Three candidates – Claudia Tenney, Mario Fratto and George Phillips – vie for Republican vote in NY-24 Congressional district

ALBION – Early voting continues today until 5 p.m., and on Sunday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. in a Republican primary.

So far the Board of Elections in Orleans County said 33 people voted the first seven days of early voting, plus two more today by 1 p.m. for 35 total. Early voting is available at the Orleans County Board of Elections Office, 14016 State Route 31 in Albion NY 14411.

Republicans can vote in the newly drawn 24^th Congressional District for three candidates: Claudia Tenney, Mario Fratto and George Phillips.

The district covers about a dozen counties, from part of Niagara all the way to the North Country. The district includes the southern part of Orleans – the towns of Albion, Barre, Ridgeway, Shelby and districts 2 and 3 in Clarendon.

Each town’s polling place will be open on Tuesday for the primary from 6 a.m. to 9 p.m. That includes Barre Town Hall, Clarendon Town Hall, Hoag Library in Albion, Shelby Town Hall, Ridgeway Volunteer Fire Company for Districts 1, 3, 6 and 7, and Ridgeway Town Hall for Districts 2, 4 and 5.

Tenney currently serves in Congress for the 22nd Congressional District. She has been living in Utica but is relocating to Canandaigua to be in the new district.

Fratto is a lawyer from Geneva who is part of a family-run granite business. Philipps is a former Broome County legislator.

Here is the map of the newly drawn NY-24th Congressional District.

Photos by Tom Rivers

MEDINA – Members of the Buffalo-based Pyromancy performed with fire on Friday night during the SteamPunker’s Ball at Leonard Oakes Estate Winery.

Leonard Oakes for years held a Steampunk Festival but has split the event over several days throughout the year. The winery started putting on “the festival of bizarre proportions” in 2011.

This costume won “Best in Show.” Most of the attendees at Steampunk wear futuristic costumes with a Victorian theme. They wear outlandish costumes, with top hats, goggles and robotic arms as accessories.

This costume won for “Best Mechanics.”

Potter Dee from Pyromancy blows fire after spewing Steampunk Cider over a flame.

This vendor sell her creative wares as one of the vendors at Leonard Oakes. About 150 people attended the SteamPunker’s Ball.

The band Stone Circle from Buffalo entertained with traditional and contemporary Irish Pub music.

Here are more photos of the Pyromancy performers:

Photos by Tom Rivers

YATES – A section of Main Street was closed off to traffic so the Town of Yates could celebrate its 200^th anniversary on Friday evening.

The local band Who Dats performed from 7 to 9 p.m. after deejay JT Thomas played music in the downtown.

The Who Dats include John Borello on guitar, Alona Kuhns on bass, Alex DeSmit on drums, lead singer Lonnie Froman and Ed Hilfiker on guitar.

The street was closed between Maple and Eagle, with food trucks and tables and chairs on the street.

The “street fair” was the second of three bicentennial celebrations for Yates. The “Grand Finale Lake Fair” will be on Sept. 24 from 1 to 9 p.m. at the Town Park by Lake Ontario on Morrison Road.

Joanne Suhr helped organize the street fair. She was pleased with the attendance. Organizers estimated about 1,000 people came for parts of the celebration.

“The turnout was more than I expected,” she said.

She recalled a street dance back in the 1980s and thought the public would respond to the event.

Suhr, a recently retired Lyndonville teacher, was happy to see different generations coming together for the event.

There were 20 different food and craft vendors for the celebration. There were also two tours of the Lynhaven Cemetery on Friday evening.

There are 200^th anniversary T-shirts available for Town of Yates.

There are also bicentennial magnets and other Yates merchandise.

Jack Buckner of Medina brought his grandson Logan to see a Civil War encampment by Johnson Creek near the back of the municipal parking lot.

Jack Buckner and his grandson Logan are silhouettes as the sun sets. They looked over a Civl War cannon.

Myron Woolston of Corning and six other Civil War re-enactors answered questions from the public during a Civil War encampment. The re-enactors spent the night outside at their camp.

Who Dats lead singer Lonnie Froman, right, and Ed Hilfiker on guitar play in front of a crowd on a closed-off part of Main Street.

Alex DeSmit plays the drums for the Who Dats.

Alona Kuhns plays the bass guitar for the Who Dats with the Village Hall in the background.

Photo by Ginny Kropf: Mike Dugan, left, and Mike Jenks, both members of Albion Elks Lodge, present a check for $1,300 to Maggie Stewart, director of development at Supportive Care of Orleans/Hospice. The check represented the proceeds of a car wash the Elks Lodge and Elks Riders Motorcycle Club did to benefit Supportive Care.

ALBION – In early spring, Mike Jenks, vice president of the Albion Elks Lodge, reached out to Supportive Care of Orleans/Hospice to see if there was anything they could do for the organization.

“He pitched a couple of suggestions and we settled on a car wash,” said Maggie Stewart, director of development for Supportive Care.

The car wash was July 30 at the Elks Lodge on West State Street. It ran for four hours, and when it ended, the Elks had raised $1,300 for Supportive Care.

“That’s amazing,” Stewart said Friday when Jenks and fellow Elk member Mike Dugan presented the check. “We are very grateful.”

The car wash was a combined effort of the Elks Lodge and the Elks Riders Motorcycle Club, Jenks said.

“It is our goal to help people in need,” Jenks said.

“It’s all about our community,” Dugan said.

Dugan said Hospice has a special meaning for him because his mother-in-law passed away while receiving hospice care.

“This is not just for the patients, but their families, as well,” Dugan said. “There’s not a person in the community who hasn’t been touched or influenced by Supportive Care.”

Dugan and Jenks said the Elks wanted to bring awareness of Supportive Care and thank them for what they do in the community.

They were overwhelmed at the support for their fundraiser. CVS provided isolation gowns and Wegmans donated a $200 gift card.

The Elks charged $12 for a car wash, and one customer gave them $60 and told them to keep the change. Another car drove up and handed them $50 and drove off. One women paid for her car wash and then said she was going home to get her husband’s truck, which she did.

“The most rewarding part was hearing people talk about the value Hospice gives to patients and families,” Dugan said.

The Elks plan to make the benefit car wash an annual event.

ALBION – Hoag Library will be hosting a blood drive on Saturday from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. in what is believed to be a first for the library.

The site is high-profile and accessible at 134 South Main St. The American Legion, when it was across the street from the library, used to host blood drives. But the Legion sold the building to Community Action for the Main Street Thrift Store. Those blood drives are now hosted by the Elks Lodge on West State Street.

Library director Betty Sue Miller hopes people will donate at the library on Saturday. People can make an appointment online (click here), call 1-800-RED CROSS or walk-ins are welcome.

Miller’s husband Fred, an Orleans County legislator, has donated more than 20 gallons of blood in his lifetime. The director said she is inspired by her husband’s example, and she also has seen the importance of blood donors in recent months as her son Kevin battles leukemia and has needed numerous blood transfusions.

The blood drive will be in the meeting rooms. Those rooms are typically booked during the weekdays, which is why Miller and the Red Cross decided to have the blood drive on a Saturday.

Map from state Department of Environmental Conservation

Press Release, NYS Department of Environmental Conservation

New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) Commissioner Basil Seggos today urged New Yorkers to practice the utmost safety when building campfires, and consider going without a campfire unless absolutely necessary.

“If you’re enjoying the backcountry these last few weeks of summer, please think about whether you really need that campfire,” Commissioner Seggos said. “It’s been a hot and dry summer, leading to a drought watch and high fire danger. If you build a campfire, keep an eye on it to make sure the wind doesn’t spread it unexpectedly and when you’re finished, make sure the fire is completely out and cold to the touch.”

The entire state is now at a high risk for fires, and the Hudson Valley at very high risk, meaning that any outdoor fire can spread quickly, especially if the wind picks up.

Fires may become serious and their control difficult unless they are attacked successfully while small. There are currently six active fires across the state, burning 47.1 acres of land. The majority of those were started by unattended campfires. Campfires are among the top five causes of wildfires.

DEC continues to encourage New Yorkers and visitors to follow the recommendations below to reduce the risk of wildfires.

While camping in the backcountry, New Yorkers are advised to:

• Use existing campfire rings where possible;
• Build campfires away from overhanging branches, steep slopes, rotten stumps, logs, dry grass, and leaves. Pile extra wood away from the fire;
• Clear the area around the ring of leaves, twigs, and other flammable materials;
• Never leave a campfire unattended. Even a small breeze could cause the fire to spread quickly.

Press Release, GCASA

BATAVIA – Christopher Budzinack has a straightforward reason for agreeing to speak at next Wednesday’s Overdose Awareness Day: To show those affected by substance use disorder that there is hope and there is help.

“As a person in long-term recovery, I know first-hand how important these services are and I want to help promote them as much as possible,” said Budzinack, a residential counselor at the Atwater Community Residence operated by Genesee/Orleans Council on Alcoholism and Substance Abuse.

“It is my hope that someone will leave this event feeling encouraged and inspired to make a change for the better and for the ones who have lost someone to addiction, my hope for them is that they will know they are not alone and there is help for them as well.”

Budzinack, who also serves as a case manager for GCASA’s supportive living program, is one of several people signed up to speak at the annual event, which is set for 4 to 7 p.m. Aug. 24 at Austin Park in Batavia.

Designed to raise awareness of the opioid epidemic and remember the lives that have been lost due to an overdose, the event is being hosted by the GOW Opioid Task Force.

Task Force Coordinator Christen Foley said attendees are invited to take part in the family-friendly activities – which include face painting and live music – and enjoy free pizza, refreshments and ice cream. A Narcan training also is on the agenda and local agencies will have informational tables.

Participants also will be offered the opportunity to leave a note on the task force’s memory board for a deceased loved one.

Other speakers include Paul Pettit, public health director for Genesee and Orleans counties; John Bennett, GCASA chief executive officer; the Rev. Vern Saile, pastor of Northgate Free Methodist Church, and Jarett LoCicero, case manager at GCASA.

Press Release, Assemblyman Steve Hawley

Assemblyman Steve Hawley (R,C,I-Batavia) is encouraging constituents from Orleans County to attend town hall meetings that he will be hosting next Saturday at Lyndonville Village Hall and the event tent at Canal Village Farmers Market in Medina.

There, Assemblyman Hawley will be present to host open meetings where constituents will have the opportunity to express to him their concerns related to state issues.

Constituents with any questions about this event are encouraged to reach out to Assemblyman Hawley’s district office at (585) 589-5780 for more information.

The Town Halls will be on August 27:

• 10 a.m. to 10:45 p.m. at the Village Hall, 2 S. Main St., Lyndonville
• 11 a.m. to 11:45 p.m. at the Canal Village Farmers Market, corner of West Avenue and West Center Street in Medina

File photo: The Cobblestone Museum acquired the Vagg House in 2020 at the southwest corner of routes 98 and 104.

CHILDS – The Cobblestone Society has been approved for an award of $12,000 for building restoration from the Rochester Area Community Foundation, museum director Doug Farley has announced.

Erin Anheier, president of the Cobblestone Society board of trustees, wrote the grant. She is also on the board of the Landmark Society of Western New York in Rochester.

“Erin has been writing our RACF preservation grant since 2018, and this is her fifth successful grant request,” Farley said. “Grants have totaled more than $80,000 toward preservation of our 10 historic buildings.”

The grant will fund a project to correct various structural issues with the 19th century Vagg house and barn, which are eligible for inclusion on the National Historic Register, along with needed maintenance on the National Historic Landmark Cobblestone Church.

The Vagg barn is an appurtenant structure on the property eligible for National Historic Register designation. The first floor will be jacked up in the middle to remove sagging of the floor as much as possible. Three 2” x 8” x 10’ white oak boards will be overlapped and joined together with ½-inch bolts and nuts to create a continuous new support beam, Farley explained. The board will be rough-sawn for appropriate appearance in the historic structure. Four steel joist hangers will be installed on existing floor joists connecting them to the new header.

Existing basement sliding doors and metal track will be removed and six-foot long pressure-treated boards will be installed vertically at each side of the door opening and attached to the foundation with tapcons. The doors will be reinstalled with the track attached to the side of the building with new galvanized bolts. Loose mortar on the interior of the basement walls will also be removed and the areas patched, replacing missing or loose stones. A pressure-treated 2” x 8” x 12-foot perimeter board will be installed on the north wall to replace the rotted one.

Also addressed will be the driveway, which slopes toward the barn, causing rainwater to pool at the north doors. This has resulted in the north perimeter board deteriorating and damage to the masonry below. Work will include installing a drain in the channel, which will be cut through to the retaining wall, and the water will be carried away by a drain on the west side of the building. Extensive gutter work will also be done.

The exterior of the barn will be power washed, hand scraped and caulked where needed. All bare wood will be primed and windows will be reglazed where needed.

On the Vagg house, storm windows and sills will be scraped, primed, painted and reglazed as needed. Gutters will also be cleaned and new gutter guards installed.

Repair to the Vagg barn will allow it to be used as a new gallery to display the Museum’s collection of 19th and early 20th century transportation devices, some of which are currently in storage. It will also assure the barn will retain structural integrity for many decades.

Painting of the windows of the Vagg house will help preserve the historic wooden windows and keep the appearance of the building appropriate for the time period it represents, Farley said.

Its gutters and those on the 1834 Cobblestone Church will also be cleaned and have gutter guards installed.

Farley added that the Cobblestone Society presented the RACF “Community Partner of the Year” award in 2018 for its philanthropic efforts on behalf of the Cobblestone Museum and Orleans County.

RACF will celebrate its 50th anniversary in September and honored the Cobblestone Museum, which it included in its “Gifts for Good” program, offering complementary admission to the Museum for everyone who visits for their fall open house Sept. 10.

Farley said the Museum is hoping for a record attendance on that day. The event is free to the public and RACF will pay the full cost of admission ($9 per person) for all visitors that day.

“We would like to see more than 1,000 people attend the Open House Sept. 10 to take full advantage of RACF’s Gift for Good program,” Farley said.

MEDINA – Medina artist Brandi Zavitz has ridden or bike or walked under the Glenwood Avenue bridge thousands of times, she said.

“I often thought, ‘When I retire, I’d like to paint a mural there under the bridge,’” she said.

This mural underneath the Glenwood Avenue bridge in Medina is a work in progress for artist Brandi Zavitz.

Zavitz, who is a Medina native, did retire June 20, 2021 after 31 years of teaching art at Holley Central School. During that time she has painted murals, musical sets, backdrops and scenery for dance recitals.

“When I retired I said I was going to paint myself into oblivion, and I went out and bought 30 canvasses,” she said.

Then she saw an advertisement on Orleans Hub that the village of Medina was looking for an artist to paint a mural under the Glenwood Avenue bridge. She applied. Actually, she was the only artist who applied, she said.

She was hired and applied for a grant from GO ART!

“On the application they asked for three examples of my work,” Zavitz said. “I didn’t have pictures of the murals I had painted, but I sent them four pages of some of my artwork I had created through the years.”

She said the village asked for something historic, which wasn’t normally in her style of artwork.

“I consider myself an expressionist, impressionist surrealist painter,” she said. “I love color. Arthur Barnes has done a lot of historic things in the area and I wanted to do something that represents peaceful Medina – that shared my memories. I wanted it to tell a story, create something that takes you time to walk through the mural.”

She also wanted to focus on everyday life, the simple things, like a Journal Register delivery boy, wild lilies that grow along the road or a Mini League baseball player.

A Little Leaguer has been painted in by artist Brandi Zavitz on the mural. Flowers and leaves are sketched in, waiting for Zavitz’s brush.

She sketched her ideas on the wall and began painting a week ago.

Her mural includes apples, a pet cat she lost, a window from Newell Shirt Factory, the culvert under the canal, Medina Falls, fall leaves, a marching band, and the steeple at St. Mark’s Episcopal Church.

One of the most enjoyable aspects of her project is the people who have gone by on the towpath or in boats on the canal.

“I have talked to people from North Carolina, South Carolina, Germany, Maine, Colorado, Massachusetts, Connecticut and Pennsylvania,” she said.

One resident who walks the towpath every day is Paul Wengrzycki, who said he loves the mural.

“She’s showing everything about Medina,” he said. “She is showing the village.”

He takes the time every day to stop and chat and view her progress.

Zavitz hopes to have the mural done no later than Sept. 30, if rain doesn’t slow her progress.

One thing that takes a lot of her time is setting up and taking care of her supplies every day. She parks as close as she can to the bridge, then has to carry six or eight cans of paint, brushes, etc. to the site. Much of the work has to be done from a scaffold and ladder.

Zavitz doesn’t consider herself a typical artist.

“An artist is like the Pied Piper,” she said. “I poured my heart into my classes. I always taught my students to respect each other and themselves. Art has been such a wonderful tool.”

She has taught exchange students from Colombia, Switzerland and Korea, who are now artists all over the world, she said.

“A true artist sees the world with a different set of eyes,” Zavitz said. “You look at something and make it your own. It takes a special amount of creativity.”

Paul Wengrzycki of Medina walks the towpath every day. Here, he stops to admire Brandi Zavitz’s artwork.

Lessons planned to be offered monthly at upstairs ballroom

Photos by Ginny Kropf: Swing dancers begin with the basic steps on the first night of swing dance lessons at Bent’s Opera House. After a 45-minute lesson, even beginners can join in the dancing for the rest of the evening.

MEDINA – A dance craze popular in big cities throughout the United States may soon be a regular attraction in Medina.

Phil and Julie Berry encountered swing dancing while living in Los Angeles.

Dance instructors Mike Moll and Leah Twomey ham it up prior to Thursday’s swing dance lessons at Bent’s Opera House.

Phil said he has loved swing dancing since the first time he saw someone doing the Lindy hop.

“I thought, that looks like great fun and I want to do it,” he said.

After moving back to Medina to purchase the Book Shoppe, now Author’s Note, the first thing Phil did was go online and look up where it might be offered in Western New York.

He found Swing Buffalo and Ballroom Revolution in Buffalo, then started thinking about where he could find a place big enough to have dances in Medina.

“The Lindy hop belongs here,” Phil said.

Then he met Heather Hungerford, whose husband Roger restored the Bent’s Opera House, and when she asked Phil how they could better use the opera house for the community, he had an answer.

“She absolutely loved the idea and said, ‘Let’s make it happen,’” Phil said. “And here we are.”

Julie has been promoting the dance lessons at Author’s Note, giving customers a poster or pamphlet on the event and it has been posted on Facebook, where more than 100 people said they were interested. Jeff Baker with Swing Buffalo has also been promoting it.

Almost 50 showed up Thursday night for dance lessons, and by the time the night ended, another 30 had arrived to enjoy the dancing.

The evening began with a 45-minute dance lesson.

“If you’ve never danced before, by 7:30 you’ll learn all you need to do a swing dance,” Phil said.

Phil Berry of Medina puts on his dancing shoes in preparation for the first night of swing dancing lessons at Bent’s Opera House on Thursday evening. He hopes to make the lessons a regular event.

Phil recruited disc jockey Tommy Darlington from Buffalo and dance instructors Mike Moll and Leah Twomey.

“I want to make Medina a dance destination,” Phil said.

Phil and Julie’s children also came along to dance. Son Adam, 22, said when his parents first asked him to go to a dance he said no.

“Then I finally said yes, and my brother David and I had fun,” he said. “I had a real good time. There were a lot of people there who were quite young – college age. I encountered two young people who were engaged and had met there two years ago. It’s a fun way to meet people. Swing dancing is a very social event because you have to dance with a partner. Young people who haven’t done it would really like it if they tried it.”

Ande Niedzwiecki from Seattle is visiting friends in Rochester and saw the dance advertised online. She said the dance studios in Rochester are still shut down from Covid and she was looking for something to do and was happy to drive to Medina. She said a Swing Club in Rochester used to have 50 to 60 dancers every week before Covid.

The swing dance class is the first public event at the opera house this year, Hungerford said.

The Berrys are planning to have swing dancing every third Thursday of the month. Tickets can be purchased online on the Bent’s Opera House website or Facebook page or at the door.

The public is also invited to come and listen to the music and watch if they don’t want to dance. A cash bar is also available.

Almost 50 dance enthusiasts showed up at Bent’s Opera House Thursday night for the first of planned swing dance lessons. Here, they warm up by practicing a few basic moves. By the time the lesson ended, another 30 had arrived to dance.

YATES – The Town Park by Lake Ontario is “no longer an afterthought,” Town Councilman John Riggi said.

The site has added a pavilion with bathrooms, new playground equipment, a kayak launch, a crusher-run walking trail, and new parking lot with sidewalks. More upgrades will follow, including a pier and a horse-and-buggy turnaround with hitching posts.

“This is really nice,” Riggi said Saturday morning while giving a tour of the improvements with Town Supervisor Jim Simon and engineer Jon Hinman of the MRB Group.

The town is pushing to have the $2.5 million project complete in time for the Sept. 24^th bicentennial celebration at the park. The “Grand Finale Lake Fair” from 1 to 9 p.m. that day is the third in a series of 200^th anniversary celebrations for the town. This Friday there will be a street fair as part of the 200^th on Main Street from 5 to 9 p.m.

Town Supervisor Jim Simon greets participants Saturday morning who were on a charity bike ride for Bike MS to support people with multiple sclerosis. Saturday’s bike ride started at Lakeside Beach State Park and included options for 16, 30 or 62 miles.

The town park improvements are 95 percent funded by the state, which made $300 million available to southshore communities  through the state’s Resiliency and Economic Development Initiative or REDI. That was in response to historic flooding along the shore in 2017 and 2019. That flooding destroyed part of the shoreline at the park and the town used a separate $400,000 grant from the state to put in a massive breakwall. Simon said about 25 feet of shoreline was chewed away from the high waters.

The local share is about $126,000. The Lyndonville Area Foundation gave $100,000 towards the local portion, with the town highway department providing in-kind services to meet the remaining local contribution. The highway department has removed trees, hauled stone and milled the driveway.

New playground equipment was installed by Landscape Structures. The new pavilion with bathrooms in the back. The playground is handicapped accessible.

Families can now bring their children to the park to use the playground.

The park itself has long lacked in amenities. Before there were some grills and port-a-johns.

The Town Board welcomed the chance for state funding to fortify the park from future flooding and erosion, and also create a destination for residents and visitors by the lake.

Simon said there is already interest from residents in renting the pavilion for weddings and special events. The board will soon create a policy for reserving the facility.

Community members already have asked about reserving the pavilion for special events.

Keeler Construction in Barre is the general contractor for the project. It put in a concrete kayak launch that Hinman believes is unusual for Lake Ontario. That ramp also gives easy access for people to the shoreline, instead of having to climb down the breakwall.

The launch is a sizable ramp, which was needed to withstand the waves from Lake Ontario that often can be 3 to 4 feet, Hinman said.

The pier is the last big piece of the project to be constructed. It will go 75 feet out into the lake for people to enjoy sightseeing and fishing. Boats won’t be allowed to tie up to the pier unless it’s an emergency.

Volunteers wait for cyclists on Saturday who stopped by the new pavilion for refreshments.

Town Supervisor Jim Simon said the park is better protected from high waters in the future. Simon said the town also is interested in land next door owned by NYSEG. That 100-acre site would make a great nature preserve, Simon said.

Photos and information from Lyndonville Youth Commission

LYNDONVILLE – The Lyndonville Youth Commission has sponsored a summer recreation and activity program for the youth of the Lyndonville Central School District for over 50 years.

Recently the commission partnered with the district summer reading/math camp with programming using the school facilities.  The Town of Yates, Village of Lyndonville and the Lyndonville Area Foundation sponsor the program.

Mondays through Thursdays from 9 a.m. to noon for five weeks there were over 100 children a day at the school facilities for athletic activities, arts and crafts, playground opportunities and boardgame fun.

Students attending the academic enrichment program also participated in the recreation program.

The community is grateful to the Lyndonville Area Foundation, the town and village government, and the school district for providing socialization and physical activities for our youth during the summer.