By Ginny Kropf, correspondent Posted 15 February 2022 at 7:59 am
Photo contributed: Staff at Medina Memorial Hospital pose for a photo on Wear Red Day to celebrate Heart Month to highlight the importance of heart health and preventing heart disease.
MEDINA – Orleans Community Health and Medina Memorial Hospital are continuing to celebrate February as Heart Month, with different events throughout the month.
According to information from Scott Robinson, director of Marketing, Communications and Outreach, February was declared as American Heart Month by President Lyndon B. Johnson in 1964, nine years after his own heart attack. Orleans Community is taking the opportunity this month to highlight the importance of heart health and that heart disease is largely preventable.
In addition to focusing on heart health for the entire month, the topic is being highlighted in different ways throughout February.
Feb. 4 was recognized as Wear Red Day, bringing awareness to the fact that heart disease is the number one killer of women. In addition, the week of Feb. 13 to 19 is Cardiac Rehab Week, which highlights the role rehabilitation plays in reducing further the devastating effects of heart disease.
According to the Center for Disease Control, some important statistics on heart disease are:
Heart disease is the number one killer of women, men and many ethnic groups within the United States.
One in every four deaths is due to heart disease.
Every year approximately 805,000 people have a heart attack, 200,000 of which happen to people have already had one.
On a positive note, heart disease is largely preventable by following these basic tips:
Eat foods that promote heart health.
Avoid smoking tobacco products.
Make sure to get at least 30 minutes of physical activity for five days a week.
Talk with your doctor to make sure you’re keeping track of your blood pressure and other potential warning signs.
Orleans Community Health urges everyone in the community to take heart disease seriously.
Medina Memorial Health offers several services in the Cardiac Department that can help.
Electrocardiograms, or EKG, are an innovative diagnostic tool. An EKG records the electric signal from the heart and is useful in detecting arrhythmias, heart attack and heart failure.
An Echocardiogram is a type of ultrasound that uses two-dimensional, three-dimensional and Doppler ultrasound waves to create a clear image of the heart. This image can then be used to diagnose conditions that affect the heart’s valves and chambers.
Vascular Ultrasounds use similar techniques as an echocardiogram to form images of blood vessels. At Medina Memorial Hospital, this tool is used to diagnose blood clots, blockages and other sources of congestion.
Cardiac Stress Tests are used to measure the heart’s ability to respond to stress, such as exercise or other stimulation. A stress test is an essential tool for identifying problems with blood flow, like blockages or arrhythmias aggravated by stress.
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Congressman Chris Jacobs (NY-27) cosponsored the Protecting Family and Small Business Tax Cuts Act to make the 2017 Trump tax cuts permanent.
“Following the implementation of President Trump’s tax cuts, our nation witnessed an extraordinary period of economic expansion, wage growth, and job creation,” Jacobs said. “Businesses were bringing manufacturing back from overseas, employers were using savings from the federal government to hire additional employees, and our nation saw our output and productivity increase.”
The legislation cosponsored by Jacobs most notably:
Make permanent the doubled standard deduction of $12K for those filing single and $24K for jointly filed returns
Make permanent the doubled child tax credit of $2K including full refundability of $1,400
Maintains the mortgage interest deduction at $750K
Maintains the Medical Expense Deduction to allow the deduction of qualified expenses that exceed 7.5 percent of an individual’s AGI
Provides a 20 percent tax deduction for small businesses
“Since taking the White House and majority, Democrats have made clear they want to undo these successful policies and force through policies that waste trillions of dollars and raise taxes on Americans,” Jacobs said. “We have already seen the disastrous impact of their policies on our economy. I am proud to join this legislation to ensure a successful Trump policy is made permanent so it can continue to help families and small businesses in the future.”
Press Release, State Senate Republican Leader Rob Ortt
ALBANY – Senate Republican Leader Rob Ortt and members of the Senate Republican Conference today called for an end to unconstitutional mandates promulgated by Governor Kathy Hochul and her Department of Health.
The Republicans announced they would force a vote on the New York Senate floor today to end the mandates.
This vote comes in the wake of the so-called vax or mask business mandate being lifted, but with the mask mandate in schools and childcare centers remaining in place. Children are the least vulnerable individuals with regard to Covid-19, but the most susceptible to psychological damage due to their lives being upended for the past two years.
“School children and toddlers are suffering emotionally,” Ortt said. “Parents and families are at their wit’s end. New Yorkers are just sick and tired of these one-size-fits-all Albany mandates. I vowed to my constituents that I would fight these unconstitutional mandates until every single one is lifted. I intend to keep that promise, and I am proud to stand alongside my fellow Republicans today to force our Democrat colleagues to explain where they stand. It’s time to end the mandates now.”
The Senate Republicans’ proposed amendment will be brought forth by Senator Mike Martucci on the floor of the Senate later this afternoon. The measure would force a vote on unmasking our kids, and dismantling the Governor’s overreaching mandates and restoring checks and balances. This vote is an opportunity to put legislators on the record on how they feel about masking kids while mask mandates almost everywhere else in New York and the nation are being lifted. Every member of the Senate Republican Conference has committed to voting yes on the much-needed measure.
“When Governor Hochul substituted her judgment on masks for the judgment of parents she awakened a sleeping giant,” Martucci said. “Let’s be clear – all the data shows school-age kids are at far less risk than any other group when it comes to Covid. There is absolutely no reason any child should be forced to wear a mask for seven hours a day in school, especially when that same kid can get a pizza, go to a movie or watch a basketball game mask-free. What makes schools such a hotbed for Covid risk but not an arena? Nothing. This is about control, not about public health. All mask mandates must end now. Let’s restore choice and individual judgment and stop baseless political fear mongering.”
Senate Republicans have been a steadfast voice calling for more checks and balances in state government, and putting an end to the Cuomo-Hochul era of governance by mandates. Last month, the conference called on Governor Hochul to end her one-size-fits-all Albany mandates, and return to fact-based, collaborative governing. Additionally, Leader Ortt has called on the Governor multiple times to unmask our kids.
Last week, Leader Ortt and Senate Republicans penned a letter to the Governor blasting the decision to keep kids masked and calling for metrics for an off-ramp. A representative from the Department of Health later confirmed that they have no “data targets” for ending school masking. On Saturday, Leader Ortt stood with educators and parents in Niagara Falls to reiterate his calls for an end to the child mask mandate.
A key plan in the Senate Republicans “Take Back New York” 2022 agenda – which the Conference has been unveiling since January – is restoring accountability to state government. One of the policies within the plan is to restore checks and balances to the state government.
The amendment will be presented, debated, and voted on in today’s Senate Session.
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 14 February 2022 at 1:48 pm
Photos by Tom Rivers: Medina Lt. Todd Draper and Kye, the department’s K9 for 9 years, walk down the driveway at Oak Orchard Elementary School during a retirement sendoff for Kye on Oct. 28, 2020. Kye was a frequent visitor at the school.
MEDINA – The Medina Police Department’s popular K9, Kye, has passed away after a battle with bone cancer.
The Medina PD announced Kye’s death on Sunday.
“Kye put up a very strong fight over the last few months against bone cancer,” the Medina PD stated on its Facebook page. “Kye was an 11 year old Belgian Malinois that served the Medina PD from 2012-2021.”
Lt. Todd Draper served as Kye’s handler. After the dog retired about a year ago it continued to stay with Draper’s family.
Draper made special cards and stuffed animals of Kye when the dog first joined the department about a decade ago.
Kye’s main duties were tracking, drug detection, building searches and criminal apprehension. Kye and Draper attended many public events and visited local schools, doing many demonstrations for the community.
Kye has been succeeded at the Medina PD by a K9 named Phoenix, and the handler is Medina police officer Jacob Reeves.
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 14 February 2022 at 11:28 am
Photos by Tom Rivers
ALBION – Staff and volunteers for Community Action of Orleans & Genesee were out this morning in about 10-degree weather during a pop-up food distribution at the Main Street Thrift Store’s parking lot, 131 South Main St.
Dana Jessmer of Albion works quickly to unload food from boxes. A team put produce and other food in trunks of vehicles. Jessmer is the daughter of Community Action human resources director Susan Jessmer.
The food distributions will continue to at least June. Orleans Hub is trying to get a schedule of the upcoming distributions. Foodlink delivered the food in a program funded through the state’s Nourish New York program.
About 100 to 130 vehicles have been attending the recent distributions, with the food given away on a first come, first served basis.
Jackie Gardner, Community Action’s chief operating officer and director of operations, was part of the team unpacking food and putting it in cars and trucks this morning. She enjoyed the camaraderie with her co-workers and volunteers.
Greg Gilman, a Community Action employee, cuts open a box. He has worked at most of food distributions in Albion for nearly two years. He is retiring for the second time on Feb. 25.
Dan Healy had the day off from his job and was happy to help with the food distribution.
SHELBY – The Town Board will have a special meeting on Tuesday at 6 p.m. to approve a notice to hire a deputy clerk and approve a pay rate for the position.
The meeting will be at the Town Hall, 4062 Salt Works Rd in Medina.
By Doug Farley, Cobblestone Museum Director – Vol. 3 No. 5
GAINES – The Hamlet of Childs is probably one of a very few locations in Orleans County where one can still find a bear trap from the early 1800s.
At one time, a necessary evil in pioneer days, bear traps have now become a rarity in the modern landscape of Orleans County.
The bear trap at the Cobblestone Museum is about 200 years old.
Since trees were heavily abundant in the “Black North,” Orleans County provided a perfect sanctuary for animals. Wolves and bears were numerous in the area and often posed a safety problem for the settlers.
In order to catch them, traps were often used. Bear traps were made by blacksmiths from the area. Food was placed inside the trap, under the pedal, and the bear would sniff it, go for the food and then would get caught.
The settler or farmer would check the trap and shoot the bear if caught, as the trap would not kill the bear. Bear traps were set to protect livestock: chickens, pigs, and cows, and set to protect the farmer, his family, and their food supply.
The bear trap in question is now a treasured artifact at the Cobblestone Museum. The story of how this pioneer necessity survived the ages will be told, again, here.
The first known written telling of this story took place in 1879 in the “Historical Album of Orleans County, NY.” The “Historical Album” was written to record and commemorate the first 50 years of Orleans County History. Our bear story was contained therein, and dates to the early 1800s. So, to “stick with the facts,” we’ve quoted it here verbatim:
“Nearly every pioneer has his “bear stories.” Were all these to be repeated here they would be like Mark Twain’s misfortunes, “somewhat monotonous.” One, however, may be related: Some thirty years since, Mr. George Batchellor, of South Barre, went some distance into Tonawanda swamp, with a neighbor, to assist him in bringing out a bear which he had killed.
“On his way the nails in his boot-heel grated upon something which gave a metallic sound. On examination he found that some moss had been scraped from what proved to be a large bear-trap. It was lying with its jaws downward, nearly covered with muck, and the roots of trees had grown through the jaws and springs in all directions. One of these, a black-ash root, was nearly as large as a man’s wrist. The trap was but very little corroded.
“Some years afterwards Mr. Batchellor learned from a man who assisted the owner of the trap in his hunt, that 22 years previous to the finding of it, it was set in the usual way, with a clog attached, in the town of Byron, Genesee county; that a bear was caught in it, and that they followed his trail through a light snow 7 or 8 miles to within 80 rods of where the trap was found, and that they here abandoned the pursuit because night was approaching, and the melting of the snow rendered the trail indistinct. Mr. Batchellor has the trap in his possession still…” (1879)
Asher & Adams, New Topographical Atlas, 1871
So there we have it, a nearly 200-year-old story of a missing bear who walked from Byron to Barre with his foot caught in a metal trap. To bring this story more up to date we need to take a look at the Batchellor family and how the trap came to be in the collection of the Cobblestone Museum.
As the “Historical Album” indicated, Mr. George Batchellor lived in the Town of Barre. What the book neglected to report was that George Batchellor was an early resident of the county, and proud owner of a cobblestone home. (As an interesting aside, most of us have heard of the “Six Degrees of Separation” theory that states that anyone on earth is connected to any other person on earth by a chain of no more than six people. I think the degrees of separation between any person and a cobblestone home owner is actually much smaller.)
The Batchellor cobblestone home, located on Old Oak Orchard Road, was built in the 1830s by Ogden Sears and his wife Betsey (Harding) Sears. Mr. Sears was a cooper by trade in Connecticut before coming to Barre, though once there, he worked as a farmer. To build his substantial stone residence, Sears picked up the stone on his own land, burned the lime used in erecting it, made the plaster and mortar and carried it to the workmen in a sap-bucket. The beautiful cobblestone house was constructed using glacial stones (fieldstones) of various sizes and red sandstone quoins.
The Sear’s daughter, Betsey, married the aforementioned George Batchellor, and the newlywed couple lived happily ever after in the Sears cobblestone home (complete with bear trap) and lived out their lives there.
Photo courtesy Richard Palmer, 5306 Oak Orchard Rd., Barre
The home passed down through several generations of the Batchellor family and is now the residence of Jack and Debby Batchellor, proud Patron Members of the Cobblestone Society & Museum. Jack’s family has lived in the home for 7 generations, nearly 200 years. He is probably the only man who lives in a cobblestone home that was built by his great-great-great grandfather.
Published 1966, Cary Lattin
In more recent times, the Batchellor family decided to put the famed bear trap into the public domain so it could be preserved and enjoyed for posterity by a larger audience. Its first home was the Buffalo Historical Society Museum. But later, Barre Town Historian, Helen Mathes, actively lobbied to have the bear trap transferred to the Cobblestone Museum where it would be closer to its original home. The donation took place in the 1970s.
Fast forward to 1979, and Former Cobblestone Museum Director, Bill Lattin, remembers when artifacts were being placed in Farmers Hall for public display. The bear trap was among the valued artifacts that found their new home within those walls.
At that time, Mickey Burroughs and Mike Kilborn had summer jobs as interns at the Museum. While examining the bear trap, curiosity got the better of them, and they requested permission to set the trap and test it out. Bill Lattin agreed as long as the experiment was undertaken under his watchful eye.
So, the trap was set, and one thing led to another, and the duo decided they would like to spring the trap. Bill selected a suitable old broom stick, which quickly became kindling when the powerful jaws of the bear trap clamped shut!
Photo and information courtesy of Medina Marching Band program
VICTOR – Medina’s Varsity Winter Guard competed for the second time this season on Saturday at Victor Central School.
Fourteen guards in total participated in five different classes. Medina’s Varsity guard took 4th place in the Scholastic A class with a score of 63.02. Victor earned 1st place with 70.57; Jamestown in 2nd with 66.38; and Orchard Park in 3rd with 65.62.
Winners in the other classes were Victor Cadet with 51.82; Greece in Regional A with 55.25; Gates Chili in Independent A with 72.28 and Luminosa in Senior Class with 68.18.
Medina’s next performances are Feb. 19 in Batavia, Lancaster on March 5th and Medina’s home show on March 12.
This year the WG Championships will be held in Medina on April 2nd.
By Mike Wertman, Sports Writer Posted 13 February 2022 at 4:00 pm
Photo by Cheryl Wertman – John Grillo
Former long time Holley High wrestling Coach John Grillo is being honored by the Upstate New York Chapter of the National Wrestling Hall of Fame with a 2022 Lifetime of Service Award.
Grillo, along with the other 2022 honorees, will be enshrined in the State Chapter’s Hall of Fame Room at the National Wrestling Hall of Fame in Stillwater, Oklahoma.
Grillo coached wrestling for 44 years, mostly at Holley, where he helped to guide the Hawks to no less than 22 Genesee Region League and 12 Section V titles.
Having garnered over 780 wins during his career, Grillo was honored as G-R Coach of the Year 15 times and Section V Coach of the Year six times.
He was previously inducted into the Section V Hall of Fame and has received the New York State Coaches Achievement Award.
YATES – On February 10, 2022, the Yates Town Board on Thursday unanimously passed a resolution opposing all remaining Covid-19 mandates in New York State.
Jim Simon
Resolution No. 35-2/22 reads, in part:
“Whereas, the Covid-19 mandates in NY since March of 2020 included unconstitutional lockdowns, capacity limits, restrictions on hospital and nursing home visits to loved ones, compulsory masking, vaccine requirements for employment and public access, and curtailments of free speech, and,
“Whereas, many states imposed very few Covid-19 mandates and have had no increased incidences of Covid-19 hospitalizations and deaths compared to those states with severe restrictions like NY,… be it “Resolved, the Town of Yates is opposed to all Covid-19 mandates, and… that the Town calls upon NY to conduct a bipartisan review of Covid-19 mandates and their deleterious effects on New Yorkers.”
Town Deputy Supervisor John Riggi emphasized that NY is just now admitting that they no longer have compelling data or studies that prove the mandates were (or are) efficacious.
“Over 40 states have lifted most if not all of their Covid-19 mandates, including vaccine passes and masking indoors and in K-12 schools,” Riggi said. “When will NY admit that states like Texas and Florida – states that lifted their mandates over a year ago with no statistical difference in public health outcomes – were right all along?”
Town Supervisor Jim Simon highlighted the recommendations of the Great Barrington Declaration authored by Dr. Kulldorff (Harvard), Dr. Gupta (Oxford), and Dr. Bhattacharya (Stanford) on October 4, 2020, and signed by thousands of doctors, scientists and health care professionals world-wide.
“At first, these medical experts were ignored,” Simon said. “Then they were attacked and vilified for political reasons. Turns out their key recommendation of ‘Focused Protection’ is exactly what we should have done all along!”
ALBION – Luigi D’Orazio and Luisa Fortunate, top left, were married on June 27, 1919, at St. Joseph’s Church in Albion, by Rev. Sullivan. The attendants were William and Teresa Sigisimondo, also of Albion. The calf-length hemlines and free-form design of the ladies’ dresses reflect the fashions of the day.
This treasured family photograph was recently shared with the Orleans County Dept. of History by family members. While it simply captures a moment in time, it reverberates with local history, as it connects to the sandstone industry, to immigration and assimilation. It reflects how economic cycles cause population migration, but it also shows how family bonds last over time and distance.
The sandstone industry was booming in Orleans County in the 1890s. At its peak, 50 quarries employed 2,000 men. Laborers were in demand as were skilled stone workers.
Camillo D’Amico (1861-1929) was a skilled stone mason from Alfedena in the Abruzzo region of central Italy, who at the age of 31 decided to try his fortune in this country.
The D’Amico family in 1910 – Standing: l-r, Pasquale, Quindo, Gaetano, Josephine, Marianne. Seated: Rose (Mother), Amelia, Camillo (Father), Lydia.
Alfedena’s sandstone and limestone quarries, located 65 miles southeast of Rome, furnished paving stone and structural stone for buildings in Rome for over 900 years. Word of Orleans County’s quarries had spread apparently – when Camillo made enquiries, he was told of opportunities in Fancher, Orleans County, NY. He left Naples on August 4, 1892, on board the Vessel Marseilles and arrived at the Port of New York on August 24, 1892.
Camillo was one of many from the Alfedena area who moved here to work but remained and made Orleans County their home. Newly arrived workers boarded with family. In the 1910 Census, the Camillo Monacelli family had 8 Italian boarders, four of whom were cousins. New family names were introduced to the county: Passarelli, Nenni, DiLaura, Fortunato, D’Amico, D’Orazio, to name but a few. The hamlets of Fancher, Hulberton and Brockville pulsated with life. St. Rocco’s Church in Hulberton was built in 1906 by local stonecutters.
Camillo’s wife, Rose (Passarelli) came to America five years after Camillo, in the spring of 1897, with their four children, Gaetano, Marianna, Pasqualino and Alfonzo. Quindo, Josephine, Lydia and Amelia were born in the United States. Sadly, four other young children died between 1903-1906 and were buried at the “old” St. Joseph’s Cemetery on Brown Street in Albion.
Camillo diversified as the sandstone industry declined. In the 1905 Census, he was listed as a “saloon-keeper” and in 1910, the family moved to a fruit and dairy farm on the Hulberton Road. The family recalls that their brother Quindo and cousin Harry Passarell would skate five miles along the Erie Canal in winter to attend Holley High School.
The D’Amicos and D’Orazios who had come to America from the same region were connected by marriage years later, when Luigi and Luisa’s daughter, Albina D’Orazio, married Camillo and Rosa’s grandson, Emidio Di Laura, on July 6, 1946.
The Italian population of Hulberton, Fancher and Brockville declined, but the heritage remained strong. St. Rocco’s Italian Festival celebrated in September, became a grand occasion for reunions. That festival continues the Sunday before Labor Day.
As the years went by, the Di Lauras maintained contact with family both in Orleans County and in Alfedena, Italy. Luigi D’Orazio died on Dec. 23, 1995 at the age of 66, while on an extended visit to Alfedena. The Di Laura children spent summers in Albion with family on McKinstry Street in Albion. They continue to visit as adults, acknowledging a connection of over one hundred years to a young, newly married couple.
Photographs and family information courtesy of the grandchildren of Luigi and Luisa (Fortunato) D’Orazio.
By Mike Wertman, Sports Writer Posted 13 February 2022 at 7:56 am
Heading into the final week of the regular season Roy-Hart needs only a pair of home court victories to lock up outright possession of the Niagara-Orleans League boys basketball title.
Currently at 8-2, Roy-Hart holds a one game lead over Newfane (7-3) and a two game edge over defending champion Medina (6-4).
The Rams host Medina on Tuesday and Albion on Thursday.
Anything less than a two game sweep by Roy-Hart would open the door for Newfane to claim at least a share of the title. The Panthers face Barker on Tuesday and Akron on Wednesday.
Medina needs plenty of help in order to claim a share of the title. The Mustangs need wins both at Roy-Hart on Tuesday and at Wilson on Thursday and for Albion to down Roy-Hart and for Newfane to just spit its two games.
Weekly Schedule Monday Boys Basketball – Akron at Albion, 6:30 p.m.; Lyndonville at Notre Dame, Finney at Holley, Kendall at Attica, 7 p.m. Girls Basketball – Albion at Akron, 6:30 p.m.; Holley at Pembroke, 7 p.m.
Tuesday Boys Basketball – Medina at Roy-Hart, Barker at Newfane, 6:30 pm. Girls Basketball – Newfane at Barker, 6 p.m.; Roy-Hart at Medina, 6:30 p.m.; Byron-Bergen at Lyndonville, Alexander at Holley, Oakfield-Alabama at Kendall, 7 p.m.
Wednesday Boys Basketball – Newfane at Akron, 6:30 p.m.; Lyndonville at Byron-Bergen, Holley at Alexander, Kendall at Oakfield-Alabama, 7 p.m. Girls Basketball – Medina at Albion, Barker at Roy-Hart, Akron at Newfane, 6:30 p.m.
Thursday Boys Basketball – Medina at Wilson, 6 pm.; Albion at Roy-Hart, 6:30 p.m. Girls Basketball – Wilson at Medina, Roy-Hart at Albion, 6:30 p.m.
Provided photo: Senate Republican Leader Rob Ortt, center, is joined by Niagara Falls City School District Superintendent Mark Laurrie, left, and Lisa Dugan, a concerned Niagara Falls grandmother, during a news conference today at Niagara Falls High School.
Press Release, State Senate Republican Leader Rob Ortt
NIAGARA FALLS – New York State Senate Republican Leader Rob Ortt today joined Niagara Falls High School educators and parents to call for an end to New York’s mask mandate for school children.
“Children have suffered under the heavy-handed mandates of Albany for far too long,” Ortt said. “I hear from countless parents, families, and educators all fed up that their children continue to be masked. The science tells us that children are less vulnerable to physical sickness, but more susceptible to emotional damage thanks to these destructive mandates. New Yorkers have had enough. We need Albany to listen to us – we need to end the mask mandate for school children now.”
Ortt and his fellow Republicans in the Senate have fought against statewide pandemic-era rules and regulations. These efforts include ending disgraced ex-Governor Cuomo’s emergency powers, organizing communities in opposition to mandates, forcing legislative votes to repeal various emergency rules and regulations, and further pressuring the current governor and others to end the era of extreme government overreach.
“It is my belief that our Covid cases are dropping significantly. It’s time for mask wearing to be a personal choice, not one of a mandatory nature,” said Niagara Falls City School District Superintendent Mark Laurrie. “Parents and guardians should be able to choose at this point to mask their children, or not.”
“I have fought against the mask mandate from the beginning, because I am concerned for my grandchildren and how the mandate will impact their short and long-term health and education,” said Lisa Dugan, a concerned Niagara Falls grandmother. “I have spoken out against masks at Board of Education meetings and wrote letters to Albany requesting the mandate be lifted.”
This week, Ortt and his fellow Republicans penned a letter to Gov. Kathy Hochul, requesting the metrics and thresholds she claims her administration will use to determine when to end the mask mandate in schools.
“I stand with the parents, grandparents, teachers, and local officials who are pushing for a much-needed return to normal,” Ortt said. “No government should ever again have the ability to make these choices for somebody’s children.”
ALBION – Luigi D’Orazio and Luisa Fortunate, top left, were married on June 27, 1919, at St. Joseph’s Church in Albion, by Rev. Sullivan. The attendants were William and Teresa Sigisimondo, also of Albion. The calf-length hemlines and free-form design of the ladies’ dresses reflect the fashions of the day.
