Provided photos

POINT BREEZE – This group picked up trash, including a busted kayak, from Point Breeze on Sept. 9 during the annual shoreline cleanup.

The Orleans County Soil and Water Conservation District would like to thank all those who participated including Girl Scouts from Troop 82007, NYS Department of Environmental Conservation staff and local residents.

The 17 volunteers collected 148 pounds of garbage from Glenwood Lake, Canal Widewaters, Waterport Dam, and Point Breeze.

“Most of these dedicated volunteers come back year after year, and we were so glad to have a few new faces join us this year,” said Judy Bennett, secretary and treasurer for Soil & Water.

 She urged people to keep the waterways free from garbage. Anyone interested in participating in the shoreline cleanup next year can contact Soil & Water at (585) 589-5959 ext. 5.

Press Release, Medina Central School

MEDINA – Ally Condie, a number-one best-selling author, visited Medina Jr./Sr. High on Monday.  Librarian Jennifer O’Toole, along with English teachers Mindy Hill and Kayla Rosenbeck and local bookstore owner Julie Berry (Author’s Note), invited Ms. Condie to discuss her new Young Adult novel “The Only Girl in Town” with students and hold a writing workshop with the Creative Writing Class.

“We are thrilled to have her visit our school and being able to engage with our students,” said Principal Michael Cavanagh. “It is an amazing opportunity to hear about her writing process and have her inspire our students.”

Ms. Condie is the author of the number one New York Times bestselling Matched trilogy and its companion novel, The Last Voyage of Poe Blythe. She has also authored the book Summerlost, which is an Edgar Award winner.

The Only Girl in Town is a novel with a fractured reality twist about a girl named July Fielding.  July finds nothing has been the same since the summer before senior year.  She finds herself alone as everyone in her town disappears and she struggles to get them back.

She read a few chapters to her audience and took questions from students on everything from her personal life to events in the book.

“It was wonderful having Ms. Condie here,” said Mrs. O’Toole. “We are very grateful to Julie Berry for including us as one of the schools Ms. Condie is visiting in the area.”

After not much color change in the fall foliage locally, the leaves have started to turn red, yellow and other brilliant fall colors, according to the I LOVE NY Fall Foliage Report.

“Beautiful fall colors continue to arrive across New York State, with near-peak leaves expected to make their first appearances this weekend in parts of the Adirondacks,” according to the report which came out on Tuesday.

The map shows that Orleans is starting to change colors, just like most of the state.

Most of the leaves are still green. Spotters in Genesee County estimate Batavia is at less than 20 percent foliage change.

“In Erie County, foliage spotters in Buffalo predict 15% change with golden yellow and plum leaves of average brilliance,” according to the report. “In the southern portion of the county, spotters in East Aurora predict a little more than 10% foliage change with muted burnt yellow, orange and brown leaves. In Niagara County, spotters in Niagara Falls anticipate a little more than 5% color change with a few red and yellow leaves.”

Here is the map showing the status of the foliage changes around the state.

Dr. James Goetz, retiring pediatrician, praised for 45 years of service to OOH patients

Photos courtesy of Oak orchard Health: (Left) Karen Kinter, CEO of Oak Orchard Health, celebrates at the 50th anniversary celebration at Maison Albion on Friday. (Right) Dr. James Goetz and his wife celebrate at the dinner on Friday.

Press Release, Oak Orchard Health

ALBION – What a night! After 50 years there was a lot to celebrate. Oak Orchard Health was founded in 1973 and Dr. James Goetz joined us in 1978 as a pediatrician. As he said, “There must be something special at Oak Orchard Health for me to stay that long!”

Oak Orchard Health celebrated the milestone anniversary with a gala on Friday at Maison Albion with its staff, board members and elected officials.

Karen Kinter, the Oak Orchard Health CEO, presented the State of the Organization to cheers and applause. She also brought Dr. Goetz up to the podium to thank him for his years of service and presented him with original artwork signed by Oak Orchard staff.

“We wanted to do something special for Dr. Goetz and this artwork depicting our agricultural workers seemed appropriate,” Kinter said. “He has always been dedicated to ensuring our health services are available to everyone, particularly farmworkers. We were honored to have Dr. Goetz with us for 45 years.”

This group include Dr. Danielle Renodin-Mead, pediatrician and chief medical officer; OOH board president Renee Biedlingmaier; and Dr. Rachel Nozzi, chief dental officer.

On Saturday, October 14, Oak Orchard Health will host a community open house for Dr. Goetz from 1 to 3 p.m. at the Brockport office. All are welcome to come by for fun, friendship, and refreshments. We’d love to see you there.

Representatives from the offices of Assemblyman Steve Hawley, Senator George Borello, and Senator Robert Ortt attended the Friday event and presented Oak Orchard Health with proclamations. OOH also received a 50th Anniversary Proclamation from Congressman Joe Morelle.

Our current and past board members were present and recognized for their dedication to Oak Orchard. Three retired board members Kathy Williams (served 11 years), Rita Wagner (19 years), and David Jewell (18 years) joined us.

Karen Kinter is shown with OOH board president Renee Biedlingmaier, and vice president Randy Dumas.

Current board members that attended were Renee Biedlingmaier (Board Chair), Randy Dumas (Vice Chair), Nyla Gaylord (Treasurer), Lorienda Smith (Secretary), Rene Cibrian, George Sokolsky, Cynda Watroba, and Leda Pacelli-Szabo.

Each member of the Senior Executive Team donated a themed basket that we later gave to the lucky team member.

The dinner and dessert were fabulous. Thank you to everyone who helped us make this a special evening.

The 50th Anniversary celebration would not be complete without the support of our sponsors which include Labella, The Bonadio Group, Henry Schein, Pullano & Farrow, PLLC, Crane Dental Laboratory, Maison Albion, Wolf Martial Arts, and Pro Squared Janitorial Services. We also received donations from many local businesses.

Oak Orchard Health

Founded in 1973, Oak Orchard has grown from a migrant health project into an integrated health center with multiple locations providing health care services for everyone located in the communities we serve. Currently serving over 30,000 patients at eleven locations in the towns of Albion, Alexander, Batavia, Brockport, Corfu, Hornell, Medina, and Warsaw.

This group enjoying the celebration includes Rita Wagner, Karen Kinter, Kathy Williams and David Jewell.

Photos by Tom Rivers: The former Bank of America site at 156 S. Main St. is now owned by Orleans County and will become the treasurer’s office in 2024.

ALBION – The Orleans County Legislature on Tuesday approved spending $250,000 to buy the former Bank of America building at 156 South Main St.

The site has been vacant since the bank closed on Aug. 15, 2017. County officials are planning to make the building the home for the treasurer’s office.

“With the drive-through, it will be very helpful for the elderly,” said Kim DeFrank, the county treasurer.

The current treasurer’s office is in Central Hall at 34 East Park St. DeFrank said the building can be difficult for the public to use. Parking is in back of the building, and the handicapped accessibility ramp is on the back side of the building.

Central Hall was built in 1882 and was a school until 1934. It was the home to the Sheret Post #35 American Legion from 1935 until the county acquired it in 1980. The site has been used for the treasurer’s office, probation, computer services and historian. Currently, only the treasurer’s officer and historian’s office are using the building.

The red-brick building needs repointing and estimates have topped $100,000, DeFrank said.

The treasurer’s office is seeing more demand from the public. This September and October it is collecting the school taxes for the Albion school district for the first time. It also collects for Lyndonville and Medina.

The Bank of America’s south side is shown today (facing the plaza that includes Subway and several other businesses and organizations).

DeFrank is hopeful the treasurer’s office can be moved to the bank site by this time next year.

She said the site needs some paint, new carpets and a build out of offices. The driveway should also be redone.

The treasurer’s office received new furniture late last year, and DeFrank said the furnishings and equipment can be moved to the former bank site.

The county bought the bank building from 156 South Albion LLC, which is based at 56 Exchange St. in Rochester.

DeFrank said she expects the treasurer’s office will be put up for sale after the office shifts to the former bank.

Press Release, Congresswoman Claudia Tenney

WASHINGTON, DC – Congresswoman Claudia Tenney (NY-24) voted in favor of H.R. 5110, Protecting Hunting Heritage and Education Act, which authorizes the use of federal elementary and secondary education funds to purchase and use weapons for purposes of training students in archery, hunting, or other shooting sports.

This bill, which Tenney cosponsored, passed the House by a vote of 424-1.

Currently, the Biden Administration is intentionally misconstruing Congressional intent to advance its radical anti-Second Amendment agenda, Tenney said. The Administration is warping the “Bipartisan Safer Communities Act” to prohibit funds authorized under the Elementary and Secondary Education Act from being used to fund hunting, archery, and shooting sports programs in schools. This bill specifies that this prohibition shall not apply to training students in archery, hunting, or other shooting sports.

“President Biden and Governor Hochul continue to undermine our constitutional right to bear arms, but this time, they are coming after our efforts to teach students how to safely handle firearms,” said Congresswoman Tenney. “By defunding hunting, archery, and shooting sports programs, the Left is preventing young Americans from exercising their Second Amendment right and learning important life skills. I voted in favor of the Protecting Hunting Heritage and Education Act to defend our constitutional rights and support outdoor recreational programs!”

Photos by Tom Rivers

ALBION – Eddie Quatro (left), 7, of Albion and his brother Danny, 9, have the binoculars out to watch a condenser from the Graham Corp. in Batavia be loaded onto a barge at about 10 a.m. today.

Eddie and Danny are home-schooled. Their mother Ellie Quatro wanted the boys to see the cranes moving the big piece of equipment onto the barge.

“This is the perfect field trip that came to us today,” she said.

The condenser is about 200,000 pounds. It left Batavia early this morning around 4 a.m. and headed down 98.

Stephanie DiGiulio took this photo and the one below of the condenser going down Route 31A in Barre. A caravan helped move the equipment on the slow journey.

The route included Route 98, to 31A in Barre, then down Gaines Basin Road before turning right on Albion-Eagle Harbor Road.

There were people to raise the wires so the equipment could pass through without taking down utilities.

Graham did a similar effort on May 25, 2022, when a condenser was taken from Batavia to Albion by truck, and then loaded onto a barge. That condenser was used for a nuclear submarine. Graham officials declined to discuss the condenser this morning.

The Tug Edna A with Barge 82 is taking the condenser east along the canal. The shipment’s final destination is in Quonset Point, Rhode Island. The condenser will be used by the Navy.

The Tug Edna A is owned by the New York State Marine Highway Transportation Company of Troy. It picked up the oversize load along the canal just east of the Gaines Basin Road bridge.

There were several onlookers to see the huge cranes move the 200,000-pound package.

The condenser is on site by the canal and a worker checks it before being lifted onto the barge.

These cyclists ride on the towpath and get closer to the heavy equipment moving the package onto the barge.

Legislature leader says Genesee trying to ‘steamroll’ Orleans in accepting STAMP sewer

Press Release, Orleans County Legislature

ALBION – Last night, the Orleans County Legislature voted unanimously for a resolution to preserve the Oak Orchard River and local tributaries in Orleans County.  The Legislature continues to push back against Genesee County’s Science & Technology Advanced Manufacturing Park’s (STAMP) plan to discharge to six million gallons of wastewater a day from STAMP into Oak Orchard River by way of the Town of Shelby.

“Tonight’s resolution and the lawsuit we filed last week to prevent this wastewater discharge are not actions we take lightly, as we have a long record of partnering with our friends in Genesee County,” said Lynne Johnson, Chairman of the Orleans County Legislature.  “But partnerships are built upon being able to have conversations on difficult topics like wastewater and then cooperating on a solution that works for everyone.

“Yet, throughout this process, Genesee County and their economic development agency have not engaged with Orleans County leadership, developed a plan in the backroom to dump wastewater in Orleans County without our input and then, when questioned, just decided to attempt to steamroll us, rather than work together.  I cannot express enough the level of disappointment we feel in their actions.”

Johnson said the resolution clearly states the concerns Orleans County has regarding the wastewater discharge including impacts on tourism, sport fishing, flooding, property damage, declining real estate values and more.  Johnson believes there are other avenues Genesee should be exploring for managing wastewater.

“I have said all along and want to repeat it again, that our legislators are in support of STAMP and the economic development projects that will lead to investment and jobs for our entire region,” said Johnson.  “But that economic growth cannot come at the expense of Orleans County’s natural resources.

Johnson also acknowledged the efforts of New York State Assemblyman Steve Hawley, who represents both counties in the State Legislature and has been attempting to mediate a solution.

“We appreciate that Assemblyman Hawley is taking an active role in bringing all parties together,” said Johnson.  “We must work together on an alternative.”

Here is the resolution approved by the Orleans County Legislature on Tuesday:

RESOLUTION NO. 456-923 – SUPPORT TO PRESERVE THE OAK ORCHARD RIVER AND LOCAL TRIBUTARIES IN ORLEANS COUNTY

WHEREAS, this Legislature finds that while the potential economic output generated by the STAMP Project in Genesee County could be beneficial, discharges into waters of Orleans County will have various adverse and substantial economic impact on Orleans County, its residents, and businesses; and

WHEREAS, this Legislature further finds that impact to the local infrastructure available for residents and businesses would be limited if STAMP Sewer Works, Inc. were to discharge 6 million gallons a day (6MGD) of wastewater from the STAMP site in Genesee County into Oak Orchard River by way of the Town of Shelby in Orleans County; and

WHEREAS, this Legislature further finds that communities with interests in Oak Orchard River and Lake Ontario are concerned with the economic impacts on local real estate values, economic development, and $27 million in annual tourism and recreation revenue unique to Oak Orchard River, tributaries in Orleans County and Lake Ontario, with respect to discharging 6MGD of waste into Oak Orchard River, a tributary of Lake Ontario; and

WHEREAS, this Legislature further finds that Lake Ontario is subject to water level fluctuations from the International Joint Commission (IJC) which slows the draining of Oak Orchard River and other local tributaries of Lake Ontario; and

WHEREAS, this Legislature further finds that areas of flooding have been mapped by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) includes much of the land within the Iroquois National Wildlife Refuge (INWR) in the Town of Shelby is within a flood hazard zone; and

WHEREAS, this Legislature further finds that increased coastal erosion in recent years has increased flooding along the Lake Ontario shoreline and construction standards in flood areas should be restricted in order to prevent property and other damage due to flooding, and to maintain open pathways for flood waters; and

WHEREAS, this Legislature further finds that flood zones in Orleans County have been identified along the following water bodies and their tributaries: Oak Orchard River-Medina, Ridgeway, Shelby; Johnson Creek-Lyndonville, Yates; Fish Creek-Ridgeway, Shelby; Marsh Creek-Yates; Jeddo Creek- Ridgeway, Yates; Erie Canal-Medina, Ridgway, Shelby; Lake Ontario-Yates; and

WHEREAS, the Legislature further finds that other methods of managing wastewater are available in Genesee County that would not result in the same impacts to Orleans County; and

WHEREAS, this Legislature further finds that both the design and plan to discharge 6MGD of wastewater from STAMP would stir up sediment and increase pollution in Oak Orchard River and tributaries in Orleans County; and

WHEREAS, this Legislature further finds that the volume and velocity of STAMP wastewater would increase turbidity and hasten erosion along the banks of the waterways in Orleans County; and

WHEREAS, the Legislature further finds that the choice to develop project data based on unlikely events does not fully address or satisfy concerns about sediment, erosion, flooding, and economic impacts; now be it

RESOLVED, that this Legislature find and declares that it is the duty of Orleans County to act to preserve the Oak Orchard River and local tributaries in Orleans County for the economic vitality of affected communities.

Hands-on career exploration showcased trades, manufacturing, agriculture and construction industries

Photos by Tom Rivers: Graham Manufacturing of Batavia’s welding instructor Bill Muoio, left, guides George Issa, an Iroquois Middle School student in Elma, in a welding demonstration on Tuesday at the Genesee County Fairgrounds in Batavia as part of the fifth annual GLOW With Your Hands event. There were 1,102 students at the career exploration including about 200 from Orleans County. Graham has 80 welders currently with 16 more soon to join.

BATAVIA – The fifth annual GLOW With Your Hands career exploration event drew about 1,100 students, mostly from the four rural counties of Genesee, Livingston, Orleans and Wyoming.

The 1,102 students that attended were the most in the five years of GLOW With Your Hands and included 60 from Albion, 38 from Holley, 40 from Kendall, 15 from Lyndonville and 39 from Medina.

Altogether, 30 school districts from the GLOW counties sent students for a hands-on career exploration event with businesses and organizations from the trades, manufacturing, agriculture and construction industries.

Zack Albee, an eight-grader from Alexander, hammers a nail in the nail driving contest. A representative from the carpenters union said there is an abundance of work for union carpenters with so many road construction, solar projects, capital projects at schools and waste-waste plant upgrades.

Dave Hardenbrook, an engineer with Clark Patterson Lee, flies a drone for students to see. Hardenbrook said drones are used for surveying and other site improvement projects. Work that used to take days can be done in 15 minutes with a drone, he said.

“A drone has made some work a million times easier,” he said.

CPL does engineering, architectural and planning work. Hardenbrook told students there are many roles in the engineering business, and more engineers are always needed.

A student climbs into the cab of a tractor-trailer from Swan Equipment & Trucking in Avon. Students sat in the driver’s seat and blew the horn.

“We can always use more truckers,” said Fred Dioguardi of Perry, who works for Swan.

Fred Dioguardi of Perry shows students an excavator and some of the other construction equipment that he hauls for Swan Equipment & Trucking. LG Evans Construction is a sister company of Swan.

Dioguardi started as a truck driver at age 18 and has 30 years in the business. He drives a truck with a trailer that combined are 75 feet long. He said GPS has made the job a little bit easier but he said the toughest part is other drivers on the road who swerve in front of him and don’t obey basic rules of the road.

Edwin, a ninth-grader at Cal-Mum, uses the backhoe attachment on a John Deere tractor. Scott Holmes, the general manager of LandPro’s new Batavia store, provides guidance.

Tim McArdle, assistant principal at Cal-Mum’s middle/high school, said the career expo was a great chance for students to see many different job options in local industries.

“It’s ands-on and you’re talking to the professionals about the best way to get involved in these careers,” he said. “There’s a lot to do in a short amount of time. They are able to keep the students’ attention.”

The Grange Building at the fairgrounds had 40 different vendors with many offering activities to help students learn about those careers. There were more than 60 vendors and exhibitors at the event.

“As a result of the hard work and planning of local workforce advocates, event exhibitors and volunteers, and our sponsoring partners, students across the region are learning more about the good-paying and debt-free careers available to them immediately upon graduating from high school,” said GLOW With Your Hands Co-Founders Chris Suozzi and Jay Lazarony. “This gives them the awareness of what skills are needed, and the ability they have to succeed across many industries.”

After launching in 2019 with 800 students, GLOW With Your Hands has steadily grown. Last year it added “GLOW With Your Hands: Healthcare” in March at GCC in Batavia to highlight careers in the healthcare industry.

“Our annually increasing participation at GLOW With Your Hands is a credit to the full engagement of our schools and the students excited to gain a hands-on view of career opportunities that they may have never contemplated,” said GLOW With Your Hands Co-Chair Angela Grouse. “Many of these careers can be successfully launched with our region’s robust training programs and deliver family-sustaining wages and benefits along with rewarding lifestyles.”

Provided photos: Rob Robinson, center, listens to a pair of buskers including Alex Feig at left playing next to Modern Mercantile on East Center Street during last year’s Ale in Autumn/Busker Festival.

Photo by Ginny Kropf: Rob Robinson poses in his busker T-shirt from last year’s Busker Festival during Ale in Autumn. The Busker Festival will again compliment Ale in Autumn on Saturday in Medina.

MEDINA – Medina Area Partnership will roll out the red carpet for 700 visitors on Saturday who have purchased tickets for Ale in Autumn and the second annual Busker Festival.

The Busker Festival was an idea of Rob Robinson, who said he has been trying for several years to bring the event to Medina. Last year during Ale in Autumn, 17 entertainers from all across the area came to Medina and were a big hit with participants of Ale in Autumn, he said.

Robinson explained a busker is someone who entertains in doorways or stairwells, hoping for tips. They are not necessarily all musicians, he said. Some are jugglers, dancers, street performers and magicians.

Busker performances will coincide with Ale in Autumn from 1 to 6 p.m. Twenty-one performers from throughout Western New York have committed to attend. They are from Medina, Lyndonville, Lockport and Niagara Falls.

Robinson has mapped out the appropriate sites for the buskers to entertain and said they are spaced far enough apart so one’s performance doesn’t interfere with the next one.

Robinson was a busker himself in Toronto during the 1970s and early 1980s, where he said it is more common than in the States. A pianist and guitar player, he comes by his musical talent naturally, as his mother Virginia Bishop was organist at the old Apple Grove for 30 years.

It was the Apple Grove that brought the family to Medina. He said his mother was playing organ throughout southern Ontario and Western New York, when her agent told her she needed to contact Walt Hilger at the Apple Grove. He told her if she did that, it would be the only gig she would ever need. Turns out, he was right.

The driving motivation for a busker is not making money, Robinson said. It’s being part of a festival and the hope of getting a gig out of it.

“The bottom line is, it’s fun,” he said.

A trio of buskers entertains on Main Street during last year’s Busker Festival, which coincided with Ale in Autumn.

MEDINA – Oak Orchard Assembly of God is embarking on a new mission this year to ensure no school child is cold this winter.

Paster Bryan McDowell has announced the church wants to help schools prepare for cold weather with their first coat drive.

“We are hoping to make this an annual event,” McDowell said. “Anyone can drop off new or lightly used coats at the church office from 9 a.m. to noon during the rest of this week or during the Sunday service.”

They are also collecting hats and mittens.

The donations will be given to Lyndonville and Medina schools to be distributed to students in grades kindergarten through 12th grade.

The church is located at 12111 Ridge Rd., Medina.

The Erie Canalway Heritage Corridor has announced the winners in the 18^th annual photo contest featuring scenes from the state’s canal system.

Usually there is a winning photo from Orleans County, but this year’s winners didn’t include a scene in Orleans.

There were 314 entries and judges selected first, second, and third place winners in four contest categories as well as 12 honorable mentions. The four categories include Canal Communities, Classic Canal, Along the Trail and On the Water.

“As we approach the 200th anniversary of the Erie Canal in 2025, these images reveal to us what makes New York’s canals worth preserving, visiting, and celebrating,” said Bob Radliff, Executive Director of the Erie Canalway National Heritage Corridor. “We congratulate the winners and appreciate everyone who entered and shared the places and activities they love along New York’s extraordinary canals.”

Winning images can be viewed online (click here) and will be featured in the 2024 Erie Canalway calendar. The calendar will be available for free at libraries, visitor centers, and by request beginning in December.

New York State Canal Corporation Director Brian U. Stratton said, “I send my heartfelt congratulations to the winners of this year’s annual photo contest, and my thanks to all of the exceptional photographers, amateur and professional alike, who participated. This year’s photos help us showcase the remarkable sights and recreational resources along the canal system. As celebrate the bicentennial of the Champlain Canal and prepare for the 200th anniversary of the Erie Canal’s completion, they are a wonderful reminder of the Erie Canal’s legacy, impact, and presence in New York, both today and through generations of our history.”

“Fall in Fairport” was taken by Karen Millspaugh of Bergen and won first place in the “Classic Canal” category.

Provided photo

MEDINA – The Medina Area Partnership last week celebrated a ribbon cutting with Rollin Hellner, owner of The Walsh at 525 West Ave. Hellner, third from left in front row, acquired the site in the spring and has expanded the menu and is working to add studio and one-bedroom apartments to the upper floors.

He is joined by local officials, family and friends in the ribbon-cutting, including the front row, from left: County Legislator Skip Draper, Legislature Chairwoman Lynne Johnson, Hellner, Medina Mayor Mike Sidari, Barry Flansburg (representing Assemblyman Steve Hawley) and County Legislator Bill Eick.

Photos by Tom Rivers

Hellner is shown with a 24-foot-long shuffleboard table from 1937 that was added to the bar. It was a challenge to get it inside and had to be brought through a window.

The Walsh is open seven days a week. Hellner has been active in real estate development.

He acquired The Walsh from Tim Cooper, following extensive renovations from Cooper. (He is being honored with a preservation award on Oct. 20 from the Cobblestone Museum.) Cooper was able to bring the first floor back, including a banquet hall. He said Hellner brings new energy to The Walsh’s continued renovation with the apartments upstairs.

Rollin Hellner said customers are enjoying the food and drinks at The Walsh, which is managed by Alex Purnell. Emily Plumb, a bartender, is shown in back in this photo.

The Walsh has other specials, including the “Walsh Wednesday” where people can spin a wheel and if it lands on their zodiac sign, they get $5 off.

Hellner said he has made the banquet hall available to local organizations for their meetings, including the Lions Club, Rotary Club and the Medina Sandstone Society. He is working to have the lottery added soon, while also trying to get the apartments ready in 2024.

Photo and information from Orleans County’s Safe Harbour Program

BUFFALO – Orleans County Safe Harbour Program went to Shea’s Performing Arts Center to see the Broadway musical, Mrs. Doubtfire on Satusday. Mrs. Doubtfire taught the participating youth about overcoming adversity, the importance of honesty, and how change (although not easy) is at times inevitable.

Safe Harbour provides lessons in life skills to promote a strong foundation to help children launch into their future.

For information on how you can get your youth involved in the Safe Harbour program please contact Heather Jackson at (585) 589-2837 or SafeHarbour@orleanscountyny.gov.

ALBION – The Cobblestone Society and Museum has stepped up to recognize historic preservation efforts in Orleans County. The organization will honor its first group of preservation award winners on Oct. 20 at Maison Albion.

The event begins at 6 p.m. with music by the Orleans County String Band, a complimentary dinner catered by Zambistro, a cash bar and address by keynote speaker Andrew Meier, Esq. Emcee will be Albion native Brenda Tremblay. A tax-deductible donation for the ongoing preservation work of the Cobblestone Society and Museum will be accepted following the program.

Six historic properties will be recognized for their owners’ dedicated efforts to restore and maintain these outstanding structures in our community.

Properties are the Harriet Greaser Presbyterian Manse at 31 East State St., Albion; the Diana Dragan Reed Home at 349 South Main St., Albion; The Walsh Hotel on West Avenue, Medina; Pine Hill School at 4757 Pine Hill Rd., Barre; Bent’s Opera House on West Center and Main Street in Medina; and Marti’s on Main Street, 20 Main St., Albion.

Tim and Catherine Cooper of Medina restored the Wash Hotel, which goes back to 1852, when the Rochester, Lockport and Niagara Falls Company completed the railroad through Medina. The building was recently purchased by Rollin Hellner.

Cobblestone Society and Museum director Doug Farley encourages Orleans County residents to show their support and appreciation of these historic restorations by attending this event.

Meier is a lifelong resident of Medina, graduate of Syracuse University College of Law and a partner in WSM Elder Law, with offices in Medina and Lockport. He owns the c.1876 Hart House Hotel, formerly R.H. Newell Shirt Factory, which he rehabilitated in 2005. His next project is a c.1880 Eastlake “stick style” home, which will be rehabilitated over the next 24 months.

Emcee Brenda Tremblay hosts a classical music program on 91.5FM each weekday morning, streaming at classical915.org. She has earned three Gracies from the Association of Women in Radio and Television, many AP awards and a national Gabriel Award. She also produces and hosts the Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra’s radio concerts at 8 p.m. Monday nights and collaborates with WXXI news to cover the arts across all media services.

Her passion is singing and she has performed with choirs at Carnegie Hall, Westminster Abbey and in the Forbidden City in Beijing. She currently serves as music director at St. Luke’s Episcopal Church in Brockport.

Reservations for the evening must be made by Oct. 10 by e-mailing director@cobblestonemuseum.org or calling (585) 589-9013. Indicate a choice of filet of sirloin/chicken French or vegetarian risotto.

Provided photos: Pine Hill School, owned by Steve and Paula Nesbitt, was built c.1835 of fieldstones.

Diana Dragan Reed’s home at 349 South Main St., Albion, was built in 1876 and took seven years to build.

Bent’s Opera House is located on the third floor of this historic Medina sandstone building at the corner of West Center and Main streets in Medina. Medina native and entrepreneur Roger Hungerford purchased the building to save it from crumbling into the street. It is now home to boutique hotel rooms, an upscale restaurant and events center.

The Queen Anne Presbyterian Manse at 31 East State St., Albion, has been privately owned for more than 30 years and is now occupied by Harriette Greaser and her daughter. Harriette and her late husband Phil brought the property back to grandeur.