KNOWLESVILLE – The Genesee-Orleans Regional Art announced that the Steampunk Festival planned for today and Saturday has been cancelled.

GO Art! was attempting to bring back the festival. The organization has contacted vendors, entertainment and ticket holders with the news.

UPDATE: GO Art! posted this statement on its social media this afternoon:

“After much consideration, we are heartbroken to share that the Steampunk Festival has been cancelled.

To our incredible ticket holders: please check your email for important updates regarding your tickets.

As a nonprofit organization, we want to be transparent: events like this are only possible because of the income they generate. Every vendor fee, ticket sale, and sponsorship goes directly toward covering expenses such as entertainment, insurance, rentals, staffing, and so much more. When plans change, it creates significant challenges—and we deeply appreciate your understanding, patience, and empathy for the nonprofit world.

We cannot thank you enough for the support, excitement, and energy you’ve already poured into this event. While we’re devastated to make this announcement, we’re committed to continuing our mission of bringing arts and culture to our community in meaningful ways.

Thank you for standing with us through both the celebrations and the challenges.”

Medina Memorial putting in new parking lot, Farmers’ Market upgrading building and Hart House enclosing outdoor courtyard

This map shows where Medina Memorial Hospital plans to put a new parking lot with 56 spaces at 525 Eagle St. The hospital will demolish a house for the new lot.

MEDINA – The Orleans County Planning Board on Thursday gave its approval to three projects in the Village of Medina.

The board is recommending the village approve the following three projects:

Medina Memorial Hospital is proposing to demolish a house and put in a new parking lot with 56 spaces at 525 Eagle St., which is across from the main entrance of the hospital on Ohio Street.

The house/parking is located in the R1/Medical Overlay District. The project would also include sidewalk improvements to the hospital’s main entrance.

The new lot would be on a parcel that is .81 acre. The new lot will ease parking pressure in the main lot next to the hospital that planners said it often congested.

Rendering by Alderman Architect: Hart House in Medina is proposing an addition and roof on the courtyard.

Andrew Meier, owner of the Hart House at 113 West Center St., is planning to enclose the outdoor courtyard at the Hart House and add a roof to that site.

The project also includes new cementitious siding with battens, new windows, doors and masonry to complement existing brick.

The Hart House project would cover about 1,500 square feet and 1.5 stories. It will be able to accommodate about 100 people for parties and events.

The courtyard at Hart House is one of eight projects in Medina approved for funding as part of the $4.5 million NY Forward grant in Medina. The state approved the projects last year and the Hart House was awarded $500,000 from the $4.5 million total.

Rendering by Alderman Architect: The Canal Village Farmers’ Market would get a new metal roof and canopies, and other exterior work.

The Orleans Renaissance Group is proposing upgrade to the Canal Village Farmers’ Market at 127 West Center St. This project was approved for $675,000 from the NY Forward grant.

The farmers’ market previously was used by a bank and also a gas station. The building will be expanded and remodeled to allow for year-round use.

The improvements include a new standing seam metal roof, new painted steel structure, glazed overhead doors, cementitious siding, concrete base, windows, aluminum storefront entry doors, metal canopies, complementary brick masonry and new rooftop signs.

Business wants to have 35 parking spaces instead of required 53 under village code

Photo by Tom Rivers: The Broadway Group wants to demolish this building at 327 East Ave. in Albion and build a new 10,640-square-foot Dollar General with 35 parking spaces. This site is across the street from Charles D’ Amico High School.

 ALBION – The Orleans County Planning Board this evening voted to recommend the Village of Albion approve a variance for a new Dollar General store at 327 East Ave.

The Broadway Group, which is seeking to build the new store, is requesting the site have 35 parking spaces instead of the 53 required under the village code.

The store is proposed at 10,640 square feet. The village code requires a parking space for every 200 square feet of gross floor area.

The Broadway Group from Huntsville, Ala. has built many of the Dollar General stores around the country. Broadway said similar-size Dollar General stores need 32 parking spaces.

Allowing the variance for the 35 parking spaces would allow the site to keep more green space which would help with stormwater runoff and with a buffer to residential areas abutting the property.

“The proposed retail store is not necessarily a destination location for most people,” Brian Gross, staff engineer at Fagan Engineers & Land Surveyors, said in the application to the County Planning Board. “Therefore, customers will only be at the location for 20 minutes or less, meaning there will be a higher turnover rate in parking.”

The Village of Albion Planning Board will have a public hearing about the variance at 4 p.m. on Sept. 9 at the Village Office.

If the variance is approved, Broadway will then work on a site plan to be submitted the village and county.

County Planning Board members said they have some concerns about the tight parking lot and how will accommodate larger delivery trucks. Planners want adequate turnaround on the site so the truck doesn’t back out onto Route 31.

One possibility could be getting an easement from Cone Zone next door where trucks could enter Dollar General and exit from Cone Zone. Both properties are owned by Chris Kinter, the village’s code officer. He is recusing himself from the Dollar General project. Dan Strong, the code officer for the Town of Albion, and handling the code enforcement duties with the Dollar General variance and if there is a site plan and building permit.

Treasurer collects taxes for Albion, Lyndonville and Medina

Press Release, Orleans County Treasurer’s Office

ALBION – Orleans County Treasurer Kim DeFrank today said that school tax collection for the Albion, Lyndonville and Medina school districts will begin on Tuesday, September 2.  The Treasurer’s Office will collect and accept US-postmarked payments until Sept. 30 interest-free.

For those paying in person, DeFrank reminded residents that her office relocated last year to 156 South Main St. in Albion.

“Last year was our first tax collection at the new office and people really appreciated how much better parking and building access compared to our old location,” said DeFrank.  “And even better, many people took advantage of the drive-thru window to pay their bills without leaving their cars.”

The Treasurer’s Office is open Monday through Friday from 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m.  Anyone with questions regarding payment can contact the Treasurer’s Office at 585-589-5353.  The office can accept cash, check and VISA, MasterCard and Discover cards, although credit card payments have an additional fee.

New this year, the office can accept online credit card payments, with an additional fee.  To pay online, go to the county’s website at www.orleanscountyny.gov and click on Treasurer under the departments tab.

Photo courtesy of Todd Bensley: The stone wall on the hill of Boxwood Cemetery, facing North Gravel Road, has crumbled.

Press Release, Preservation League of NYS

MEDINA – The Village of Medina is one of this year’s Technical Assistance Grant awardees. The grant of $7,500 will fund a Limited Condition Assessment of the Old Cemetery Section Retaining Walls at the Boxwood Cemetery.

The Preservation League of NYS and their program partners at the New York State Council on the Arts (NYSCA) are thrilled to help fund this important work. At its 2025 meeting, an independent panel selected 31 applicants in 20 counties to receive support totaling $347,500. Grants represent both of the League’s signature NYSCA regrants – Preserve New York (PNY) and Technical Assistance Grants (TAG).

Medina Mayor Marguerite Sherman said, “The Village is honored and thrilled that the Preservation League and its partners recognize the significance of Boxwood Cemetery, a site that has added to our community’s charm for over 175 years and attracts visitors from around the world today. We will engage our citizens and professionals in this cultural heritage project, thanks to this grant.”

Village Historian Todd Bensley added, “This vital grant will fund analysis by experts at Clinton Brown Company Architecture, pc., for a plan of restoration of Boxwood Cemetery’s character-defining Medina sandstone retaining walls at its hilly, ‘Old Cemetery’ section. This will help secure its future for generations to come.”

Historic Boxwood Cemetery, established in 1849, is an exemplary Victorian burial ground. Its terraces feature several walls of cut Medina Sandstone. The resting place of many early settlers and notable historic people, the cemetery includes approximately 5,000 marked burials, spanning from 1849 until the present day.

Boxwood’s evolution demonstrates changing cemetery design theories, including Rural and Park-Lawn cemetery models. The 1903 chapel was designed in the Gothic Revival style with Medina Sandstone. This grant-funded assessment will provide information to help guide the Village’s efforts to preserve Boxwood Cemetery for years to come.

“This year, the League has brought our two longstanding NYSCA partnership grants together into one cycle, allowing us to see a clear picture of the remarkable preservation work getting started across the state,” said Jay DiLorenzo, President of the Preservation League of NYS. “The targeted studies funded by TAG and the expansive reports made possible by PNY will lay the groundwork for many vital projects over the years to come.”

Press Release, Orleans County government

ALBION – The Orleans County Department of Planning and Development today urged residents to be aware of a scam targeting individuals with active applications submitted to their local town or village that require review by the county Planning Board.

According to Planning and Development Director Corey Winters, individuals are receiving fraudulent emails impersonating county planning officials. The email requests wire transfers, claiming payment is required as part of the planning board’s review process.  The emails appear to be coming from a fake email address planning-commission.OrleansCounty@usa.com

“These scams emails look very official and catch people off guard,” Winters said.  “The important things to remember are that county planning board review is free, no Orleans County office would solicit for wire transfer payments and any email from Orleans County will end with @orleanscountyny.gov.”

Winters said if you are unsure about suspicious emails, you should always contact the government office from which it purportedly came to directly to verity its authenticity.  The Planning Department can be reached at 585-589-3197.

Board hopes a formal study can lead to bigger grants for elevator, building upgrades

Photo by Tom Rivers: City Hall on Main Street in Medina is underutilized by the Village of Medina mainly due to a lack of handicapped accessibility. The Village Board is seeking a grant for an elevator and other improvements so the building can be better used by the public.

MEDINA – The Village Board wants to see the City Hall better utilized by the village government, but it will take an elevator and other improvements to make the site handicapped accessible.

The board is seeking a grant through the state’s Community Development Block Grant program to determine what is needed to make the building more accessible and the estimated costs.

Once the village has that report, it can pursue other grants to pay for the upgrades.

The building is underutilized by the village. Medina moved its village offices out of the site in 1999, going to a one-story bank building next door with a drive-in window.

The Village Board doesn’t meet there either. It currently primarily uses the Ridgeway Town Hall and sometimes the Senior Center. For several years it used the Shelby Town Hall.

The Village Planning Board and Zoning Board of Appeals continues to use the City Hall meeting room for their sessions.

The Medina Sandstone Society uses the main meeting room at City Hall for the Medina Sandstone Hall of Fame. This photo shows the induction ceremony on Oct. 17, 2024. The Sandstone Society has inducted 43 sites since the debut class in 2013.

The City Hall “Council Chambers” has been the Medina Sandstone Hall of Fame since 2013. The Medina Sandstone Society the third Thursday in October each year inducts sites into the Hall of Fame which is now up to 43 sites.

While the village clerk’s staff is out of city hall, the code enforcement officer remains on the third floor.

Mayor Marguerite Sherman would like to see the building be better used, especially for the Village Board meetings.

Medina will be pursuing a $40,000 accessibility grant to show how City Hall could become ADA compliant. The grant doesn’t require any local match, said Jay Grasso, Medina’s grant writer.

This study should lead to larger grants to address the accessibility shortcomings with the building, which was constructed in 1908 out of local sandstone.

“There should be significant money to make repairs,” Grasso said.

But first Medina needs a formal study assessing the conditions of the site.

Dave Miller of the Sandstone Society speaks during the Oct. 17, 2024 induction. Medina moved its village offices out of the building in 1999 to a former bank building next door on Park Avenue. The Village Board also doesn’t use the main room for its meetings, instead typically using at the Ridgeway Town Hall or Senior Center.

Photos by Tom Rivers

MEDINA – Elvis impersonator Terry Buchwald performs “Bue Suede Shoes” and other classics from a  stage on Main Street on Wednesday during the Super Cruise.

Buchwald is shown looking through the side windows of a 1965 GMC pickup owned by Jim Stone.

There were 289 classic cars, trucks and other vehicles at the Super Cruise. The event is sponsored by The Walsh and Hellner Development Company.

That is a bigger turnout than last year when about 250 cars ad trucks were at the cruise-in.

Medina shuts down part of Main Street for the show. Cars parked on Main Street from the Center Street intersection going down North Main past the American Legion.

Darren Tobolski of Waterport brought a 1972 AMC Gavelin to the Super Cruise. The car has been in his family since 1979. He took it to his prom in 1983.

“She’s been a driver and survivor,” he said.

The car has 95,000 original miles on it. Tobolski said there aren’t too many Javelins at car shows.

“She’s not the prettiest car but she draws a lot of attention,” he said.

Many onlookers wanted a close look at this 2023 Vanderhall owned by Rick and Judy Overholt. Vanderhall Motor Works manufactures these three-wheeled autocycles, which have two wheels in the front and one in the back.

David Sevor gets his 1994 Cutlass Supreme convertible ready for the crowd. Sevor, a retired Holley police officer, bought the car in Michigan six years ago. The car gets many admirers during the cruise-ins.

“I don’t think you’ll find another car like it,” he said. “I like to be different.”

There are Cutlass Supreme cars at the cruise-ins, but Sevor said his car is unusual in being a convertible.

He has been to 25 cruise-ins so far this year. He loves the setting on a vibrant Main Street in Medina.

“It’s amazing what they’ve done here in Medina,” he said.

A 1972 Gran Torino Sport drew many onlookers to see the car up close.

Terry Buchwald arrived on Main Street in a motorcycle. He slowly made his way past the cars and people to his spot on the stage. Buchwald has been performing at the Super Cruise for several years.

The event caps off the cruise-in season in Medina. The cruises are usually on Friday evenings in the parking lot of the Senior Center on West Avenue.

The line of cars stretched down North Main Street farther than usual.

This 1973 Dodge – Andy’s Dream Machine – is owned by Andrea Wells of Albion.

Terry Buchwald told the crowd he was impressed by so many well cared for classic cars.

Photo by Assemblyman Steve Hawley: The site of a former farm field in Elba, which once produced large amounts of crops, is now a parking area where a developer plans to install industrial-grade solar panels throughout the rest of the property.

Press Release, Assemblyman Steve Hawley

Assemblyman Steve Hawley (R,C-Batavia) recently sent a letter to Gov. Kathy Hochul urging her administration to halt two large-scale solar projects underway in Genesee County.

Hawley voiced strong opposition to the $950 million Cider Solar project and the $345 million Excelsior Solar project, both of which would consume nearly 6,000 acres of productive farmland. He noted that Genesee County is one of New York’s leading agricultural regions, yet the state has seen alarming losses in recent years. Between 2021 and 2022 alone, New York lost 14% of its farms and more than 9% of its farmland.

“While farmers across Western New York are struggling to keep the lights on, Gov. Hochul is busy taking away thousands of acres of vital farmlands to advance her radical climate agenda,” Hawley said.

As part of his letter, Hawley invited Gov. Hochul and members of her administration to visit his district, which overlaps with part of her former congressional district, to hear directly from local residents whose livelihoods are at risk.

 “My colleagues and I have spent decades fighting in Albany to make sure local agriculture is not left behind,” Hawley said. “Now, this administration is forcing taxpayers to foot the bill while they bulldoze and pave over the lifeblood of so many families and small businesses. Western New Yorkers are tired of politicians who’ve never stepped foot on a farm making policy for agriculture. It’s time for Gov. Hochul to put the shovel down and start protecting our farms, not putting them out of business.”

Museum embraces light show that mimics Northern Lights

Photos by Ginny Kropf: Professor Michael Richmond showed this photo of an aurora borealis during his talk on auroras at the Oak Orchard Lighthouse’s annual fundraiser at Carlton United Methodist Church.

Chris Manaseri, president of the Oak Orchard Lighthouse board, welcomes guests to a dessert buffet and special program at the Carlton United Methodist Church to benefit the lighthouse.

CARLTON – The Oak Orchard Lighthouse held its annual fundraiser Saturday night at the Carlton United Methodist Church on Archbald Road.

The event featured the usual dessert buffet, as well as guest speaker, Michael Richmond, professor of physics and astronomy at RIT, who also runs the RIT observatory.

Richmond, who has taught at RIT since 1997, earned his bachelor’s degree in astrophysical sciences at Princeton and a Ph.D in astronomy at the University of California at Berkeley. His program was chosen because of the recent installation of aurora-like lights on the lighthouse.

Richmond said most of the continental United States doesn’t see auroras as clearly or often as Point Breeze does. He explained it takes gas, solar wind and a strong magnetic field to create an aurora. He also said earth is not the only planet to have auroras.

He passed out special glasses for the audience to wear to determine the color of gases in an aurora, which then determines the kind of gas it contains.

Lighthouse board president Chris Manaseri welcomed guests and introduced Dave Giacherio, who with his wife Cheryl was instrumental in acquiring a grant for the aurora-like light show recently installed at the lighthouse.

“The aurora over the lighthouse was accomplished by the cooperation of the entire community,” Giacherio said. “Chris negotiated with New York State and helped dig the holes in the stone around the lighthouse.”

He also acknowledged Peg Wiley, who was in attendance, and the late Dick Anderson for their initial efforts to build a lighthouse and for maintaining their support.

Wiley said she was particularly interested in the evening’s program, as her father-in-law Robert S. Wiley once built a spectrograph for Bausch and Lomb, where he worked for 55 years. One of the telescopes he worked on has the largest eschelle ever built up to that time and is in a stellar observatory in the Atacama Desert of Chile.

Michael Richmond, professor of physics and astronomy at RIT, shows the audience a device which helps determine the type of gas in an aurora.

Manaseri shared the importance of this fundraising event.

“We still have to pay insurance and upkeep on the property,” he said.

The Oak Orchard Lighthouse Museum is run by a 10-member board with the help of half a dozen docents, Manseri said. The museum is open from 6 to 8 p.m. Fridays, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturdays and from noon to 3 p.m. Sundays from May to October.

The evening’s dessert buffet prepared by board member Larry Grimes featured ambrosia, chocolate cake, carrot cake, pineapple upside down cake, peach cobbler and blueberry cobbler.

The evening concluded with drawings for centerpieces and a 50/50 drawing.

Chad Kenward, Shawn Houseman will serve in roles; Medina could add a third officer

Chad Kenward

MEDINA – The school district has hired two retired police officers to provide a security presence on campus this year.

The Medina Village Board, as part of its budget process last April, voted to end its contract with the school district where two Medina police officers served as a school resource officers.

The school district paid the village $82,500 towards each school resource officer. Village Board members said that didn’t fully cover the full costs of each officer, which Trustee Scott Bieliski said is about $125,000 to $130,000.

The school district has hired retired Medina Police Chief Chad Kenward and retired Brighton police officer Shawn Houseman to serve as school security. They will each be paid $53,000 for full-time work at the district this year. With the costs of insurance, FICA, Medicare, etc., the cost is close to what Medina has been paying per officer, said Dr. Mark Kruzynski, the district superintendent.

Shawn Houseman

The Board of Education may add a third officer during the school year, he said.

Kenward retired as police chief in June 2023. He has served as the school resource officer before during his law enforcement career.

Houseman retired from the Brighton Police Department in 2022 after 26 years in law enforcement. His career also included nearly five years with the Medina Police Department and six years as a deputy with the Orleans County Sheriff’s Office.

The two school safety and security officers are authorized by the district to carry a firearm while on school property.