Photos by Tom Rivers
ALBION – The Main Street lift bridge is pictured with a full Erie Canal on Friday. The canal was filled with water last week.
The canal will open for its navigational season on May 17. The tolls for recreational vessels have once again been waived this year.
This year the boating season on the canal will run from May 17 to Oct. 16.
One of the tenders, a small tugboat, is pictured at the canal in Albion on Friday.
Photos by Tom Rivers
ALBION – A new sign is being installed today outside Hoag Library by Toth’s Sports. The company worked with the library to design a sign that matches the building which opened in 2012.
The new sign will have electronic messages to promote programs at the library. This will be a Daktronic sign with high resolution and clarity, Toth’s employees said. The sign is about 4 feet high and 7 ½ feet wide.
The sign should be fully in place later this afternoon. The sign is about $60,000 with a state grant and the Friends of the Library paying for most of the expense.
The base resembles brick but is actually a composition with high-density foam that is a tough and rigid material.
Today is the library’s annual meeting at 7 p.m., where library leaders will discuss the budget and programming. There also is an election from noon to 7 p.m. for three library trustees. Linda Weller, Debbie DiBacco and Maurice Taylor are unopposed in the election.
MURRAY – Big blue recycling totes are headed to Orleans County residents next month as the county implements changes in its recycling pickup program.
The county contracts with Modern Disposal for the service. That company, beginning July 1, will be picking up recycling every two weeks. Garbage pickup will remain on a weekly schedule.
Residents will be receiving big recycling totes with lids beginning June 10. It will take about three weeks for Rehrig Pacific to deliver them to about 15,000 addresses in the county.
Those new totes can be used right away. They will replace smaller bins that don’t have covers. Residents are welcome to keep the bins which can still be used to hold recycling inside a house and then can easily be dumped into the tote. Or if residents don’t want the bin, they should write “Please take me” and put it to the curb with their garbage and recycling.
Joe Hickman, municipal sales manager for Modern, said the new totes better contain paper, cardboard, plastics and other recycling. Larger cardboard options should be broken down so they don’t get jammed in the totes, he said.
The County Legislature in February approved spending $776,500 for 15,444 recycling carts. Those costs are coming out of the fee in the county taxes for garbage and recycling for residents. The county is seeking a state grant for half of the costs. If the grant comes through, the county will use that to pay off a lease payment it took out to cover half of the expense.
The new carts, at $50.28 each, hold 96 gallons. Rehrig Pacific Company of Erie, Pa. will begin delivering the totes on June 10, and is expected to take three weeks to get them to all the addresses.
Each tote has a number with bar code and an RFID so the totes can be tracked. Residents should write down their totes’ identification numbers to make sure they aren’t mixed up with their neighbors’.
The switch to the larger carts will make it easier for Modern Disposal to pick up recycling, and should hold off increases in the costs for picking up garbage and recycling for the next few years, county officials said.
County Legislator Ken DeRoller, R-Kendall, said the county’s recycling rate is currently 21 percent. That is a low number and he wants to see it go up. Part of the education effort will be encouraging residents to recycle more plastic, paper and metal materials.
He expects the recycling number will increase to 28 percent with the totes, which he said will make recycling easier. The material inside will be less likely to blow away.
Joe Hickman, municipal sales manager for Modern, said that rate is determined by the weight of the recycled divided by the overall weight of the recycling plus garbage that is picked up by Modern.
He encouraged residents to recycle plastics with a focus on food and beverage containers. There have been changes in the recycling program with plastics. Rigid plastics such as buckets and toys are no longer accepted with recycling.
Residents currently use recycling bins that are emptied weekly by Modern. The company has two employees per truck, with a driver and another employee grabbing and emptying the bins. It takes about a minute for each stop in the county.
The 96-gallon totes will have covers that are green. Those totes can be grabbed by a mechanical arm, lifted up and emptied into the recycling truck. The green covers make it clear the totes hold recycling.
Using the mechanical arm allows Modern to have one employee on the truck, reducing the company’s costs. That has prevented a big increase for county residents with the garage and recycling pickup the next five years.
Chuck Nesbitt, the county chief administrative officer, said the switch in recycling will reduce costs in the contract by about $3 million over he next 10 years.
Residents in 2018 paid $212 for annual garbage and recycling collection. The cost will stay about that price for the next few years with the recycling change, said Chuck Nesbitt, the county’s chief administrative officer.
Without the change, the county would have faced a 10 to 15 percent increase, he said. The County Legislature in October approved a new five-year contract with Modern for garbage and recycling collection. The annual cost is $3,001,495 with the current system of weekly recycling, but drops to $2,707,160 when the new system is fully phased in with the larger recycling totes.
There will be another open house and public information meeting about the recycling change on May 25 from 9 a.m. to noon at the Orleans County 4-H Fairgrounds, 12690 Route 31, Knowlesville.
Modern has sent newsletters to residents, detailing the changes and the new schedule for pickup. Click here for more information.
“Your day of collection will not change and for example, if your day is Monday it will remain Monday,” the county states on the website. “The difference will be that a portion of Mondays recycling customers will be collected on an ‘A’ week and the balance of the Monday customer will be collected the following week or on the ‘B’ week. This alternating cycle continues week after week, month after month.”
Modern employees met with residents inside the Murray highway garage to discuss the recycling program on Saturday. Modern also met with residents at the Shelby Town Hall. There will be another public meeting for residents to learn about the recycling program at the 4-H Fairgrounds on May 25 from 9 a.m. to noon.
Press Release Albion Police Chief Roland Nenni
ALBION – The Albion Police Department with assistance from the Federal Bureau of the Investigation today investigated a Facebook post that threatened violence to an unspecified school. The investigation revealed that an Albion Central School student’s Facebook account had been taken over by an unknown person outside the country in Croatia and that unknown person made the post on the hijacked account.
The FBI believes that the account was taken over by the use of a malware attack on a phone. Similar incidents have occurred throughout the United States.
While we have determined that the posts that were made are not a credible threat the Albion Police will have an increased presence at the Albion School.
The Albion Police Department School Resource Officer worked closely with the Albion school district during the investigation.
The Albion Police would like to remind all residents to monitor their social media accounts regularly and change passwords frequently. Account information should be checked to make sure that the owner’s information is correct and has not been changed. Once an account is taken over it is very difficult to regain ownership.
The Albion Police Department is working with Facebook and the owner of the account to have it taken down.
If any suspicious activity is observed online or in person, we ask that it be immediately reported to 911.
Contributed Photo – Currently on top of the Niagara-Orleans standings by one game, Medina recently tuned up for the league title stretch run by competing in half a dozen scrimmages at Myrtle Beach over the Easter week break. The Mustangs went 5-1 in the scrimmages which were against Olean, Portville, St. Mary’s Lancaster, Pioneer (twice) and Whitehall. Shown here at Myrtle Beach the Mustangs include, from left, Austin Mosher, Matt Saj, Joe Cecchini, Brian Fry, Nate Sherman, Trevor Luthart, Zach Fike, AJ Seefeldt, Tavian Rhim, Chris Goyette and Xander Payne. Medina will face Albion on Monday and Roy-Hart on Friday this week in key N-O contests.
Currently holding a one game lead, Medina continues its quest for the Niagara-Orleans League baseball little this week as the 6-1 Mustangs face a pair of key contests again Albion (3-2) on Monday and Roy-Hart (2-2) on Friday.
The Rams handed the Mustangs their only league loss to date by a narrow 5-3 margin in 8 innings earlier in the season.
In N-O softball, runner-up Medina (4-2) will look to avenge a 12-1 loss on Saturday by facing undefeated (6-0) defending champion Roy-Hart again on Friday.
In N-O tennis, runner-up Medina (7-1) faces a key week to wrap up the regular season as the Mustangs visit Albion (2-7) on Tuesday and then take on undefeated (9-0) defending champion Akron in a home-and-home series on Wednesday and Thursday.
The Lyndonville baseball squad faces a very busy five game week including home Genesee Region League games against Oakfield-Alabama on Monday and Kendall on Tuesday.
Weekly Schedule
Monday
Baseball: Oakfield-Alabama at Lyndonville, Pembroke at Holley, Kendall at Alexander, Newfane at Roy-Hart (doubleheader), 4:30 p.m.; Barker at Akron, 4:45 p.m.; Albion at Medina, 6:30 p.m.
Softball: Holley at Lyndonville, Kendall at Attica, 4:30 p.m.; Roy-Hart at Newfane, Akron at Barker, Medina at Albion, 4:45 p.m.
Tennis: Alexander at Holley, Kendall at Oakfield-Alabama, Barker at Albion, Akron at Roy-Hart, Wilson at Newfane, 4 p.m.
Track: Wilson at Medina, Lyndonville at Attica, Notre Dame and Pembroke at Kendall, 4:30 p.m.
Tuesday
Baseball: Kendall at Lyndonville, Alexander at Holley, 4:30 p.m.; Barker at Albion, Roy-Hart at Akron, 4:45 p.m.
Softball: Marion at Kendall, 4:30 p.m.; Albion at Newfane, 4:45 p.m.
Tennis: Medina at Albion, Pembroke at Holley, 4 p.m.
Track: Albion at Roy-Hart, Medina at Akron, Barker at Newfane, 4:30 p.m.
Lacrosse: Medina at Gananda, 5:30 p.m.
Wednesday
Baseball: Lyndonville at Byron-Bergen, Oakfield-Alabama at Kendall, 4:30 p.m.; Wilson at Barker, Akron at Albion, 4:45 p.m.
Softball: Elba at Lyndonville, Pembroke at Holley, Wheatland-Chili at Kendall, 4:30 p.m.; Barker at Wilson, Albion at Akron, Medina at Newfane, 4:45 p.m.
Tennis: Medina at Akron, Newfane at Barker, Roy-Hart at Wilson, 4 p.m.
Track: Holley at Alexander, Oakfield-Alabama at Kendall, 4:30 p.m.
Lacrosse: Medina at Gowanda, 5:30 p.m.
Thursday
Baseball: Holley at Oakfield-Alabama, Kendall at Elba, Barker at Pembroke, 4:30 p.m.
Softball: Wheatland-Chili at Lyndonville, Elba at Barker, 4:30 p.m.
Tennis: Akron at Medina, Holley at Oakfield-Alabama, Barker at Roy-Hart, 4 p.m.
Track: Wilson at Akron, Newfane at Medina, Albion at Barker, 4:30 p.m.
Friday
Baseball: Lyndonville at Elba, Byron-Bergen at Kendall, 4:30 p.m.; Medina at Roy-Hart, Albion at Wilson, Newfane at Akron, 4:45 p.m.
Softball: Byron-Bergen at Holley, Kendall at Wheatland-Chili, 4:30 p.m.; Albion at Newfane, Wilson at Medina, 4:45 p.m.
Track: Holley at Marion Invit., Kendall at Eastridge Invit.
Lacrosse: Amherst at Medina, 5 p.m.
Saturday
Baseball: Alden at Lyndonville, 11 a.m.
Softball: Kendall at Northstar, 9 a.m.; Medina at Depew, 12 p.m.
Track: Lyndonville at LeRoy Invit.; Medina at Lew-Port
N-O Standings
Baseball: Medina 6-1, Albion 3-2, Wilson 3-2, Roy-Hart 2-2, Akron 2-3, Newfane 1-2, Barker 0-5
Softball: Roy-Hart 6-0, Medina 4-23, Wilson 3-2, Akron 2-2, Albion 1-4, Barker 1-4, Newfane 0-3
Tennis: Akron 9-0, Medina 7-1, Roy-Hart 5-3, Wilson 5-3, Albion 2-7, Newfane 1-7, Barker 0-8
Boys Track: Albion 4-0, Newfane 2-1, Roy-Hart 3-2, Barker 2-2, Wilson 2-2, Akron 0-3, Medina 0-3
Girls Track: Akron 3-0, Newfane 3-0, Medina 2-1, Barker 2-2, Roy-Hart 2-3, Albion 1-3, Wilson 0-4
Photo by Ginny Kropf: Carrie Mikits, left, director of nursing at Medina Memorial Hospital’s North Wing, and Sarah Bateman, North Wing administrator, stand outside the entrance to the skilled nursing facility, which has just received a rating of 4 out of 5, making it tops in the county.
MEDINA – Boosting the ratings for Medina Memorial Hospital’s North Wing in one short year was a team effort, according to Sarah Bateman, administrator of the skilled nursing facility.
The North Wing’s recent rating by the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services was 4 out of 5, a big increase from their 1 out of 5 rating received a year ago when the hospital affiliated with Rochester Regional Health. The North Wing rating places it at the top of all skilled nursing facilities in the county.
“We looked at the opportunities for education and identified the areas where we do well and those where we need to improve,” Bateman said.
One of the first things they did was let staff know where they needed to improve. They also fully implemented electronic medical records, said Carrie Mikits, director of nursing.
Both she and Bateman take great pride in the care given to residents of the North Wing.
Bateman has a lot of roots in Medina, she said. Her mother, Janet Hallifax, worked at the hospital for 35 years. Bateman previously worked at the hospital for seven years before going to Rochester Regional Health for a time.
She said she and Mikits just dove in with quality measures.
She doesn’t think the first rating supported the great job staff is doing at the North Wing, and a lot of the problem was in record keeping.
“A lot of things were not changes we made, just making sure they were reported adequately,” Bateman said. “Certainly the tools provided by Rochester Regional Health helped direct our efforts.”
Reaching five stars is definitely their goal, Bateman said.
“We want to provide the best care possible,” she said.
Bateman and Mikits pointed out a painting recently done on the wall near the entrance to the North Wing. It reads: Our residents do not live in our work place. We work in their home.”
Three things go into consideration for a 5-star rating. These are staffing (and the North Wing is at goal); a health survey by the Department of Health; and quality measures, rated against other nursing homes in the country.
“Medina has always taken pride in the care provided to residents, and the increased focus on quality has allowed a closer look at policies and processes to insure the highest level of care is provided and documented,” Bateman said.
Their ultimate goal is, of course, to reach that 5-star rating, Bateman said.
The North Wing is currently at full capacity, with 30 residents.
Photos by Tom Rivers
KNOWLESVILLE – Joe Gacy applies lots of pressure on Kevin Bennett during their wrestling match Saturday during the “Fairground Fallout: Return of the Empire.”
This was the second straight year Empire State Wrestling held an event at the fairgrounds, in an event that was a fundraiser for the East Shelby Volunteer Fire Company. About 200 attended the event at the Lartz Building.
Former WWE star Shannon Moore, right, and his tag team partner Anthony Gaines raise their arms in victory. Moore was the biggest name on the card for Saturday’s matches. He flew in from Atlanta to compete in the match in Orleans County.
Shannon Moore has been wrestling professionally for about 20 years. He was athletic in the ring and easily body slammed his opponents.
Kate Carney of Portland, Ore. was knocked to the canvas by Toronto’s Jody Threat, in a match between two women wrestlers.
Jody Threat tries to get Kate Carney to give up with this pain move. Carney would get out of it, and went on to pin Threat.
The event had a Star Wars theme because it fell on May 4 (May the Fourth be with You). Here two wrestlers briefly had a light saber battle. Jerk Cockins of Tonawanda, left, fights with ESW Interstate Champion Frankie Feathers, who retained his title.
Brandon Thurston, the ESW Heavyweight Champion, puts pressure on Sean Carr’s arm and forces him to concede.
Medina’s Gavin Glass was in action. He waits to get tagged in by his partner Rob Sweet.
Greg Iron of Hand Crafted climbs the top of the ropes to jump on Gavin Glass. Glass and his partner Sweet managed to win the match after taking a lot of hits.
East Shelby firefighters sold concessions and 50/50 raffle tickets. David Green, second from left, and Fire Chief Andy Beach get tickets ready. Beach said he would like to have the wrestlers back and make it an annual event in the county.
The Blade, left, knocks down Space Monkey. The Blade seemed to relish the hecklers in the crowd, yelling at them with gusto.
Empire State Wrestling’s next event is May 18, the “Brawlfest” in North Tonawanda at St. Johnsburg Fire Hall. Click here for more information.
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Photo by Ginny Kropf: Stanley and Mary Stack of Medina celebrated their 72nd wedding anniversary Friday at the North Wing of Medina Memorial Hospital. Staff provided cake and punch for family, friends and residents.
MEDINA – A Medina couple celebrated a milestone Friday which most people don’t get to experience.
Stanley and Mary Stack observed their 72nd wedding anniversary.
The couple met when she, the former Mary Hibbard, was only 17 and Stan was 23. He had just returned from the Navy, where he served at submarine bases in Pearl Harbor and New London, Conn.
Mary said they always had music back then at Sacred Heart on a Saturday night, and that was the place to go. Stan didn’t dance, Mary said, but his friends asked her to dance.
Then Stan’s brother-in-law introduced them – and that was that.
Mary went home and woke her mother up to tell her she was “going to marry that guy.” Stan said a week later he asked her out to the Club again.
Mary lived on Church Street and Stan on Oak Street. They didn’t have a car, so had to walk wherever they went.
Stan was working the afternoon shift at Harrison Radiator in Lockport, and Mary stayed up every night so she could talk to him when he got home. Other than the usual teen crushes, Stan was the first boy Mary dated.
A year later, they were married.
Eighteen years later they had their daughter Lisa, who lives in Missouri with her husband Howard Joseph of Medina. They also have a granddaughter Allison, who lives in North Carolina.
Stan and Mary admit they had their arguments, but Stan said they always worked through them.
Stan retired from Harrison Radiator after 31 years. Mary’s jobs included the telephone company, Niagara Chemical in Middleport and selling real estate.
For the past year, Mary has resided in the North Wing, where Stan visits nearly every day.
Stan never expected to reach his age. At 91, he was still doing his own lawn work. He goes to church and plays cards several days a week.
“So now we take one day at a time,” he said. “But we’re going for 73.”
A former Medina resident watched the Kentucky Derby Saturday afternoon with a lot of excitement, which quickly changed to disbelief.
Mary Lou Francisco, whose late husband Jack was pastor of the First Presbyterian Church of Medina for 30 years, is a cousin of trainer Jason Servis’ wife Natalie.
Jason Servis is trainer for Maximum Security, who finished first in the 145th Kentucky Derby, but was disqualified after a replay showed he crossed lanes.
Francisco, who now lives in Blowing Rock, N.C., was contacted by phone at the end of the race.
“Oh, my gosh,” was all Francisco could say when she initially heard Maximum Security had won $1.86 million. “This is very exciting.”
Then, when the win was overturned, Francisco couldn’t believe it.
“This is a disaster. It’s heartbreaking,” she said. “There goes my bet down the tubes.”
Francisco isn’t giving up on Maximum Security and said she’ll just have to wait for the Preakness.
Mary Lou and Jack left Medina in 1999, after he retired. She still returns to visit longtime friends in the area.
MEDINA – The Medina community again tops the lists of communities with the highest tax rates in the Finger Lakes region.
Medina’s cumulative rate of $56.40 for village, county, school and town (Shelby) was the most for 2018, according to a report from the Empire Center. The organization does the ranking annually, and Medina has led the Finger Lakes for several years, with other Orleans County communities not far behind.
The top 10 for highest tax rates in the region include:
1. Medina (Town of Shelby) in Orleans County – $56.40
2. Mount Morris in Livingston County – $55.45
3. Medina (Town of Ridgeway) in Orleans County – $55.37
4. Holley (Town of Murray) in Orleans County – $54.46
5. East Rochester in Monroe County – $51.08
6. Palmyra in Wayne County – $50.47
7. Seneca Falls in Seneca County – $50.29
8. Warsaw in Wyoming County – $49.82
9. Albion (Town of Gaines) in Orleans County – $49.58
10. Albion (Town of Albion) in Orleans County – $49.49
Medina’s cumulative tax rate isn’t the highest in the state. At Sloan, a village in Erie County, the tax rate for village, town school and county is $62.48, the highest in the state. Binghamton leads the Southern Tier with a $58.88 rate and Fulton is the highest in Central NY at $56.65.
Although the tax rates are high in some local villages, the average tax bill in Orleans County isn’t among the highest because the assessed values in the villages tend to be low.
In Medina, with a median home value of $71,300, the median tax is $4,021, according to the Empire Center report
In Pittsford, a Monroe County town, the median tax bill is $10,709, the highest in the Finger Lakes region. That is about 2 1/2 times the tax bill in Medina.
The Empire Center said high tax rates tend to depress home values.
“New Yorkers pay some of the highest property taxes in the nation,” the Empire Center said. “However, property tax burdens within the Empire State differ widely.”
Provided photos
LYNDONVILLE – The newly formed Tree Committee of the Village of Lyndonville celebrated being named as a Tree City USA by planting a tree in the front of the Lyndonville Central School on Friday. Several students, members of the Tree Committee and DPW were there to celebrate.
People in the photo include Sawyer Wilson, Savannah Poler, Shantel Benedict, Faith Chaffee, Allyson Deslatte, Tamara Huzair, Tyler Coyle, Mason Boyd, Elizabeth Whipple, Dustin Solomon, Patrick Hargrave, Amber Grabowski, Jenahlee Reimer, RitaJane Isaacson, Mayor John Belson (far left), Ginny Hughes, Keith McKinney, Aimee Chaffee, Carla Woodworth and Teri Woodworth.
The tree was planted near the Main Street side of the school. Future plantings in the village are being planned. Tree Committee members were assisted by Robert Bow, head groundskeeper for the school; Mayor John Belson; and Terry Woodworth, superintendent of the Department of Public Works. Residents are encouraged to contact the village office if they would like to be involved in future plans.
KNOWLESVILLE – The New York State Canal Corporation announced the Knowlesville Lift Bridge in Ridgeway will be closed on May 7-8 for repairs to the bridge’s lifting system.
Crews will replace electrical cables to the bridge, which carries traffic over the Erie Canal. During the project, a signed detour will be posted, using Eagle Harbor-Knowlesville Road, W. Barre-Eagle Harbor Road and Telegraph Road.
This work will not affect the Erie Canalway Trail, said Steven Gosset, manager of public relations for the New York Power Authority, which oversees the canal system.
There are two public information meetings today about the county’s switch to a new residential recycling program.
Beginning in June, county residents will start to receive a 95-gallon wheeled cart for recycling which will replace the smaller 18-gallon bin residents currently use.
The recycling will be picked up every two weeks, instead of weekly, by Modern Disposal Services, Inc.
“The move to a cart-based recycling program is designed to increase participation, add convenience to participants, better containment of material between collection and improve the efficiencies of collection,” the county states on its website.
The public information meetings about the new program have been scheduled for the following locations:
• Today from 9 a.m. to 11 a.m. at the Town of Murray building, 3840 Fancher Rd, Holley
• Today from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m. at the Town of Shelby building, 4062 Salt Works Rd., Medina
• Saturday, May 25, from 9 a.m. to noon at the Orleans County 4-H Fairgrounds, 12690 Route 31, Knowlesville
The change to every other week recycling will start July 1. The change with recycling does not impact trash collection which will remain weekly.
“Your day of collection will not change and for example, if your day is Monday it will remain Monday,” the county states on the website. “The difference will be that a portion of Mondays recycling customers will be collected on an ‘A’ week and the balance of the Monday customer will be collected the following week or on the ‘B’ week. This alternating cycle continues week after week, month after month.”
“Overlooked Orleans” – Vol. 5, No. 18
LYNDONVILLE – Taken some time in the late 1920s or early 1930s, this image shows thousands of bushels of apples piled outside of the Lyndonville Canning Company. Yates farmers established a cooperative canning company in 1916, which was then purchased by Theodore and Frank Visscher in 1917. The Visschers marketed their products under the “V.B.” label, which stood for “Visscher Brothers.”
In the early 1920s, the Visscher Brothers advertised the sale of Cumulative Preferred Stock at a cost of $100 per share; the annual dividends of seven percent were paid to owners on a quarterly basis. Shortly after, William A. Smith and Wilson McCagg purchased 50 percent of the business and the two men began to gradually shift production from a variety of vegetables to apples.
The Visschers previously manufactured applesauce in large batches using copper kettles, producing as many as 24,000 cases of applesauce in 1924. Smith brought with him an interest in innovating and improving that production process, inventing a method for continuously cooking the apples to improve uniformity and quality. In 1930, Frank Visscher died and the business passed to Smith and McCagg. During the 1930s, Smith would file at least three patents for cooking apparatus used in the manufacturing of applesauce; an apparatus for preparing food substances (1935), a method and apparatus for refining fruit sauces (1935), and an apparatus for making fruit products (1939).
According to Smith’s sons, George and Clayton Smith, their father was a pioneer in the applesauce industry, largely due to his invention of the above listed apparatus. By the 1950s, other manufacturers were utilizing these machines to continuously cook down their product. The company remained under local ownership until 1979 when it was sold to Pillsbury.
Around 1929 or 1930, William Smith constructed a large applesauce can at the intersection of Rt. 63 and Rt. 104 on the south side of the road. A replica of the Very Best brand applesauce, travelers could stop for a sampling of the locally known product.
Photos by Tom Rivers: Wrestlers with Empire State Wrestling tighten the ropes in the ring for Saturday’s full card of matches. James Sayga, center, is part of a tag team that are the current champs. Gavin Glass of Medina is at left. He will be in action Saturday in one of the matches.
KNOWLESVILLE – The wrestlers are ready to put on a spectacle in Orleans County on Saturday. They were busy this evening setting up the ring, lights, video screens and sound system in the Lartz Building at the 4-H Fairgrounds, which last weekend hosted a home and garden show for the Chamber of Commerce.
Photo courtesy of Gavin Glass: Glass, 21, has been wrestling in independent leagues for the past four years. He recently added the mask, which resembles broken glass, as part of his entrance to the ring.
On Saturday, Empire State Wrestling is returning for the second year. The event is a fundraiser for the east Shelby Volunteer Fire Company.
The wrestlers usually are based at the St. Johnsburg Fire Hall in North Tonawanda. But the group has been going to other venues, building its fan base, said Brett Stymus, the promoter for Empire State Wrestling.
He was pleased with the debut at the Fairgrounds a year ago, when 330 people attended the matches.
“We gave them a show that they really enjoyed,” Stymus said.
Some of the crowd in Orleans County has been going to North Tonawanda and Rochester to watch Empire State Wrestling after seeing them for the first time at the fairgrounds in Knowlseville.
Saturday will be headlined by former WWE star Shannon Moore. He will face Anthony Gaines, a ESW star who went viral on the internet after he was catapulted 14 feet out of the ring in a match last June.
The wrestling card also includes a ladies match with Kate Carney of Portland, Ore. taking on Jody Threat of Toronto.
Local wrestler Gavin Glass, 21, of Medina also will be back. He has been wrestling professionally for four years. He said the wrestlers drew a big crowd last year.
“We knocked it out of the park last year,” he said this evening, while helping to set up the ring for Saturday’s matches. “We don’t have anything else like this in town that people can check out.”
There will be about 10 matches on the card with the action starting at 6 p.m. and going to about 8:30. The event will have an intergalactic feel with the theme, “May the Fourth Be With You.”
For more information about the matches and tickets, click here.
Gangrel, a vampiric character, entered the ring and did his signature pre-match routine of spitting “blood” at the finale on April 28, 2018, when Empire State Wrestling debuted at the Fairgrounds. Gangrel is the biggest name to wrestle so far in Orleans County.
