By Randy LeBaron

Good morning! Grab your favorite cup. Fill it up. And let’s start this year right… TOGETHER!!!

I hope that you had a Merry Christmas and are on your way to a very Happy New Year! With that in mind I wanted to share a story from back in June 1999, I had just started my new life with my new wife which included our honeymoon in Cancun, MX. Outside of Canada this would be my first time traveling to another country and I was excited to share this adventure with Sheryl. Beyond a few initial glitches, since Sheryl had booked everything beforehand using her maiden name I was called Mr. Smout throughout our stay, we had a great time.

Beyond being able to enjoy the beautiful pools at our resort we ate well and made our mark on the sand volleyball court. We also went on some excursions which were included in our package. When it came time to choose which ones we would be doing Sheryl, a lover of all things beach and ocean, chose snorkeling around a coral reef and spending the day relaxing by the beautiful blue water of Xpuha. I, on the other hand, having watched Jaws way too many times as a kid chose to stay inland and explore the ancient Mayan ruins of Chichén Itzá.

We started with the snorkeling adventure which began with us and a number of other couples each taking a small motorboat an hour out into the ocean to where the reef was. Having never driven a boat before it was an exhilarating experience outside of Sheryl screaming because she thought we were going to flip over (I only know one speed). Once we arrived and got in the water however the scary part for me began. Having never snorkeled before it was going to be sink or swim for me because once my face went into that water it wasn’t coming out whether I could breathe or not. Our entire time there I scanned the depths non-stop but thankfully never once saw a shark. I did swim over one while snorkeling this past summer but that’s another story.

The next outing was to Chichén Itzá where we learned a lot about the Mayan culture, tried some roadside tacos (our guide revealed afterward that chicken was scarce, so it was most likely lizard meat that we had eaten), and climbed to the top of The Temple of Kukulcán (El Castillo). It was a good day but also a very hot and tiring day which is why when we showed up for our final excursion, an afternoon on the beach at Xpuha, Sheryl wasn’t feeling well and decided she had better take a nap.

Between being bored, feeling a bit invulnerable since I had already courageously survived snorkeling, and because the water was so clear you could see quite a distance, I decided to take my chances and rent an inflatable mat which I used to float on. I was a bit hesitant at first but soon enough I had given in to the relaxing motion of the ocean and all but fell asleep as I stared out into the endless horizon with neither land nor a boat in sight.

This went on for a while before I began to hear shouting behind me from a distance. As I groggily turned over to face the beach I suddenly realized that I was nowhere near shore. Every time the mat had gently rolled over a small wave I had drifted further and further out to sea and had no idea because without a fixed point there wasn’t any way to know that I had moved even a little let alone a lot.

As I quickly assessed the situation a different type of panic set in, I couldn’t understand a lot of what the locals were shouting at me in Spanish but even under duress I recognized when they started yelling “Shark!” I don’t know how I swam back to shore as quick as I did but if there was a shark in the vicinity it probably got pushed aside by my wake. In the end I was all too happy to be back getting an earful from my new bride who had gone to sleep and woke up worried she might never me again.

The reality is that I did not intentionally choose to float out into dangerous waters and had I been laying the opposite direction looking at the shore I would have been able to see the second I was starting to drift and would have maneuvered myself back to safety at once. So, my question to you dear reader is, “What are you focusing on as you prepare to begin a New Year in 2025?”  As I just proved, it’s too easy to not focus on anything and simply drift along, ending up where you really don’t want to be. However, by setting goals and finding a fixed point to focus on you can start moving in the direction of where you want to be by year’s end

In his book, Principle of the Path, Andy Stanley makes a great observation which is that “Direction, Not Intention, Determines Your Destination.”  Good intentions may be helpful when making New Year’s Resolutions, which will most likely be forgotten by February, but if you really want to start becoming who who you are called to be then direction is key. Simply put… you need to figure out where you are, figure where you want to go, and then decide one thing you could do to start moving in that direction. Then do it.

See you in 2 weeks!

Pastor Randy

ALBION – The owner of Wild Flour Deli and Bakery announced today the business will be closing at its Albion location on Route 31 and moving to Brockport.

Beth Miller of Holley posted on Facebook she is “devastated” to make the decision. She had posted in recent months that business was often slow in Albion.

She opened Wild Flour in November 2021 at 438 West Ave., making sandwiches, soups, salads and baked goods. She promoted the business as a healthier option than fast food and pizza.

“We are sorry and truly heartbroken by this decision, but there was truly no other choice,” Miller posted on Facebook.

She attended many local concerts and events, selling sandwiches, pie and other food to help promote the business.

Wild Flour will close in Albion on Feb. 27. Miller doesn’t have a date on when she will open in Brockport. She said she will rent a local food kitchen and will still cater events and parties and do shows during the summer. She is considering a food truck as well.

“We have loved our time here and value all of our customers so much,” Miller said on Facebook. “But it is time for us to move on.”

Wild Flour Deli and Bakery won first place in Albion’s Christmas Parade in December 2023. This photo shows Wild Flour owner Beth Miller walking by the float that created a baking scene. There was a baking fight in front of the judges with some dough being tossed around. Wild Flour won third in the most recent parade on Dec. 14.

A high wind watch has been issued for Sunday evening through Monday afternoon for Orleans, Genesee, Niagara and Erie counties.

There will be southwest winds from 30 to 40 miles per hour with gusts up to 60 mph possible, according to the National Weather Service in Buffalo.

The period of strongest winds will most likely occur early Monday morning, the Weather Service said.

The high temperatures for the coming days include 54 today, followed by 57 on Sunday, 44 on Monday, 44 on Tuesday and 39 on Wednesday, which is New Year’s Day.

Town sought land by Lake Ontario but purchase was defeated in public referendum in June

This map shows the boundaries of 153 acres in the Town of Yates that will be acquired by the Western New York Land Conservancy with a state grant for $1,120,387.

YATES – A state grant will allow 153 acres in the Town of Yates by Lake Ontario to be protected for future generations.

The state announced on Dec. 26 that it awarded a $1,120,387 grant to the Western New York Land Conservancy to acquire the 153-acre Yates Lakeshore Preserve.

This is the land the town sought to buy, but it was rejected in a public referendum on June 20 by 260-145. Yates officials envisioned walking and nature trails at the site.

The town had negotiated buying the land for $700,000 from NYSEG, with the stipulation the purchase come from grant funds not local tax dollars. Some residents stated they were concerned losing the land’s tax revenue, about $25,000 a year, and also the ongoing maintenance and insurance costs for the town.

The land owned by NYSEG was at one time eyed for a power plant. That project ended up at Somerset.

Town Supervisor Jim Simon saw the 153.3 acres by Lake Ontario as a tremendous opportunity for the town to preserve undisturbed land for generations to come. The site is next to the 6-acre Yates Town Park on Morrison Road.

He is pleased to see the land will be protected from development. When the town was eyeing the property, he said Yates officials received three inquiries about purchasing the land, and then two more requests after the June 20 referendum. The Land Conservancy was one of those entities.

In each case, Simon said he passed along the contact to NYSEG’s real estate manager.

“Needless to say, although we don’t yet know the details of the grant since we were not involved in the WNYLC grant request or the award, the Yates Town Board is very excited that the announced grant award will allow WNYLC to preserve and protect one of the few remaining natural watersheds and flora/fauna habitats in the western Lake Ontario littoral,” Simon said.

The state, in announcing the grant, said the acquisition in the Marsh Creek watershed by the Conservancy will protect drinking water and preserve lakeshore landscapes.

Kyle Semmel, communications manager for the Land Conservancy, said the organization has a mission “to permanently protect land with significant conservation value for the benefit of future generations, and this property is just such a place.”

The state funding comes from a DEC Water Quality Improvement Grant (WQIP). The primary purpose of the WQIP program is to improve water quality in the state, Semmel said.

The Yates land has for two public water intakes 2.5 and 6.5 miles downstream that serve more than 18,000 residents in eight municipalities: the towns of Yates, Albion, Barre, Carlton, Gaines, Murray, Ridgeway, Albion/Orleans Correctional Facilities, and the villages of Lyndonville and Albion, Semmel said.

“For the first few years of our ownership of the property, we will restore the shoreline and streambank areas to prevent erosion,” he said. “We also plan to conduct ecological restoration of the forested portion of the property to reduce invasive species, plant more native species, and enhance wildlife habitat.”

The 153 acres of lakeshore habitat are also of significant ecological value, featuring shrubland, mature native trees, successional forest, and abundant nesting and migratory bird habitat, Semmel said.

“Once conserved, this property will be restored to enhance habitat for rare and protected plants and animals, and to allow increased water retention on site,” he said. “Given its location along the Lake Ontario shoreline, the property is ideal for low-impact public access. The Land Conservancy will bear all stewardship and maintenance costs, including trail maintenance, signage, and other necessary public access amenities.”

Photos by Tom Rivers

ALBION – An Albion police vehicle driven by officer Chris Glogowski was the first to cross the Main Street lift bridge after it reopened to traffic today at about 4:30 p.m.

Many of the cars and trucks that followed beeped their horns in delight that the bridge was back open after being closed since Nov. 14, 2022. When it closed, the state Department of Transportation estimated it would reopen in 18 months or the spring of 2024.

But there have been delays in getting materials for the project, pushing the completion back.

The bridge rails on the inside of the bridge, for example, didn’t arrive until a week ago. Those rails are critical to protecting the bridge’s beams.

A happy construction worker from Crane-Hogan Structural Systems in Spencerport removes a sign about the bridge being out.

Crane-Hogan served as general contractor for the project. The company said there is more work today below the bridge with the lifting mechanism. The bridge may need to close briefly in the spring before the project is entirely complete.

A construction worker takes photos of a 40,000-pound crane going over the bridge as part of a final inspection to make sure the bridge didn’t shift from the weight.

The community started to get excited when the concrete barriers were removed about 2:30 this afternoon on the southside of the bridge. Several people posted on social media, hopeful today would be the day for the bridge to reopen.

The barriers on the north side were removed about 3:30 p.m. DOT staff also took down the detour signs late this afternoon.

Liz Groat, one of the vendors at Downtown Browsery, said the closed bridge has been difficult on the downtown merchants, who first endured the misery and restrictions of Covid-19 in 2020, and then saw a big reduction in traffic since the bridge closed in late 2022.

Jim Theodorakos, owner of Morrison Realty, is thrilled to have the bridge back open. He said the detour, even just a block away on Ingersoll Street, has been inconvenient for the community. His business office is two buildings from the bridge on the south side.

He is thankful people can get to the office without “going around, and around, and around.”

He was able to cross the bridge just a few minutes after it reopened today.

The project is about six months late, with still more work to be done. The east side sidewalk remains closed to pedestrians so contractors can get in and out of the north pit below ground. The stairs will go in when the work is done in the pit. That deadline is just before the reopening of the Erie Canal for the navigation season in May.

The sidewalk on the west side is open to pedestrians.

Some of the steel fabricated was off by a tiny amount, but the lift bridge has a very low tolerance for imperfections with steel, one of the contractors said. Even being off by a thickness of a hair is unacceptable for some of the parts, he said.

About 80 percent of the bridge has new steel. The top steel beams and some of the diagonal pieces remain from the original 1914 bridge.

Crane-Hogan employees remove a “Road Closed” sign. The company and other construction workers cheered after the final inspection and the bridge was reopened. Some of the workers have been driving 1 ½ hours each way to work on the project.

LYNDONVILLE – Emily Cebula is retiring next week after leading the Yates Community Library since 2008, a time when the library expanded cultural programming and gave the interior a significant renovation.

The Yates Town Board issued a proclamation on Dec. 12 praising her “exemplary” service as the library director.

She was commended for organizing and leading the “Lyndonville Reads” community reading project, overseeing a summer outdoor concert series, and her “exceptional” collaborative work with employees, volunteers, the board of trustees and NIOGA.

The Yates Town Board also cited Cebula’s efforts to implement the Orleans Digital Literacy Project, and her enhancements of the library website with digitized local newspapers and school yearbooks.

“The Yates Town Board hereby recognizes Emily Cebula’s faithful service to our community as director of the Yates Community Library, and wishes her all the best in her retirement,” the proclamation stated.

Cebula is the second public library director to retire this year in Orleans County. Sandra Shaw also retired from leading the Community Free Library in Holley.

Photos by Tom Rivers

BARRE – Firefighters respond this morning to a fire in Barre barn owned by Richard Miller at 13481 Miller Rd.

Firefighters and Miller said the fire started from a skid steer. The fire spread to some hay in the barn.

Firefighters moved the scorched hay from inside, and hosed down the skid steer.

Miller said a neighbor called him to say there was smoke coming from the barn at about 9 a.m.

Two cows were inside as well as many sheep, and they were safely moved to an outdoor pasture. Miller is retired from farming. His two granddaughters show the cows in the Orleans County 4-H Fair.

The barn didn’t appear to suffer any damage from the fire.

Firefighters from Barre, Albion and Medina responded to the scene, as well as the Orleans County Sheriff’s Office and Orleans County Emergency Management Office.

Photos by Tom Rivers: John Riggi, left, has stepped down as Yates town councilman and his spot will be filled by Steve Vann, who is shown speaking at a Lyndonville Board of Education meeting in May.

YATES – The Yates Town Board has appointed Steve Vann to fill a vacancy as town councilman with the resignation of John Riggi.

Vann, the chairman of Village of Lyndonville Planning Board, was appointed on Dec. 12. He starts on Jan. 1.

Vann was a member of the Lyndonville Board of Education. He works as a president of J.S.C Management Group which operates many Burger King restaurants.

Riggi served nearly a decade on the Town Board. He was active in a fight against large wind turbines in Yates and Somerset, serving as president of the Save Ontario Shores group. During his tenure on the board, Yates passed town ordinances making it more difficult to site industrial-sized turbines in the town.

Town Supervisor Jim Simon said Vann will be an asset to the Town Board starting on Jan. 1. Vann brings a business acumen, and expertise in finance and health care expenses, Simon said during the Dec. 12 meeting.

File photo by Tom Rivers: This photo from October 2021 shows a farm scene looking down from Presbyterian Road on the Erie Canal in Albion, looking north. The bridge was close to traffic on Dec. 30.

ALBION – The canal bridge on Presbyterian Road will close to traffic Dec. 30 and is expected to be closed for a repair until May 1, the Orleans County Emergency Management Office announced today.

The bridge is the last canal bridge on the west side of the Town of Albion, located between the Allens Bridge Road bridge and Knowlesville lift bridge.

Photo by Tom Rivers: One of the stops during the Oct. 5 Boxwood at Night event included a display with a list of the 107 people buried in a potter’s field at the cemetery. Of those 107, only 28 have head stones. The Friends of Boxwood Cemetery would like to install a plaque in the cemetery listing all 107 people. The Medina Sandstone Society is contributing to that effort.

Press Release, Medina Sandstone Trust

MEDINA – The Medina Sandstone Trust, a community endowment that disburses small grants to local programs, projects, and organizations has released its 2024 grant awards.

The following programs and organizations were funded a total of $5,600 for 2024’s round of grant funding.

• Hands for Hope Street Ministry to provide Purex and laundry detergent to clients.
• The Canalside Radio to assist with the purchase of 100-watt FM radio transmitter and related equipment, antenna, etc.
• The Medina Historical Society for funds to cover historical speakers and publicity costs for future programming.
• ORG – Friends of Boxwood Cemetery for assistance with the cost of installing a memorial in Potters Field, listing the names of the 107 people who are buried there. Currently there are only 28 headstones.
• GO Art! for assistance with purchasing a wagon, stage, tires, sound and projection equipment to be used first in August 2025 for the Erie Canal Artisan Festival and other future festivals and events.

This is the Medina Sandstone Trust’s 13th round of awards with over $65,000 in small grants and $10,000 in scholarships awarded so far.

The Medina Sandstone Trust encourages local non-profit agencies to apply for the 2025 round of grant funding. Instructions on how to apply will be released in October 2025.

Donations to help support the Medina Sandstone Trust can be made at any time to the Sandstone Society, Post Office Box 25, Medina, NY 14103 or donate online (click here). Gifts to this 501(c)(3) are tax deductible.

Overall the 10 towns, 4 villages remain at same level since 2001

Charts: Orleans Hub with data from Orleans County Legislature.

ALBION – The Orleans County Legislature has set the sales tax amounts for the 10 towns and four villages for 2025.

Overall, the towns and villages collectively remain at $1,366,671, the same amount they have received since 2001.

But in 2025, there is a slight shift to the villages by $4,014 or $383,407 to $387,421. Most of that increase is for the Village of Albion – up $3,077 to $162,169.

The county uses a formula in determining the village share by dividing the village taxable value by the town taxable value. In Albion, which completed a village and townwide reassessment in 2024, the village assessed value increased a bigger percentage than the towns’, resulting in a slight boost in the local sales tax.

That was also the case in Lyndonville, where Yates and the village completed reassessments in 2024. The village share went up $1,566, while Yates is down by $1,566.

In Holley and Medina, where there weren’t town-wide reassessments in 2024, the village share shrunk – down $530 in Medina and $98 in Holley.

The previous year, Shelby and Ridgeway completed town-wide reassessments that resulted in an $8,114 sales tax shift for Medina in 2024 – from $152,046 to $160,160. But next year it will creep back by $530.

The majority of town and village boards in 2023 passed resolutions asking the County Legislature to increase the sales tax to the municipalities, but the Legislature opted against that in the 2024 budget, citing other rising costs for the county.

The towns and villages didn’t make much noise about the issue in 2024, and Legislature has again kept the sales tax at $1,366,671.

The county takes in about $23 million overall in local sales tax. After big increases in recent years, the sales tax revenue was lagging behind for much of 2024, compared to 2023 levels. The county did see growth in the third quarter and was $150,000 ahead of the 2023 levels after the third quarter.

Fossil fuel companies will pay for critical infrastructure, resiliency projects to protect from flooding and extreme heat

Press Release, Gov. Kathy Hochul’s Office

Governor Kathy Hochul today signed landmark legislation to bolster New York’s efforts to protect and restore the environment by requiring large fossil fuel companies to pay for critical projects that protect New Yorkers.

Legislation S.2129-B/A.3351-B creates a ‘Climate Superfund’ to support New York-based projects that bolster New York’s resiliency to dangerous climate impacts like flooding and extreme heat.

“With nearly every record rainfall, heatwave, and coastal storm, New Yorkers are increasingly burdened with billions of dollars in health, safety, and environmental consequences due to polluters that have historically harmed our environment,” Governor Hochul said. “Establishing the Climate Superfund is the latest example of my administration taking action to hold polluters responsible for the damage done to our environment and requiring major investments in infrastructure and other projects critical to protecting our communities and economy.”

This landmark legislation shifts the cost of climate adaptation from everyday New Yorkers to the fossil fuel companies most responsible for the pollution. By creating a Climate Change Adaptation Cost Recovery Program, this law ensures that these companies contribute to the funding of critical infrastructure investments, such as coastal protection and flood mitigation systems, to enhance the climate resilience of communities across the state.

New York Public Interest Research Group (NYPIRG) Executive Director Blair Horner said, “The governor’s approval of the Climate Change Superfund Act is a welcome holiday gift for New York taxpayers. Until her approval, New York taxpayers were 100% on the financial hook for climate costs. Now Big Oil will pay for much of the damages that they helped cause. As a result, New Yorkers will have their future tax burden reduced by $3 billion annually. This legislation is also designed to ensure that the oil industry will protect consumers from Climate Superfund costs being passed along. It’s a win for taxpayers and consumers. NYPIRG applauds the action by Governor Hochul, Senator Krueger, Assemblymember Dinowitz, and the other legislative supporters for making this innovative proposal become law.”

Another new significant climate law signed by Governor Hochul earlier this week expands upon New York State’s 2014 prohibition of high-volume hydraulic fracturing to extract natural gas. Legislation S.8357/A.8866 amends the State Environmental Conservation Law to prohibit the use of carbon dioxide in gas or oil extraction to prevent potential negative health or environmental effects from carbon dioxide fracking in the state.

Provided photo: Pictured from left include Kenneth Gholston, Chairman of the Board for Homeless Alliance of Western New York; Karen Kinter, Oak Orchard Health CEO; and Rashied McDuffie, Esq., deputy mayor City of Buffalo.

Press Release, Oak Orchard Health

ALBION – Oak Orchard Health (OOH) is proud to receive the Community Advocacy and Education Award for its work in the communities it serves.

This award from the Homeless Alliance of Western New York recognizes exemplary individual or organizational efforts to advocate for homeless people through public education initiatives, awareness campaigns, conference presentations, or published research.

“The warming center initiatives that Oak Orchard Health leads in Orleans, Brockport, and Wyoming County are truly remarkable, and the Homeless Alliance of Western New York is so grateful for the work with those most vulnerable in rural areas of Western New York,” said the Homeless Alliance of Western New York.

As a Federally Qualified Health Center, Oak Orchard serves 30,000 patients, including the homeless, farmworkers, and people of all races, genders, and ages. In addition, OOH has opened two warming centers (with a third coming soon), working with its community partners and funding from Monroe County (for the Brockport Community Warming Center) and Greater Rochester Health Foundation (Warsaw).

A Warming Center provides a warm, safe place for the unhoused when temperatures drop below 32 degrees (Code Blue).

Photo by Tom Rivers: Karen Kinter, CEO of Oak Orchard Health, speaks during a celebration for a new warming center at Christ Church on Dec. 20, 2023. The site offers cots, coffee, tea, soup and hygiene kits when the temperature dropped below 32 degrees at night.

“It is truly an honor for Oak Orchard Health to be selected for the Community Advocacy and Education Award,” said Karen Kinter, CEO Oak Orchard Health. “In December 2023, we opened our first Warming Center in Orleans County. On December 23, the Brockport Community Warming Center will open. Oak Orchard Health has taken the lead on administrative and staffing of these centers.”

Many do not think there is a large, unhoused community in rural areas where our health centers reside, but that’s untrue.  The Orleans County Warming Center served 63 people on the 110 Code Blue days. New York State mandates that if the weather drops below 32 degrees, it is considered “Code Blue,” and the community must provide shelter.

The Homeless Alliance of Western New York

The Homeless Alliance of Western New York is the lead agency for the Continuum of Care (CoC) and the Homeless Management Information System (HMIS) in Buffalo, Niagara Falls, Erie, Niagara, Genesee, Wyoming, and Orleans counties.

Their program is designed to promote community-wide commitment to the goal of ending homelessness, providing funding for efforts by nonprofit providers and state and local governments to quickly rehouse homeless individuals and families while minimizing the trauma and dislocation caused to homeless individuals, families and communities by homelessness; promote access to and effect utilization of mainstream programs by homeless individuals and families; and optimize self-sufficiency among individuals and families experiencing homelessness.

About Oak Orchard Health  

Initially founded in 1973, Oak Orchard Health has grown from serving farmworkers into an integrated health center with multiple locations providing health care services to 30,000 people, including primary care, pediatric care, vision and dental care, behavioral health, as well as nutrition and outreach services for everyone located in the communities they serve.

Oak Orchard Health is a recognized patient-centered medical home and 501(c) nonprofit Federally Qualified Health Center (FQHC) located in the towns of Albion, Alexander, Batavia, Brockport, Corfu, Hornell, Medina, and Warsaw, New York. With the addition of the Mobile Medical Unit and Mobile Dental Unit, we will further increase access to care for our patients.

Organization was dropped as line item in 2025 budget

Photo by Tom Rivers: The Cobblestone Museum, a National Historic Landmark on Route 104 in Gaines, is a caretaker of many artifacts from throughout the county.

ALBION – The Cobblestone Museum, which was dropped as a line item in the county’s 2025 budget, will get $3,000 in funding from the county’s contingency fund.

The museum was in the 2024 county budget as a line item for $3,000. But county officials said the museum didn’t submit the paperwork for a formal request for funding in 2025, resulting in the museum being excluded in the budget. (The museum made its request through Fred Miller, a county legislator.)

The museum received $3,000 from the contingency fund in prior years. During a Dec. 17 meeting, the Legislature approved the $3,000, although Legislator Don Allport, R-Gaines, opposed it.

Allport has consistently opposed county funding for the museum in most recent years. He said the organization didn’t follow the proper process and he said the county shouldn’t be contributing to non-profit organizations.

“This is setting a precedent,” he said.

The other six legislators approved the funding for the museum, which expects to start construction on an expanded visitor center this year.

The county’s total budget includes $99,092,747 in spending, a 7.1 percent increase from 2024 that increases taxes by 1.95 percent.

The county allocates some funding to different agencies that provide services in the community.

Here are the funding amounts for 2025: Soil & Water Conservation District, $100,500; GO Art!, $4,000; Cornell Cooperative Extension, $240,000; four public libraries, $10,087 collectively; Orleans Economic Development Agency, $200,000; and Mercy Flight, $5,000.

The Sportsmen’s Federation used to be in the county budget and typically received $1,000 a year through 2023. It was dropped to $0 in 2024 and wasn’t allocated any funding for 2025.

The neighboring county of Genesee gives more to its museum and agencies that provide services in the community. Genesee has 58,388 people, compared to 40,343 in Orleans County.

Genesee has 44.7 percent more people, and nearly doubles the spending in Orleans County – $190,415,199 budget compared to $99,092,747 in Orleans.

Here are the amounts Genesee gives to some of the agencies in the community: Holland Land Office Museum, $38,554; libraries, $53,680; Soil & Water, $173,851; Cornell Cooperative Extension, $408,613; and GO Art!, $7,500.

Provided photo

ALBION – This group of vendors at the Downtown Browsery dressed up as Misfit Toys on Dec. 14 during Albion’s Hometown Holiday celebration.

The group includes, from left: Liz Groat, Kim Heiler, Paula Brooks, Linda Hollenbeck, Connie Ferris, Gladys Lotta, Dar Krull, Donna John and Diane Wight.

The Browsery celebrated its 20^th anniversary this past year.

Many people in the Orleans County community contributed making a memorable Christmas and holiday season, organizing and participating in parades, festivals, church services and community decorations, and by donating many gifts to others, including strangers.

We thank all of you who gave of yourselves to help make the season merrier and bright.