Photos by Tom Rivers

MEDINA – The Medina Jr./Sr. High School Musical Theater Program is performing Mamma Mia! The first show was Friday evening with more performances at 7 p.m. today and 2 p.m. on Sunday at the school auditorium. Tickets are available at the door.

The top photo shows three friends who used to be in the singing group, Donna and the Dynamos, returning to performance with “Super Trouper.” From left in front include Arianna Lake as Tanya, Madelyn Elliott as Donna and Lyla Page as Rosie.

Ava Blount, center, plays the role of Sophie Sheridan, Donna’s daughter. She reads her mother’s old diaries and realizes three people could be her father. She shares this discovery with her best friends, Peyton Kennedy as Lisa, left, and Makenzie McGrath as Ali. They sing, “Honey, Honey.”

Sophie invites the three men noted in the diary to her wedding so she can find out who is her father. The possibilities include an American architect named Sam Carmichael, an Australian writer and adventurer named Bill Austin, and a British banker named Harry Bright.

This is the third year for Medina’s musical program since it returned to Medina after a shared program with Lyndonville.

Medina takes on ambitious musical with Rachel Trillizio and Anna Ferlito are directors of the show for Medina. The school performed  “Little Mermaid” in 2023, “Les Misérables” in 2024 and now “Mamma Mia!”

Sophie (Ava Blount) meets Harry Bright (Logan Trillizio) and Bill Austin (Ryder Jones), who fly in for her wedding. Sam (played by Riley Tompkins) also is in the scene and they sing, “Thank You for the Music.”

Donna (Madelyn Elliott) greets Sam (Riley Tompkins) on his return. Donna is surprised to see her three ex-lovers. She didn’t know Sophie invited them to the wedding.

Donna struggles with running her tavern and also is jolted by seeing the three ex-boyfriends. Her best friends, Rosie (Lyla Page) and Tanya (Arianna Lake), help Donna to get her groove back. They are singing, “Dancing Queen.” The musical includes songs by ABBA.

Jackson McGrath plays the role of Sky, who is engaged to marry Sophie (Ava Blount). He sings, “Lay All Your Love On Me.” There are about 50 students in the cast.

Photos by Tom Rivers

HOLLEY – Holley Jr./Sr. High School will be performing the musical Grease this evening at 7, and then two shows on Saturday at 2 p.m. and 7 p.m. Click here for ticket information.

The top photo shows four of the Pink Ladies at a pajama party. Isla Schultz is Marty and she shows a new ring to her friends, from left: Jayda Shampine as Frenchy, Hanna Ostrom as Jan, and Mallory Davis as Rizzo.

Marty sings, “Freddy, My Love.” She is in a long-distance relationship with a Marine. He sends her gifts while he’s stationed in Japan.

Aidan Kelley is Danny Zuko, the leader of the Rydell High T-Birds. His falls in love with Sandy. He is singing, “Summer Nights.”

Bailey Bibbins plays the lead role of Sandy. She also sings “Summer Nights” about her summertime love affair with Danny. Sandy later transforms from schoolgirl sweetheart into a biker beauty.

Khole Pachla is Doody and sings “Those Magic Changes.” Doody is a member of the T-Birds and Frenchy’s boyfriend.

Holley has 62 students in the cast and crew. Kayla Thrower is making her directorial debut for Holley. Thrower, 25, was in the musicals when she was a Holley student.

She is a social studies teacher for seventh- and eighth-graders. She said the musicals helped build her confidence when she was a student.

“I loved it when I was in school,” Thrower said during a rehearsal this week. “It brought me out of my shell.”

She said the musicals are a supportive environment for students.

“It’s fun because you can take on a different persona,” Thrower said. (She was Ursula in Holley’s production of Little Mermaid.) “Every year it’s a chance to build a family.”

It’s a busy weekend for local school musicals. Besides Holley the shows includes Kendall with Willy Wonka, Medina with Momma Mia, and the Albion Middle School with Little Mermaid.

Lyndonville will be performing Newsies from March 21-23, with Albion High School is doing Cinderella on March 28-29.

Vendors, sponsors welcome to be part of festival on June 13-14

Photo by Tom Rivers: Panek’s Pickin’ Patch and the Orleans County Joint Veterans Council are shown at last year’s Strawberry Festival parade on June 8. The event had a theme, “Out of this World,” to help celebrate the solar eclipse and northern lights phenomenon. This year theme will be, “Celebrating 200 years along the Erie Canal.”

ALBION – The 37^th annual Albion Strawberry Festival on June 13-14 is embracing a bicentennial theme for the Erie Canal and Orleans County.

The canal was completed from end to end in 1825, going 363 miles from Buffalo to Albany following eight years of construction. The canal transformed New York into the empire state and brining lots of commerce to Orleans County, especially the first century of the canal.

Orleans County also was established in 1825, when the county split off from Genesee.

The upcoming Strawberry Festival has a theme, “Celebrating 200 years along the Erie Canal.” Becky Karls, the coordinator of the festival committee, said that theme also celebrates 200 years of the Erie Canal, Orleans County, the Presbyterian Church which marked 200 years in Albion last year, and other local municipalities and organizations that have reached that milestone.

She encourages parade participants and arts and crafts vendors to tie into the theme if possible.

Karls said she is excited for some new changes in the festival, as well as the return of many popular mainstays.

New to the festival will be the Shriner mini cars in the parade at 10 a.m. on June 14. There will be expanded kids’ activities in the Family Fun Center, as well as more food vendors, Karls said.

The trackless train also will be back after missing last year’s Strawberry Festival. There will be several musical acts, a car cruise-in, the 5K/8K race, big parade, turtle race and many other events, Karls said.

“I think it’s going to be spectacular,” she said.

The website for the festival has online applications for vendors and sponsors.

Karls said the festival has an active committee working on the event. The committee leaders include Mark Johnson, Business/Information/Raffle vendors; Trevor Thaine, Craft/Artisan/Farm Market vendors; Mike Bonnewell, Parade participants; Jeff Holler, Food Booth vendors; Taryn Moyle, Family Fun Center; Bill Pileggi, Music/Bands Festival performers; Val Pettit, School Royalty/Artwork; and Becky Karls, Turtle Race Tickets/Car Cruise In/Other Info–Festival Chairperson.

Their contact information is on the festival website.

Photo by Tom Rivers: The Orleans County Courthouse, the county’s iconic landmark in Albion, is shown on Jan. 10.

The latest population estimates from the Census Bureau show a gain for Orleans County of nearly 300 residents from July 1, 2023 to July 1, 2024.

That gain of 296 residents, from 39,390 to 39,686, represents a 0.75 percent increase, the fourth highest among the 62 counties in the state, according to the Census Bureau.

It helps counter some of the population losses from 2020 to 2023, when Orleans County’s population went 1,233 people from the April 2020 census to the July 1, 2023 estimate. That decline of 3.06 percent was among the steepest losses of 62 counties.

Going back to the  2010 census, when Orleans had 42,883 people, the county is down by 3,197 residents or 7.5 percent.

Lynne Johnson, the Orleans County Legislature chairwoman, is pleased to see the gain of nearly 300 people in the latest census estimate.

“While the growth is modest, many counties, especially across Upstate, actually lost population so any growth is good news,” she said. “It’s important we continue to tout all our county has to offer, from affordable housing to great schools to tremendous recreation and much more. People who move here quickly recognize what a great place this is to live and raise a family.”

The county’s with the largest percentage increases from the 2023 to 2024 population estimates include Franklin at a 1.75 percent increase, Schenectady at 1.17 percent, Orange at 0.82 percent, Orleans at 0.75 percent and Seneca at 0.72 percent.

The five counties with the biggest percentage declines include St. Lawrence at -0.50 percent, Chautauqua at -0.51 percent, Columbia at -0.52 percent, Delaware at -0.73 percent and Schuyler at -1.86 percent.

New York state’s population went up, according to the estimates, from 19,737,367 in 2023 to 19,867,248 in 2024.

A student from Orleans County has made the Dean’s List at Hartwick College and another made the Dean’s List at Grove City College.

Erin Kiefer of Lyndonville was named to Hartwick College’s Fall 2024 Dean’s List. Kiefer, who is pursuing a major in English at the college in Oneonta, was among the approximately 425 students who were named to the Fall 2024 Dean’s List.

To qualify, students must complete at least 12 academic credits during a term with a grade point average of at least 3.50 and no incompletes.

Emma Roush of Medina, a senior Psychology major at Grove City in Pennsylvania, has been named to the Dean’s List for the fall 2024 semester. Roush is a 2021 graduate of Medina High School. Students eligible for the Dean’s List have a GPA of 3.40 to 3.59.

Press Release, Congresswoman Claudia Tenney

WASHINGTON, DC – Congresswoman Claudia Tenney (NY-24) today, alongside Congressman Richard Hudson (NC-9) and Congressman Jimmy Panetta (CA-19), reintroduced legislation to amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to remove private or commercial golf courses and country clubs from section 144(c)(6)(B) of the U.S. tax code.

This legislation allows golf courses to take advantage of various forms of disaster relief and community development programs available to other businesses, such as restaurants, hotels and other leisure activities.

The golf industry comprises over 15,000 small businesses, 80% of which provide public recreational experiences for nearly 30 million Americans every year. It also supports 2 million jobs, and $4 billion is raised for charity each year through America’s golf courses.

“Golf courses create jobs, promote economic development, and provide a fun and healthy activity for friends and families across New York’s 24th Congressional District to enjoy,” Tenney said. “This legislation would allow golf courses, which provide a family-friendly activity, to use tax-exempt private activity bonds to help recover from natural disasters. This legislation will significantly benefit our community’s golf courses and work to continue to promote economic growth and prosperity throughout our region.”

“America’s golf courses contribute significantly to our local economies through jobs, tourism, and community development in places like my home county. Unfortunately, the outdated tax code has unfairly penalized these businesses for too long, making it harder for them to grow or recover after a disaster. As Co-Chair of the Congressional Golf Caucus, I’m proud to champion this legislation to support our golf industry,” said Congressman Hudson.

 “For decades, golf courses have been excluded from disaster relief and economic stimulus programs under the tax code. Our bipartisan legislation would rectify this by removing the restrictions that prevent golf facilities from accessing the same support available to similar entities. By passing this legislation, we can ensure that golf courses are treated under the same standards as other businesses, helping them contribute to the recovery and growth of our local economies,” said Congressman Panetta.

Virtual programs have brought in many speakers for museum

Photo courtesy of the Erie Canal Museum: A woman steers a canal boat, likely with family members around her, in this photo from the Erie Canal Museum. The Cobblestone Museum will continue its series of virtual programs with “Waterway of Change: Women and the Erie Canal” at 6:30 p.m. March 20.

CHILDS – The Cobblestone Museum’s recent series of virtual programs will continue with “Waterway of Change: Women and the Erie Canal,” scheduled for 6:30 p.m. March 20.

Elizabeth Farrell, assistant director of education and public programming at the Erie Canal Museum in Syracuse, will be the featured speaker.

The program was chosen because the Erie Canal revolutionized Upstate New York, bringing new ideas, people and industries to the region and sparking a firestorm of change, said Sue Bonafini, assistant director of the Cobblestone Museum.

“This presentation will cover how the fight for women’s rights grew out of the changes brought about by the Erie Canal and the movement’s dependence on networks that the canal facilitated,” Bonafini said.

The idea for virtual programs grew out of the pandemic, when Bonafini learned that many museums started offering them as a way to generate revenue or serve as a source of community engagement.

“One art museum was able to connect with a contact in Paris to develop a program without the speaker actually flying to New York, which would have been a major expense for travel alone,” Bonafini said. “We offered our first virtual program Oct. 21 to test the waters.”

It was a program by a textile historian in Massachusetts who spoke about Civil War quilts. Thirty-four registered to view the program, and in 2022 and 2023 the Cobblestone offered two more virtual programs during their off-season months to generate some income ahead of the public season of May through October. Monthly offerings have been the norm in January through March since 2024, Bonafini said.

“We are delighted how popular these programs have become,” she said. “Quilt programs trend as the most attended, with 75 registrants this past January tuning in to learn about the c. 1843 Graveyard Quilt.”

Registrants are allowed to choose their donation based on a sliding scale from $5 to $20, Bonafini added. Many choose higher levels of giving than the basic fee. Fees support the Cobblestone Society and Museum, she said, and this season they added an option for college students and faculty to register at a $3 educational rate, with the hope of attracting a wider audience.

Bonafini said sliding scale donations are greatly appreciated using PayPal or a credit card on the Museum’s registration page. Virtual attendees will receive a link during the week of the program.

“We have been fortunate to find community members or businesses to sponsor the speaker’s fees for these virtual events,” Bonafini said.

Bonafini and the Cobblestone Museum gratefully acknowledge Pat’s Auto Repair at 13395 West Lee Rd., Albion, as the generous sponsor.

For assistance with registering or any more information, e-mail Bonafini at volunteers@cobblestonemuseum.org or call (585) 589-9013.

ALBION – The Orleans County Bicentennial Committee is urging churches across the county to ring their bells at noon on April 15 for a minute.

The county will be celebrating its 200^th anniversary with a celebration starting at noon in the county courthouse on April15. The courthouse bell also will be rung for a minute beginning at 12 p.m.

Orleans is marking the 200^th anniversary of when it was formally established by the State Legislature on April 15, 1825. Orleans used to be part of Genesee County but split off and formed its owned county on 1825 with 10 towns – Albion, Barre, Carlton, Clarendon, Gaines, Kendall, Murray, Ridgeway, Shelby and Yates.

Press Release, New York State Division of Military and Naval Affairs

Provided photos: New Yorkers can now apply for Iraq War (left) and Afghan War (right) commemorative medals, if they served in those campaigns.

LATHAM – The New York State Division of Military and Naval Affairs is now issuing commemorative Afghanistan and Iraq War medals approved by the State Legislature and Governor Kathy Hochul in 2023.

The medals are not for wear on a uniform but were designed and authorized as a way for the legislature to thank veterans of these wars for their service.

Two bills, signed into law by the governor in November 2023, created the New York State Afghanistan War Commemorative Medal and the New York State Iraq War Commemorative Medal.

The Afghan War medal is awarded to members of the armed forces who served in Afghanistan between October 2001 and August 2021.

The Iraq War medal is for service members who served in Iraq between March 2003 and December 2011.

Last year the Division of Military and Naval Affairs began issuing commemorative medals to military veterans who served in the Korean and Vietnam Wars.

“On behalf of the legislature and Gov. Kathy Hochul, we at the Division of Military and Naval Affairs are proud to be able to play a role in recognizing the military service of those who fought in Iraq and Afghanistan,” said Maj. Gen. Ray Shields, the adjutant general of New York.

Veterans can apply for the medals online by going to the Division of Military and Naval Affairs website at https://dmna.ny.gov/awards/.

Applicants can use an online firm to request the medals, or they can print out, and mail in an application form.

Applicants must be New York state resident now, or have been a New York state resident when they served in Iraq or Afghanistan

Applicants must provide a digital or paper copy of their Department of Defense Form 214 (DD214) Certificate of Release or Discharge from Active Duty, as proof of military service in the two theaters of action.

Family members and other designated individuals can apply on behalf of a veteran. The medal can also be award posthumously.

BATAVIA – Genesee Community College has announced the Orleans County students on the Provost’s List for the fall semester.

Students honored on the Provost’s List have maintained part-time enrollment and earned a quality point index of 3.75 (roughly equivalent to an A) or better.

The following from Orleans are on the list:

• Kareem Caballero of Albion
• Santos Concepcion of Albion
• La’Cory Edwards of Albion
• Timothy Jones of Albion
• Milton Mondelus of Albion
• Michael Weezorak of Albion
• Abigael Delobbe-Scott of Lyndonville
• Emma Maynard of Lyndonville
• David Garrow of Medina
• Evan Horn of Medina
• Steven Kage of Medina
• Jenna Wildschutz of Medina
• Candice Baker of Medina
• Alivia Fidanza of Albion
• Rebecca Smith of Albion
• Bradley Pierce of Albion
• Ethan Hofmann of Albion
• Rowan Hofmann of Albion
• Autumn Schaefer of Albion
• Jessica Cookinham of Albion
• Sophia Smith of Albion
• Zachary Schultz of Holley
• Ashton Drought of Holley
• Laurie Ruday of Kent
• Elisa Bropst of Kent
• Tyrell Wright of Knowlesville
• Aaron Arnett of Waterport

Photos by Tom Rivers

MEDINA – The Medina school district hosted ColorBurst 2025 on Saturday with 23 winter guard teams performing in the high school gym. The event draws about 500 spectators to Medina. The Medina guard is shown in the top photo.

Winter guard is a hybrid artform and sport that combines elements of music, dance, choreography and military-like precision in a competitive arena. Winter guard is touted for benefits for participants that include teamwork, fitness, timing, planning, responsibility, coordination, and goal-setting.

Medina competes in the SA class and presented its show, “Tidal.” Medina portrayed the power of water, and how the pull from the moon and natural events can disrupt the typically serene element into a powerful tidal wave.

There are 16 students in Medina’s varsity winterguard. The Medina JV also performed a show, “Going Up.”

Here are the top scores for the different divisions on Saturday:

• Novice – Gates Chili with a score of 52.45.
• Cadets – Ventures with 60.38
• Regional A – Naples with 70.84
• A1 Class – Ventures in A1 class with 71.18
• Scholastic A – Victor Blue Devils in Scholastic with 83.5
• Independent A – Gates Chili at 81.87
• Seniors – Luminosa with 80.05
• Independent Open – Gates Chili at 83.60

Greece Regional A presented its show, “Dancing Queen,” and featured music by Cyndi Lauper, “Girls Just Want to Have Fun,” ABBA’s “Dancing Queen” and Billy Elish’s “What was I Made For.”

Marcus Whitman performed “Tightrope” with music from The Greatest Showman. The show explores the power of trust and collaboration. ‘Life’s challenges are best faced together,” the Marcus Whitman Winterguard said in a message in the program. “Join us as we discover the strength found in walking side by side.”

The Victor Cadet Winterguard performed a show, “Singing in the Rain.” The cadets range in age from grades 5 to 8.

The crowd gave an enthusiastic response to the Victor cadets.

The all-abilities colorguard, Heritage Hurricanes, include performers from Heritage Christian Services and other community members in the Rochester area. They perform to the “Let’s Groove” by Earth, Wind and Fire. The group is directed by Medina native Melissa Jaeger.

The Hinsdale Headliners performed to a full moon poem, set in a deep dark forest. The show celebrates the moon and seeks to bring peace.

Ventures did a show, “The Overview Effect,” that reflected on the cognitive and emotional shift astronauts experience when viewing the Earth from space. It was set to music from “It’s A Wonderful World.”

Victor’s varsity guard did a powerful show, “Fragments of Forever.” The show included childhood photos of the guard members, who performed to Adele’s song, “When We Were Young.” They invited the crowd to walk down memory lane and revisit childhood memories.