Photos by Tom Rivers

KENDALL – Taylor Czeh, 6, of Kendall gets her face painted by Melissa Salatino on Saturday during the Kendall Community Scarecrow Festival at the Town Park.

The scarecrow fest has been an annual tradition since 2010. It drew several hundred people for many free activities on a sunny, warm fall day.

George Castaneda of Hamlin helps his son Sebastian, 4, paint a pumpkin. Panek Farm sin Albion donated about 200 pumpkins. Many businesses and sponsors donated to make the event free to the community.

Some of the decorated pumpkins are on display.

The scarecrow decorating contest was with a theme of “favorite outdoor activity.” There were nine entries. Some of the entries included scarecrows playing baseball, fishing, bow hunting, relaxing by the water and doing other activities.

There was also a station where people could build their own scarecrows.

The band Rebel’s Posse played country, southern rock and classic rock music at the gazebo.

Jeffrey Cook of Fairport carves a bear with a chainsaw. He owns Critters 3D, a chainsaw-carving business.

Emily Schmitt assists her son Barrett in the “Gun Smoke Shootout” activity where foam balls were fired at targets.

Becky Charland is the chair of the planning committee for the scarecrow festival. She is shown with a scarecrow with a bow hunting theme. Charland helped start the first scarecrow fest in 2010.

She praised the community for the support of the event and for the big turnout. Other committee members include Linda Kludt, Wendy Becker, Robin Schepler, Maggie Whelehan, Cheryl Werner, Candi Mael, Donna Dangler and Rene Cliff.

These kids enjoy pony rides.

There also was a wagon ride through town, including to the firehall where there was a farmer’s market with several vendors.

MEDINA – Thirty-three years ago, two local families who lost loved ones to cancer combined their fundraising efforts to found the Knights-Kaderli Fund.

Since then, the families of Richard Knights and Sue Kaderli have given out more than $800,000 to 750 cancer patients and their families, to help with medical bills, food, transportation and living expenses.

It has become a tradition that the Knights-Kaderli Walk is held the first Saturday in October at East Shelby Volunteer Fire Hall. While Covid dampened their fundraising the past two years, this year the event was back in full swing.

Kathy Hodgins, Kathy McCauley and Joe Rosenbeck, all of Medina, show their excitement at completing the Knights-Kaderli Walk. Approximately 200 participants completed the course.

Approximately 200 participants showed up this morning for the 34^th annual Knights-Kaderli Walk. They ranged from the youngest – six-week-old Garrett Walker who was pushed in his stroller by his mother Emma Wolter and grandmothers Julie Wolter and Lynn Ambrose, to 69-year-old Joe Rosenbeck, who was among the first group to finish.

The fundraiser is a family event for many, such as the McAdoos. Katie McAdoo, granddaughter of the late Ken McAdoo, and her daughter Gracelynne Kujawa, 8, walked, along with Ken’s daughter-in-law, Kristin McAdoo and her son Justin. Also joining them was cousin Allie McAdoo.

Gracelynne walks every year, her mother said. This year she was recognized for the most pledges by a youth, $50, said Stacey Knights Pellicano, daughter of the late Richard Knights and an organizer of the event. The most money brought in by an adult was $4,679 by Barb Hale of Medina.

Christine Griffin contemplates purchase raffle tickets at the Knights-Kaderli benefit today at East Shelby Volunteer Fire Hall. Seated from left are Stacey Knights Pellicano and Mary Kaderli Zelazny.

The family of Sue Martin of Medina have also been big supporters of the walk. They have walked together as a family in past years, and Sue has helped register participants every year. She has walked for at least 20 years, she said. She was going to try this year with daughter Sarah Hanssen, even though she had a bad knee.

A basket raffle and big-ticket raffle items were also part of the fundraiser, along with a “last number drawn” game and 50/50 drawing.

The Knights-Kaderli Fund got a big boost from an $8,500 donation from the Lizzy’s Love Fund, a charity in honor of the late Liz Monell-Higgins. The check represents the proceeds from a golf tournament they hold every July.

Pellicano said the walk raises between $15,000 and $20,000 each year. The record year was almost $30,000.

Donations to the Knights-Kaderli Fund can be made by logging onto the Knights-Kaderli website or by paying through Venmo or Paypal, or by sending a check to P.O. Box 684, Medina, 14103.

Six week-old Garrett Wolter was the youngest participant in the Knights-Kaderli Walk on Saturday. With him, from left, are his grandmas, Julie Wolter and Lynn Ambrose and mother Emma Wolter.

Kristin McAdoo, her son Justin and grandson Gracelynne Kujawa, 8, wait for the walk to start.

Luke Duffina, 13, grabs a bottle of water at the conclusion of the Knights-Kaderli Walk. He was the first person in overall. With him is Laura Albone, the first woman to complete the walk.

Photos by Tom Rivers

HOLLEY – Andrew Radillo, one of the owners of Redwood Trades at 21 Public Square, is pictured at the counter where he sells sports cards, Pokémon cards and Magic: The Gathering.

Radillo, 30, is from California. He moved with his mother and wife to Holley in April to be near other family members. He had been selling cards online and expanded the venture to coffee as part of the new Redwood Trades store in Holley. Redwood Trades also hosts many games and customers are welcome to come inside and play Risk, euchre and other games.

Redwood Trades has a wide selection of coffee, cappuccino, espresso, lattes and cold brews. Pictured from left include Natalie Radillo (Andrew Radillo’s wife), Sharon Radillo (Andrew Radillo’s mother) and Jeanell Aldrich.

Sharon Radillo said the family is grateful for the support from the Holley community in the new venture.

The business is named Redwood Trades because the Radillos are from Willits, Calif, which is known as “The Gateway to the Redwoods.”

The Radillos would visit family in Holley, including cousins Jim and Lisa Hendry. The Radillos have embraced the small town in Orleans County.

“Things have just worked out,” Sharon Radillo said. “This community has gotten behind and backed us.”

The inside has new floors, electric, doors and decorating. The Radillos have long been fans of the Raiders in the NFL, which played in Oakland and Los Angeles before moving to Las Vegas. Redwood Trades has Raiders logos and merchandise. Andrew Radillo said Buffalo Bills merch is coming, but he will remain a big Raiders fan.

“I plan on getting more Bills stuff but I can’t leave where my heart is,” he said.

The family was joined in a ribbon cutting by David Gage (left) who is president of the Orleans County Chamber of Commerce and owner of the Red, White and Moo ice cream business that is also in the Public Square. Others in the ribbon cutting include Holley Mayor Mark Bower (second from right) and Village Trustee John Morriss (right).

“It’s awesome for our little village,” Gagne said about the new addition to the community. “We thank you for taking a chance on our Square.”

Mayor Bower said his grandmother, Delia Pera and his uncle Don, ran the Holley Coffee Shop at the exact location from the 1950s to the mid-1970s. He thanked the Radillos for bringing the business to Holley.

Bower said another new business, Holley Donuts, is expected to open in about month. Dan and Monica Seeler are working on that endeavor at the corner of Thomas Street and Route 31.

Friends, family and customers gather for a group photo outside Redwood Trades for the business’s grand opening today.

The business is open Monday through Saturday from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m.

Canal officials have bigger plans to be part of Medina’s dynamic downtown

Photos by Tom Rivers

MEDINA – Brian Stratton, state canal commissioner, was in Medina on Friday to promote the Corning Museum of Glass’ Mobile Hot Shop, which is in Medina for three days.

About 1,000 people have registered for the hot shop from Thursday through today. Medina is the only stop this fall in the state on the Corning Museum of Glass’ Mobile Hot Shop tour.

Brian Stratton, state canal commissioner, said the Corning visit in Medina state’s Reimagine the Canals, which funds free activities and attractions in canal communities. He noted the Corning hot shop is drawing people from Buffalo and Rochester who will discover other canal communities along the way to Medina.

Reimagine the Canals also funded kayak and hydro-bike excursions in Medina.

Stratton said the Canal Corp. is looking to partner with Medina in bigger projects, including a major art initiative that he said would make Medina an “art hub” along the canal and in upstate. The Canal Corp. has hired Interboro Partners, an architectural and design firm in New York City, to assist with the project in Medina.

Heather Hungerford, co-owner of the Bent’s Opera House, said the Canal Corp’s efforts in Medina are appreciated by residents and the business owners, especially as they work to come out of the Covid pandemic.

“This means so much to the businesses in Medina,” Hungerford said. “It gives us hope that Medina will continue to grow. Thank you for believing in Medina.”

Mayor Mike Sidari cuts a glass ribbon to welcome the Corning Museum of Glass’ Mobile Hot Shop to Medina.

Sidari said the community is grateful to be part of the Reimagine the Canals programs. Corning also brought a glass barge to Medina in 2018 with glass-making equipment.

Sidari said the hydrobikes and kayak excursions have brought in hundreds of visitors to Medina who then visit the Main Street shops and other local businesses.

“We are thrilled once again to be partnering with Canals,” Sidari said.

Greg Reed, a district executive with the GLOW YMCA, said the Y in Orleans County is happy to partner with the Canal Corp. in hydro-biking, kayaks and now the hot shop. The Y is facilitating the reservations and helping with the event set up and management. Reed said the Y is looking to partner with the Canal Corp. in other programs, including snow shoeing and fishing.

George Kennard, a Corning hot glass artist, works on a creation on Friday. Eric Meek, in back, is Corning’s manager of the hot shop.

The Hot Shop uses unique glassmaking equipment to recreate a state-of-the-art studio environment.

Most of the reservations were taken to attend the glass-making demonstrations. For more information on reservations, click here.

‘This is nothing short of a scheduled collapse of New York’s agricultural industry.’ – State Sen. Rob Ortt

The state will be lowering the overtime threshold in agriculture from 60 to 40 hours a week in phased-in process from 2024 to 2032, the state’s Department of Labor Commissioner Roberta Reardon announced this afternoon.

The decision from the DOL commissioner sparked concern in the farm community about much-higher operating costs in a state where New York already is at a competitive disadvantage with other states and countries.

“This is a difficult day for all those who care about New York being able to feed itself,” said New York Farm Bureau President David Fisher. “Commissioner Reardon’s decision to lower the farm labor overtime threshold will make it even tougher to farm in this state and will be a financial blow to the workers we all support.

“Moving forward, farms will be forced to make difficult decisions on what they grow, the available hours they can provide to their employees, and their ability to compete in the marketplace,” Fisher said. “All of this was highlighted in the testimony and data that the wage board report and the commissioner simply ignored.”

Fisher was part of a three-person Farm Laborers Wage Board. He cast the lone no vote against recommending the overtime threshold be lowered on Sept. 6. Reardon today said she was going with the Wage Board’s recommendation, which passed 2-1. Fisher was the only representative from the agricultural sector on that board.

The overtime threshold will be phased in over 10 years. The overtime work limit will drop by 4 hours every other year beginning in 2024 until reaching 40 hours in 2032, giving agriculture businesses proper time to adjust, Reardon said.

“I come from a farm community myself, so I know how important the agricultural sector is to the New York State economy,” Reardon said in a statement. “Based on the findings, I feel the Farm Laborers Wage Board’s recommendations are the best path forward to ensure equity for farm workers and success for agricultural businesses.”

During the course of the Wage Board’s deliberations in 2022, Governor Kathy Hochul and State Legislature enacted three new tax credits to assist farm employers in transitioning to a lower overtime standard, the DOL said. Those credits include:

• The Investment Tax Credit was increased from 4 percent to 20 percent for farm businesses, providing an encouragement for potential automation of farm production.
• The Farm Workforce Retention Tax Credit was increased to $1,200 per employee to provide near-term relief to farmers.
• Most importantly, a new refundable overtime tax credit was established for overtime hours paid by farm employers at the level established by the Board and confirmed by the Commissioner up to 60 hours.

GROW NY Farms, a coalition of about 150 organizations in New York’s agricultural industry, issued this statement: “New York’s agricultural community is deeply disappointed in Commissioner Reardon’s ill-informed decision to lower the overtime threshold for our family farms. This decision threatens the security of our food supply, the retention of our skilled farmworkers, and the future of New York’s farms. If Governor Hochul has the ability to step in and stop this damaging decision, she must do so immediately.”

State Senate Republican Leader Rob Ortt issued this statement: “Today’s decision by the New York State Department of Labor Commissioner is the wrong one. By approving this recommendation from a board composed of unelected bureaucrats, this mandate will devastate family farms still reeling from the pandemic.

“It is clear Albany’s one-party ruling class doesn’t care about family farms and seems hell-bent on destroying agriculture in New York State. This is nothing short of a scheduled collapse of New York’s agricultural industry.”

Press Release, NYS Department of Labor

The New York State Department of Labor (NYSDOL) today announced next steps in the state’s $15 minimum hourly wage phase-in.

Commissioner Roberta Reardon issued an Order calling for the minimum wage rate in counties outside of New York City, Long Island and Westchester to rise by $1 per hour, from $13.20 to $14.20, following a statutorily required economic analysis conducted by the New York State Division of the Budget (DOB).

The Division’s analysis found evidence of pressure for wages to rise in the midst of a continued pandemic-driven labor shortage. Currently, the minimum wage rate in New York City, Long Island, and Westchester County is $15 per hour, having reached that level following phased-in annual increases pursuant to statute.

The Commissioner’s Order will be enacted through rulemaking and is subject to public comment before a final decision is made. NYSDOL announced the start of the public comment period for New Yorkers to weigh in on the recommendation and invited New Yorkers to share feedback by e-mailing regulations@labor.ny.gov by Dec. 11. If accepted, the wage increase would take effect on Dec. 31, 2022.

“By raising the minimum wage incrementally, New York State is helping businesses adjust to the new rate, while giving low-wage workers the ability to better participate in our economy,” Reardon said. “Continuing with the multi-year plan to raise the minimum wage is in line with market standards and ensures that no worker is left behind.”

An average of 200,000 New Yorkers in these upstate counties will benefit from this wage increase, 44% of which are full time workers and of those, nearly 25% are supporting children below age 18. In addition, this increase will help to close the gender pay gap, providing an estimated 110,000 women with greater financial stability.

Key findings from DOB’s minimum wage report include:

• Regional unemployment rates outside of New York City are at historic lows. The 3.1 percent rate for this area for the four months from April through July 2022 is the lowest in the history of the data going back to 1976 and is lower than the national 3.5 percent rate for the same month. These data confirm the unprecedented tightness of the State labor market outside of New York City.
• Low-wage industries are overrepresented among the State’s remaining job losses due to the early impact of the pandemic. Although the minimum wage workers’ share is likely to rise as the low-wage sector recovery proceeds, the size of the minimum wage workforce is likely to continue to be constrained by a rise in entry-level wages as firms compete for workers.
• New York is experiencing a job gap of 351,000 relative to its pre-pandemic peak. Anecdotal evidence combined with alternative data sources argue that labor shortages could account for much of New York’s remaining job gap, particularly Upstate.
• Like the rest of the nation, the New York labor market is expected to continue to slow in the coming months. Because of the importance of financial markets to the State economy, the Federal Reserve’s apparent shift to aggressively battling inflation will have a disproportional impact in New York. As a result, State employment growth is projected to slow from 4.3 percent in 2022 to 0.8 percent in 2023. State employment is not expected to reach its pre-pandemic level until 2026.

Photos by Ginny Kropf: Craig Lacy, left, Medina businessman and active member of the Medina Historical Society, and Michael Cavanagh, Junior-Senior High School principal, stand by the historic 1850 bell which has been installed permanently in the lobby of Medina High School. On Thursday morning, Lacy presented the school with a stand and plaque describing the history of the bell.

MEDINA – A piece of Medina’s history has found a permanent home in the lobby of Medina High School on Mustang Drive.

On Thursday morning, local businessman and history buff Craig Lacy presented a plaque to the school to accompany the 1850 bell which originally rang in the first school building on Catherine Street.

A larger building of Medina sandstone was constructed in 1896 on South Academy and was later known as Central School. After a fire destroyed the building in 1967, local contractor Carl Petronio Sr. was razing the building and found the bell in the basement. He removed it to storage in his facilities in Albion, where it remained until Carl Petronio Jr. discovered it in 2017. Carl Jr. contacted Catherine Cooper, then director at Lee-Whedon Memorial Library, and she then reached out to Lacy, thinking the Historical Society could better handle the bell than the library.

Through Carl Jr.’s generosity, the bell became the property of Historical Society, of which Lacy is currently treasurer. Arrangements were made to pick the bell up and Lacy stored it for a while in his auto parts store on North Main Street.

Then the Historical Society initiated efforts to have the bell restored. Barnes Metal Finishing in Medina did the refinishing of the bronze. Jeff Gay did the woodwork for the frame and Lacy did the cast iron painting and re-assembly.

The approximately 800-pound bronze bell was cast by the Adam Goode Brass and Bell Foundry of Buffalo in 1850, and was likely transported to Medina down the Erie Canal.

In 2019, after 169 years, it was loaned permanently to Medina Central School District, with approval by the Board of Education. First, however, it was put on display for several months at the Lee-Whedon Memorial Library, where Cooper offered the public a chance to ring the bell for $1.

The school did the stone foundation on which the bell sits and encased it in plexiglass.

Medina Junior-Senior High School principal Michael Cavanagh accepted the plaque from Lacy and expressed his appreciation.

“It’s awesome to have a piece of nostalgia here for the kids to see,” Cavanagh said. “It brings us back to our roots.”

Lacy led the efforts to have an informative plaque made to accompany the bell. The Print Shop made the plaque and Renee Lama did the layout of the text.

ALBION – Monroe Ambulance, which is the primary ambulance provider in eastern Orleans County, said it could serve central Orleans County if COVA closes.

John Caufield, chief operating officer for Monroe Ambulance, spoke during an EMS Task Force meeting on Thursday. Those meetings have been going on since February.

Caufield said Monroe wasn’t trying to knock out COVA, but Monroe could expand into central Orleans. If that happened, Monroe would serve a block of seven Orleans towns – Barre, Albion, Gaines and Carlton in the central part and Clarendon, Murray and Kendall on the east side.

John Caufield, chief operating officer for Monroe Ambulance, says Monroe would likely keep two ambulances in Orleans, and maybe three if it served a block of seven towns.

“We see value in the consortium of seven towns,” Caufield said. “There is an opportunity for better service if we serve the area as a block of seven towns.”

Monroe would likely have two ambulances stationed in the county – one in Albion and the other likely in Holley or Kendall – and possibly a third when there is a higher call volume. Monroe also could draw from ambulances it has based in Brockport and Greece if there was higher demand in Orleans, Caufield said.

Monroe has 26 ambulances and six fly cars for northwest Monroe County, eastern Orleans and Wyoming County. Monroe currently doesn’t base in ambulance in Orleans because the call volume in eastern Orleans – about 1,200 calls a year – doesn’t financially justify keeping in ambulance on the east side, Caufield said.

But including central Orleans, where he said there are about 2,200 ambulance calls annually, would be enough for Monroe to likely dedicate two ambulances throughout the day, with a third during peak call volumes.

Monroe would also have a supervisor and dedicated crews for Orleans if Monroe became the primary provider for the seven towns, Caufield said.

COVA has been the central Orleans provider for 43 years. The agency is in a financial crisis and has been seeking support from the four central towns, either with a contract or in a taxing district.

Anna Tower, the COVA treasurer, said COVA needs $150,000 to $200,000 annually from the towns to cover a deficit. COVA used to make a profit each year and the extra funds would go towards purchasing a new ambulance.

But COVA has been operating a deficit in recent years – $161,000 in 2019 and $172,000 in 2020. The agency received federal PPP funds in 2021 to stay about even that year, Tower said. But this year has been another deficit. COVA has used up its reserves and accumulated $70,000 in unpaid bills, while struggling to make payroll. The organization has cut expenses by $40,000 to try to stay open.

Tower said a big factor in COVA’s profitability has been an increase in patients on Medicare and Medicaid, which offers COVA a low reimbursement. A decade ago, about 60 percent of patients were on Medicaid or Medicare with others on private insurance that pays at a higher rate. About 85 to 89 percent of patients are now Medicare or Medicaid, Tower said, and those rates don’t cover COVA’s costs.

“We are definitely in trouble,” she said at the EMS Task Force meeting. “”We need the help from the towns and possibly the village.”

The four towns have met with COVA but haven’t reached an agreement on how much to give them. County legislators John Fitzak and Skip Draper said COVA’s numbers have shifted, creating some uneasiness among the town leaders.

Fitzak said last month COVA leaders were seeking a $13,000 a month subsidy. But on Wednesday, in a meeting with the Albion Village Board, COVA said it would need a $16,000 subsidy.

The Village Board is considering the $16,000 a month to have a COVA ambulance primarily dedicated to the village.

Fitzak and Draper also said COVA has presented the deficit as about $150,000 a year, but in a presentation last month, a COVA official sought $50 per household from central Orleans that would be about $379,000 a year.

“You have to have a good handle on your business before we can figure out how to help you,” Draper said during the task force meeting.

Fitzak also said COVA and the four towns need to have a metric that is fair for covering the subsidy, whether by assessed value in each town or call volume per municipality to determine how much each of the four towns would contribute. Or maybe the four just evenly split the cost.

Tower, the COVA treasurer, said the organization would provide a precise number.

Ultimately, Draper said the issue needs to be worked out between the four towns and COVA. The four town supervisors also met with Monroe Ambulance last week to discuss ambulance service in the four towns.

Caufield said Monroe could step in but it would need some time to ramp up its service in the county. Monroe currently doesn’t get a municipal stipend in its service area and is funded as a billed service.

He acknowledged it is a challenging business to provide ambulance service. He said there are 25 fewer ambulances in Monroe County compared to eight years ago and 10 fewer agencies.

“The economic model is upside down,” he said.

Richard Remley, the Albion town supervisor, said he expects more clarity in the next month on ambulance service in central Orleans.

The EMS Task Force next meets on Nov. 10.

A frost advisory has been issued overnight from 1 a.m. to 8 a.m. for Orleans County and much of Western New York.

Temperatures in the lower 30s will result in frost formation, the National Weather Service in Buffalo advised.

“Frost could kill sensitive outdoor vegetation if left uncovered,” the Weather Service said.

The advisory includes Niagara, Orleans, Monroe, Oswego, Jefferson, Erie, Genesee, Wyoming, Livingston, Chautauqua, Cattaraugus and Allegany counties.

The forecast the next few days includes sunny and high near 62 on Friday, followed by a partly sunny Saturday with a high near 66, and a mostly sunny Sunday with a high near 58.

Photo by Tom Rivers

ALBION – Ron Albertson, president of the Albion Lions Club, presents a check for $2,000 to Jennifer Stilwell, president of the COVA board of directors.

The Lions Club donated to COVA and urged other services clubs, business and residents to give to the ambulance provider which is in a financial crisis. COVA has ceased overtime paid staff and is trying to cut other costs, hoping it can secure funding from the central Orleans towns of Albion, Barre, Carlton and Gaines.

Others in the photo include, in back from left: Lions Club members Kevin Howard and Mark Johnson, COVA treasurer Anna Tower, COVA EMT and chief financial officer Brandi Fisher; Jill Albertson; COVA board member and Lions Club member Dan Conrad; and Laurie Schwab, COVA’s chief operations officer.

COVA also is urging central Orleans residents to sign a petition in support of a taxing district which COVA officials said would average $43 per $100,000 of assessed property in the four towns.

Those petitions are available at:

• COVA Base – 239 S. Main St., Albion
• Olde Dogge Inn – 14472 Ridge Road W., Albion
• Toyz N’ Kandy – 28 E. Bank Street, Albion
• Gilligan’s Galley – 928 Point Breeze Road, Point Breeze

Donations can also be made to COVA through the organization’s website. Click here for more information.

1,100 trees stand at historic cemetery on Route 31

Photo by Tom Rivers: Mount Albion Cemetery is shown on Oct. 29, 2019 at the peak of the fall foliage season.

ALBION – Mount Albion Cemetery, one of the area’s most striking sites with its rolling hills and towering trees, has been accredited as an arboretum.

Tim Archer, a seventh-grade teacher at Albion, pursued the designation for the cemetery through ArbNet and The Morton Arboretum.

“It’s a treasure we have here,” Archer said about the cemetery during Wednesday’s Village Board meeting. He presented the accreditation certificate to board.

The cemetery covers about 100 acres and is home to more than 1,100 trees and an array of flowers and bushes.

There are 65 varieties of trees, ranging from alder to beech, butternut  to basswood, oak to spruce, hemlock to dogwood, pine to cedar and chestnut, according to the listing by ArbNet and The Morton Arboretum. Click here to see the listing.

“But what dominates the landscape is New York State’s official tree – the Sugar Maple,” the group stated. “It’s brilliant fall colors dance across the landscape like a kaleidoscope of calm.”

Archer and his students are working on a 50-page book about the cemetery. The booklets will be distributed in the spring to local libraries, schools and government offices. He said the local DAR chapter is paying for the cost of printing.

Anna Gillette, one of the seventh-grade students, said the class also would like to identify and label some of the trees on the main walking trails.

Archer and the students thanked Jason Zicari, the cemetery superintendent, and the other cemetery employees for their care and work at Mount Albion.

Provided photo: Two Albion students – Omer Fugate and Anna Gillette – are pictured with Albion Village board members on Wednesday evening when the students presented the board with a certificate showing the arboretum accreditation for Mount Albion Cemetery. Pictured from left include village trustees Chris Barry and Joyce Riley, Omer Fugate, Anna Gillette, Mayor Angel Javier Jr., and trustees Zack Burgess and Tim McMurray.