience during the remodeling.

He presented a certificate of appreciation to Hodge, who he said was often at the store at 3 or 4 a.m. during the remodeling process.

Nicole Wilson, a coach at the Albion Walmart, highlighted many of the employees for their extra efforts during the remodeling.

Walmart presented a $5,000 check to the Orleans County Sheriff’s Office. Cherry Hodge and John Emery, right, of Walmart present a ceremonial check to Don Draper, the undersheriff.

Walmart also is giving $1,500 to the Albion Fire Department. The AFD was represented by, from left: Dawn Marciszewski, Robert Toman, Allyson Irwin and Catrina Bias.

Chis Lazarou, store manager of the Lockport Walmart, attended the celebration today and led the group in the Walmart cheer, which puts customers first. Lazarou said some of the Lockport employees helped in Albion during the remodel.

“We all support each other,” he said about the Walmart stores and employees.

Many of the Albion Walmart employees gathered for a group photo after the ceremony this morning inside the store.

Medina will perform show, ‘Fragile World’

Photos by Natalie Baron: Medina Marching Band students perform on Thursday. The band has 80 students this year, including 16 newcomers.

By Natalie Baron, Orleans Hub intern

MEDINA— The Medina Marching Band on Thursday gave the community with a preview of their upcoming performances. The band offered a sneak peak in the high school parking lot next to the band barn.

The marching band program features students from the junior-senior high school, grades 7-12. This year, the program has 80 kids, including lots of rookie members. The 16 rookies stepped forward to be recognized during their first band camp. There are 4 seniors this year: Hagen Van Leuven, Natalie Herbert, Mackenzie Poynter and Lyla Page.

Each year, the band develops a performance with a different theme.

“The theme is called ‘Fragile World,’” Director Matt Jaeger described. “It’s ‘The Way We Were,’ so it starts out dark and mysterious. You won’t hear them tonight, but there’s voiceovers that talk about how we are fragile and frail as a society. Then, it works into the end, which is joyous.”

Director Matt Jaeger speaks with the crowd of parents and other band supporters.

Medina will host the Home Show on Saturday, Sept. 20, with 11 bands part of the show. It will be the third week of the season and the band’s second show. During the season, the band will go to West Seneca, Medina, Oswego, Webster, Victor, Orchard Park and conclude at the dome in Syracuse.

Jaeger could not be prouder of the students. “These kids have worked hard this week,” he lauded. “It was really hot Monday and Tuesday, but they pushed through, and it’s exciting to watch them grow from the beginning all the way to where we are now. So, it’s a long week, but it’s a rewarding week. And this is the hardest week of the season. After this, it gets a little easier. It’s not as hot, the days aren’t as long. We have less time, but it’s like a breath, because we do a lot this week, and we go a little slower and easier for the rest of the time. It’s pretty cool.”

Color guard and the band together create quite the show.

Senior Drum Major Lyla Page remarked about the program, “It’s really great! As soon as you get into the Medina school district, you know it’s gonna be a music school. We rely very heavily on the arts, and being part of the marching band is just so fun, because there’s so many great supporters of it. As you can see, there’s a lot of parents! It’s a very involved community, so I really enjoy it.”

There was a sizeable crowd in attendance this Thursday.

Lyla conducts for the band positioned near the back row. “I do a lot of helping people with drill, do their feet and time, and I mainly just stand up there and wave my arms in time with the music. But, it’s also harder than it seems, because you have to remember all the cues and all the time signature changes. So, it can be pretty difficult.”

The band highlights a number of students in solos.

The drumline, pit percussionists, and color guard receive an extra day of practice to prepare them to work seamlessly with the rest of the marching band

“Because there’s so many different moving parts, we start them a little bit differently,” Front Ensemble Instructor Tiffany Organisciak said. “In the summertime, we’ll usually run a pit, battery, and guard rehearsal by itself, and then Thursday will be everyone.” 

The band works tirelessly to ensure the performances come together.

Money drop offs for registration, shoes, and fundraisers will take place on Tuesdays during the first half hour of practice, to be collected by a Booster. To sign up for the fall shows, reach out to Chaperone Chair Meghan Tuttle. The winner of the Fall Cash Raffle will be announced during the Home Show on September 20.

The band groups got together to share a cheer before dismissal for the day.

Photos by Tom Rivers: The current Albion ladder truck is shown inside the fire hall on Platt Street on Thursday evening. This truck is from 1994 and will need to last another four years.

ALBION – The Albion Joint Fire District voted Thursday to buy a new ladder truck at a cost of $2,480,698 from Pierce Manufacturing.

The new truck won’t be ready for about four years due to a significant back order.

Albion’s new truck will be a quint with a dual purpose. Not only will it have a 100-foot-long ladder, but the truck will carry 300 gallons of water and also will function like a fire engine with the ability to pump water.

The current ladder truck from 1994 doesn’t pump or carry water, and has a 103-foot-long ladder.

Pierce was the only fire truck manufacturer to submit a bid. Two others picked up bid packets – Bulldog Fire Apparatus and Empire Fire Emergency – but they didn’t submit a bid for the new truck.

Al Cheverie, chairman of the Albion Joint Fire District, said he has full confidence in Pierce building a very reliable fire truck for Albion that will be in use for many years.

By the time the truck arrives in 2029, the fire district expects it will have half of the cost already set aside in a reserve fund with the rest to be financed unless the district can secure a grant to help cover some of the costs.

The fire district, as part of its 2025 budget, created a reserve fund that has $250,000 towards fire apparatus. If that continues each year at that level, the district should have $1,250,000 set aside towards the truck in 2029.

Cheverie said the costs of fire apparatus has steadily risen in recent years. The Village of Medina, for example, agreed to pay $1,698,995 to Pierce in Appleton, Wisc. for a new fire truck with a 100-foot-long ladder. That was June 26, 2023. Medina’s truck is expected this December, about a 2 ½ year wait.

The fire district needs to wait 30 days as part of a permissive referendum process. If enough people signa  petition in the fire district, which includes the towns of Albion and Gaines, there would be a public vote on whether the district can purchase the new truck.

Albion Joint Fire District officials discuss issues on Thursday evening during the district’s monthly meeting. From left include commissioners Kevin Sheehan, Craig Lane, Chairman Al Cheverie and Dave Buczek, as well as Treasurer Victoria Tabor and Assistant Fire Chief Steven Papponetti.

District commissioners agreed to not hold Pierce to a solid date for the truck delivery given the uncertainties with supply-chain issues.

“It’s unrealistic to lock them down on a certain date with the market being what it is with supply and materials,” said David Buczek, one of the commissioners.

Holding Pierce to precise date and assessing fines for going past that could prompt the company to walk away from the project, Buczek said.

Craig Lane, the Orleans County DPW superintendent, also is a fire commissioner. In his job with the county, he said contractors and suppliers have some leeway for final delivery of their product.

Pierce is working on a custom-built fire truck and there could be factors outside their control that potential delay the shipment of the apparatus, Lane said.

Photos courtesy of Ridgeway Volunteer Fire Company

RIDGEWAY – Three of the barns at 3502 Fruit Ave., the site of Christmas in Shawna’s Barn, were destroyed in a fire last night. That business is operated by Shawna and Chris Baldwin.

Firefighters were dispatched to the scene just before midnight. Residents needed to evacuate a house that was close to the barn that was engulfed with flames. The property is owned by Robert and Mary Lou Blount.

The house sustained minimal damage, only to the eaves and some melted siding, but three of the barns are a total loss with two of them burned to the ground, said Ridgeway Fire Chief Tyler Luckman.

“That fire had a pretty jump on us,” he said this morning. “You could see the flames from the Marshall Road bridge.”

Many of the firefighters were there most of the night. Ridgeway firefighters were assisted by the Medina, Shelby, Middleport, Albion, Lyndonville and Hartland as well as the Orleans County Emergency Management and fire investigators, Orleans County Sheriff’s Office Communications and Road Patrol.