Photos by Tom Rivers

ALBION – There was big turnout today with the return of the household hazardous waste collection. Last year’s event was cancelled due to Covid-19 restrictions. This year the county quickly had all 320 slots filled with at least another 100 calling for an appointment.

The top photo shows employees with Environmental Enterprises in Cincinnati collecting the household hazardous waste, where many of the fluids will be emptied into large drums to be hauled away. The is free to Orleans County residents.

This photo shows Matt Herman of the Orleans County DPW dumping tires into the pile by the DPW garage on West Academy Street in Albion. The big pile is expected to be removed next week by Modern Disposal.

The county accepted at least 1,200 tires. Residents were limited to 10 tires for the drop-off today. The county added tires to the annual household hazardous collection event in 2019 and received about 1,000 two years ago.

Tyler Jurs and other DPW workers unload a truck full of tires. The tires needed to be rimless. Only non-commercial and non-farm tires were accepted today. Jurs was joined by Paul Gray, Greg Lane and Matt Herman in unloading the tires today.

Paul Gray, a long-time DPW employee, said he is seeing far fewer tires along roadsides and other household hazardous waste since the county started the collections.

Gray said that also includes fewer computer monitors and TVs since collection points were set up by the county. Local DPW and highway crews frequently were hauling those items out of ditches and fields.

“There is much less discarded by the roads now,” Gray said.

Jim Bensley, the county’s director of planning and development, carries one of the tanks dropped off today. He said the big turnout today has county officials looking at a bigger event next year, with either more slots for residents in one or two different days.

Environmental Enterprises, the company doing the collection, is booked up for the rest of the year and isn’t available for another event in Orleans County in 2021.

Bensley said there was pent-up demand for today’s collection with many people cleaning out garages and houses during the pandemic. He also thinks the home sale transactions prompted many people to clear out basements and buildings.

Corey Winters, a planner with the county, carries propane tanks. There were 349 empty propane tanks collected in August 2019 at the last household hazard waste collection event in Orleans County.

Anitrice Bennett from the County Planning and Development Department checks in a resident for today’s household hazardous waste collection on West Academy Street.

The event allows residents to dispose of tires, propane tanks, auto/marine batteries and other hazardous household waste in a safe and environmentally responsible manner. Some of the items include oil-based paints, solvents, adhesives & resins, aerosols, motor oil & filters, pesticides, acids, fluorescent bulbs, corrosives, household batteries and antifreeze.

The county typically pays Environmental Enterprises about $18,000 to collect and remove the household hazardous waste, with the state then reimbursing the county about half of the costs.

District holding off on decision about masking for students until late August

MEDINA — When students head back to school beginning Sept. 8, there won’t be an option for remote education in the 2021-22 school year, district superintendent Mark Kruzynski said in a letter to the community today.

School will be in-person only and will be full-time, five days a week. In addition, instrumental music, chorus and elementary specials will be full classes, just as before the pandemic, Kruzynski said.

The district, however, is holding off on a decision about students wearing masks. Kruzynski acknowledged it’s a controversial issue for many people.

The American Academy of Pediatrics, the federal Center for Disease Control and state Education Department are all recommending students, teachers and staff wear masks, regardless of vaccination status. The CDC updated its guidance on Aug. 5 and cited the highly contagious Delta variant. The CDC also recommended maintaining at least 3 feet of distance between students.

Lt. Gov. Kathy Hochul will take over as governor following Andrew Cuomo’s resignation on Aug. 24. She said on Thursday she anticipates the state will issue a masking mandate for students.

“Whether those masking mandates are universal or based on community transmission levels remains unclear at this point,” Kruzynski said in his letter.

The district will wait until the end of August to make a decision about masks when it’s clear what will be required from the new Hochul administration.

“Quite simply, there is no reason to put out masking regulations today if things might have to change before school starts on Sept., 8, 2021,” Kruzynski wrote.

The district superintendent said it remains the district’s “number one priority” to have students back in school safely, in person, every day.

Carl Heastie, speaker of the State Assembly, announced today that the Assembly will be suspending its impeachment investigation of Gov. Andrew Cuomo.

“There are two reasons for this decision,” Heastie said. “First, the purpose of the Assembly Judiciary Committee’s impeachment investigation was to determine whether Governor Cuomo should remain in office. The governor’s resignation answers that directive. Second, we have been advised by Chair Lavine – with the assistance of counsel – of the belief that the constitution does not authorize the legislature to impeach and remove an elected official who is no longer in office.”

Local state legislators responded with anger that the impeachment investigation was dropped by Heastie. Cuomo announced on Tuesday he will be resigned on Aug. 24 after an attorney general’s investigation revealed he sexually harassed 11 women, including employees in his office.

Heastie said an Assembly committee uncovered evidence of Cuomo’s sexually harassment and misconduct, as well as “the misuse of state resources in relation to the publication of the governor’s memoir as well as improper and misleading disclosure of nursing home data during the COVID-19 pandemic.”

Heastie said the evidence “could likely have resulted in articles of impeachment had he not resigned.”

He said the attorney general is investigating issues concerning the governor’s memoir. The Eastern District of the United States attorney has been investigating the administration’s actions concerning nursing home data. And, Heastie said, there are active investigations over Cuomo’s alleged sexual harassment by local law enforcement authorities in five jurisdictions – Manhattan, Albany, Westchester, Nassau and Oswego.

“This has been a tragic chapter in our state’s history,” Heastie said. “The people of this great state expect and deserve a government they can count on to always have their best interests in mind. Our government should always operate in a transparent, safe and honest manner. These principles have and always will be the Assembly Majority’s commitment to all New Yorkers.”

Haestie’s statement drew strong rebuttals from the local state legislators.

“I am outraged by the Speaker’s decision to shut down the impeachment investigation of the Governor!” Assemblyman Mike Norris, R-Lockport, said in a statement. “The public should also be outraged! The public deserves accountability and transparency and has a right to know the facts uncovered during the Judiciary Committee’s investigation. I call upon the Committee to continue its work and release its findings to the public.”

Assemblyman Steve Hawley, R-Batavia, issued this statement: “Impartial justice is a founding principle of our constitutional republic, and nobody should be above the law. Our public officials should be held to the highest standards possible, and by ending this impeachment investigation the speaker has denied justice to the people of this state and allowed potentially illegal acts to be swept under the rug.”

State Senate Republican Leader Rob Ortt of North Tonawanda issued this statement: “The decision from Assembly Democrats to suspend the impeachment investigation reeks of a shady deal to protect Andrew Cuomo.

“At any point in the last six months, Democrats could have impeached our now disgraced Governor – but that would’ve required courage. Instead, they stalled and bought Andrew Cuomo all the time in the world, while they wasted millions of taxpayer dollars on their sham investigation.

“Resignation is not accountability. The Democrats not only failed in their constitutional responsibilities – they failed the Governor’s countless victims in nursing homes, brave women who came forward to tell their stories, and those who believe in honest and transparent government.”

Ortt issued another statement this afternoon urging the Assembly Judiciary Committee to publish the Judiciary Committee’s findings of the investigation into Cuomo.

Press Release, Orleans County Chief Administrative Officer Jack Welch

HOLLEY – We are fortunate to have a countywide solid waste program for all of our residents. We attempt to provide this service to all residents who reside on our town roads, county roads, state roads and even fire lanes.

We work with Modern Disposal Services to ensure that their commercial equipment may safely and efficiently service our community. However, today’s collection may be delayed until Saturday.

The routes affected include the Village of Holley, Route 31, Fancher Road, Hulberton Road and North Main Street from Holley to Route 104.

“We apologize for any inconvenience this creates for our residents along the affected routes,” said Jack Welch, Orleans County chief administrative officer. “If these residents leave out their solid waste, Modern Disposal should have your items collected first thing tomorrow.”

Woman allegedly refused to leave vehicle in incident that shut down traffic on section of 98 last night

Provided photos from Orleans County Sheriff’s Office: A SWAT vehicle was brought to the scene when a woman refused to exit a stolen vehicle in Carlton last night.

CARLTON – A Rochester woman is facing multiple charges after allegedly taking a stolen car and refusing to exit the vehicle when she was stopped by deputies on Route 98 in Carlton.

Law enforcement brought in a SWAT vehicle and SWAT team when the woman refused to leave the vehicle after an hour and half.

Qyashitee M. Davis, 45, of Frost Avenue in Rochester eventually did leave the car after a soft foam-tipped projectile was used to break out a rear side window in anticipation of using pepper gas. Davis then began following commands from law enforcement and was taken into custody without any gas being used. There weren’t any injuries to any officer or to Davis, said Orleans County Sheriff Chris Bourke.

The incident had Route 98 between Park Avenue and Waterport-Carlton Road closed for nearly three hours until almost 11 p.m.

The Orleans County Sheriff’s 911 Center received a call from B&D Creekside Grocery on Roosevelt Highway in the Town of Carlton of a suspicious female at 8:05 p.m. The woman reportedly purchased $5 dollars in gas and left the premises, then came back in the store and used a credit card to purchase $192 in merchandise, Bourke said.

The woman then left again and returned to the store and purchased an additional $494 in merchandise and cigarettes. She produced a driver’s license that was obviously from another woman, the sheriff said in a news release.

Sheriff Chris Bourke checks a vehicle where a window was broken with a foam-tipped projectile. Law enforcement was prepared to use pepper spray but the driver opened the door and got out.

Davis then left east bound on Roosevelt Highway in a 2014 BMW. Deputies and Sheriff’s dispatchers were able to determine that the BMW had been stolen earlier in the day from the City of Rochester, Bourke said.

Deputy Brian Marsceill and Deputy James White intercepted the vehicle traveling south on State Route 98 in the Town of Carlton and conducted a felony stop of the vehicle. Multiple other law enforcement units arrived at the scene.

Davis, however, refused to exit the vehicle until after about two hours.

She has been charged with criminal possession of stolen property (vehicle) felony, criminal impersonation, obstructing governmental administration in the 2^nd degree, criminal possession of stolen property in 4th degree (credit card), petit larceny, and resisting arrest.

Deputies also determined that there was a warrant for Davis’s arrest from the City of Rochester. Davis had allegedly stolen this vehicle from a nursing home in Rochester. Police had been called on her for allegedly attempting to stab someone at the nursing home, Bourke said.

Due to the state’s new bail laws, Davis was released from sheriff’s custody on appearance tickets. Davis was turned over to Rochester Police on the warrant. She is scheduled to return to Carlton Town Court at 6:30 p.m. on Aug. 30.

“It was a standoff with an uncooperative person,” Bourke said. “We made a plan, and executed the plan perfectly which resulted in the suspect being taken into custody without injury and no injury to law enforcement. We took our time and brought this incident to a peaceful resolution.”

Town of Albion has biggest drop at 9.8% among 10 towns

The new data from the U.S. Census Bureau on the 2020 count shows that every town and village in Orleans County experienced population loss from 2010, except for the Town of Yates.

Countywide the population is down 5.9 percent, or by 2,540 people from 42,883 in 2010 to 40,343 in 2020. That percent decline is the steepest of all counties in Western New York.

The data from the Census Bureau shows a population drop in nearly every Orleans County municipality with Albion experiencing the biggest loss at 9.8 percent. Yates avoided a loss in residents, but just barely. The town grew by 8 people or by 0.3 percent.

TOWNS – The population changes for 10 towns includes:

• Albion – 7,639 in 2020, down 829 or 9.8% from the 8,468 in 2010
• Barre – 1,843 in 2020, down 182 or 9.0% from 2,025 in 2010
• Carlton – 2,835 in 2020, down 159 or 5.3% from 2,994 in 2010
• Clarendon – 3,315 in 2020, down 333 or 9.1% from 3,648 in 2010
• Gaines – 3,226 in 2020, down from 152 or 4.5% 3,378 in 2010
• Kendall – 2,617 in 2020, down 107 or 3.9% from 2,724 in 2010
• Murray – 4,796 in 2020, down 192 or 3.8% from 4,988 in 2010
• Ridgeway – 6,598 in 2020, down 182 or 2.7% from 6,780 in 2010
• Shelby – 4,907 in 2020, down 412 or 7.7% from 5,319 in 2010
• Yates – 2,567 in 2020, up by 8 or 0.3% from 2,559 in 2010
• Orleans County – 40,343, down 2,540 or 5.9% from the 42,883 in 2010

VILLAGES – The four villages all are down in population but the percent decline was the lowest in Medina. In 2010, Albion with 6,056 people and Medina with 6,065 were nearly identical in population. Now Medina has nearly 400 more residents – 6,047 compared to 5,637.

Here are the changes in population from in the four Orleans County villages:

• Albion – 5,637 in 2020, down 419 or 6.9% from 6,056 in 2010
• Holley – 1,754 in 2020, down 57 or 3.2% from 1,811 in 2010
• Lyndonville – 771 in 2020, down 67 or 8.0% from 838 in 2010
• Medina – 6,047 in 2020, down 18 or 0.3% from 6,065 in 2010

The percentage of population loss was nearly double in central Orleans County (7.8 percent) compared to the western end with 4.0 percent decline, with eastern Orleans down by 5.6 percent.

• Central Orleans (Albion, Barre, Carlton and Gaines) – down 7.8 percent from 16,865 to 15,543 or by 1,322
• Eastern Orleans (Clarendon, Kendall and Murray) – down 5.6 percent from 11,360 to 10,728 or by 632
• Western Orleans (Shelby, Ridgeway and Yates) – down 4.0 percent from 14,658 to 14,072 or by 586

Photos by Ginny Kropf: Ethan Poler, right, and his dad Jim Poler stand in front of the former O’Brien’s at 610 Main St. in Medina.

MEDINA – A historic building on Medina’s Main Street, which has been a favorite gathering place for locals for more than a century, will reopen Monday with a new look and a new name.

The former O’Brien’s has been purchased and remodeled by Ethan Poler and his dad Jim. It will open at 11 a.m. Monday as Poler’s Pub.

Built in 1902 for Edward Kelly, the building at 610 Main St. has had several names, but it has always been a bar, according to information in a book, Medina Through Time, by Frederick Fierch of Middleport.

By the 1930s it was known as O’Brien and Kelly, run by Francis O’Brien and John Kelly, and later as the Marble Grill. It appears there was a period when there were two businesses there, as there are pictures of the Horseshoe Grill painted on the north window of the building.

Ethan, who was working for All Metal Works in Gasport designing steel structures, has wanted to open his own business for quite a while.

“Back when I was in the Army I told my buddies I was going to open a bar,” Ethan said. “I really wasn’t serious, but now it’s actually going to happen.”

He and his father had been looking at several different places last fall when Ethan drove by 610 Main St. and saw the “For sale” sign on the building.

After contacting the owner, they struck a deal and began to plan their renovations.

The bar was all green inside, even with green carpet around the bar, said Ethan’s uncle John Poler. There was a “box” on the ceiling above the bar, and when they tore it out a bone-handled barber’s straight razor fell out.

Ethan Poler stands under a new sign in Poler’s Pub.

Behind the draft cooler, they found a yellowed envelope addressed to O’Brien and Kelly with war posters of Allied adversaries – Hitler, Mussolini and Yamamoto. When the Polers took down a beam, a horseshoe fell out, no doubt from the days when the Horseshoe Bar was on the north end of the building. In the basement they found the rusted cash register which is in a picture of O’Brien when he opened his business there in the early 1900s.

For months now, the Polers, with help from family and friends, have been remodeling the interior. They tore out partitions to make a larger kitchen, painted the original wainscoting, took the carpet off the bar, painted the exterior and hired a contractor to wrap all the dormers in aluminum. A fenced-in area will provide seating at umbrella tables.

“We saved a lot of money by doing the work ourselves,” John said.

He and his uncle John have been there almost every day, and Jim, who still works as used car manager for Hartway Motors, is there as much as he can.

They have installed three 70-inch TVs, an electronic dart machine, jukebox and ATM.

At first, they will offer a limited menu of pub food, in addition to beer and mixed drinks, but may expand the menu as time goes on. They are also thinking about the possibility of starting a dart league.

Poler’s Pub is scheduled to open on Monday. Hours will be 11 a.m. to 2 a.m. seven days a week, but that could change, Ethan said.

Press Release, Genesee and Orleans County Health Departments

Do you know a dad that has been in a public place with their baby and unable to find a changing table inside the men’s restroom?

Changing table inequalities have been in existence for years. In 2018, they came to the forefront when a father from Florida posted a picture on social media showing that he had to squat and change his son’s diapers on his lap because there wasn’t a changing table available in the men’s restroom.

A nationwide survey found that 9 out of 10 dads have gone into a public restroom unable to find a changing table. As a result, Pampers created the “Love the Change” campaign to provide changing tables to businesses and not-for-profits across the United States to install in men’s restrooms. Pampers has already donated 3,557 changing tables, but they are pledging to donate 1,000 more by the end of 2021.

The Genesee and Orleans County Health Departments (GO Health) are collaborating with Pampers to identify local businesses and not-for-profits throughout Genesee and Orleans counties that would be interested in receiving a changing table for their men’s restroom. This is 100 percent free of charge and the only requirement is that businesses install their own changing table.

If you are a not-for-profit or business owner that is interested in receiving a changing table for your men’s room, please contact the Genesee County Health Department by calling 585-344-2580 ext. 5578 or emailing Kayla.Shuknecht@co.genesee.ny.us.

Orleans has gone from 3 cases on Aug. 2 to 46 on Aug. 12

The number of active Covid-19 cases continues to rise locally after there were nearly no cases about a month ago.

Orleans County had 46 active cases on Thursday and Genesee was at 26 for a total of 72 in the two counties. On July 8, there was only 1 active case in both counties (in Orleans), according to data from the Genesee and Orleans County Health Departments.

In an update on Thursday, the Health Departments said there are 27 new positive cases of Covid in Orleans since Monday, and those individuals are in the age groups of 0-19, 20s, 30s, 40s, 50s, 60s and 70s.

One resident from Orleans is hospitalized due to Covid. Orleans also is reporting 7 more of the previous positive individuals completed their 10-day isolation and have been removed from mandatory isolation and are no longer active cases.

In Genesee, there are 18 new cases since Monday. The individuals are in the age groups of 0-19, 20s, 30s, 40s, 50s, 60s, 70s and 80s.

There are 2 from Genesee currently hospitalized due to Covid. Genesee also is reporting 11 more of the previous positive individuals have completed their 10-day isolation and have been removed from mandatory isolation and are no longer active cases.

The federal CDC currently has Orleans County considered to have “substantial level of community transmission” while Genesee is at the lower moderate level.

Monroe County has been elevated to “high” rates of transmission, a level above Orleans.

Julie Christensen will retire Dec. 31; Kendall seeks community input in picking next superintendent

Photos by Tom Rivers: Julie Christensen, the Kendall school district superintendent, speaks during commencement on June 26, 2020, which was held outside at the Kendall Fire Department grounds. Being outside in a drive-in setup was a way for the class to be together for graduation with attendance restrictions limited to 150 people although each vehicle counted as one person each the group stayed at the truck or car.

KENDALL – Julie Christensen, Kendall’s school superintendent for 14 years, has announced her plans to retire on Dec. 31.

She has led the district through $40 million of capital construction projects in the past decade, as well as lofty academic standing. Kendall is routinely recognized by the U.S. News and World Report for its academic performance and the district typically has a 100 percent graduation rate.

Christensen joined Kendall in 2007 after working as assistant superintendent for administration and personnel at Gates Chili Central School.

“It’s been a wonderful community,” Christensen said. “I feel good about what we’ve achieved. We have awesome students and a great staff, and a great community.”

Christensen’s three children all graduated from Kendall. Her oldest son was a freshman when the family moved to Kendall and Christensen said her son was quickly welcomed by his classmates when he was the “new kid.”

That friendly and caring community is part of the Kendall culture of valuing everybody, she said.

“At the end of the day it’s all about kids first,” she said. “This is a very welcoming at district. My kids felt that.”

She said the smaller school environment makes it easier for administrators and teachers to be creative and implement new programs. She cited a new Lego team at the elementary level that programs Legos for tasks and other STEAM programs.

Members of the Kendall Board of Education are pictured with district superintendent Julie Christensen, third from left, on Oct. 14, 2014 behind the existing cafeteria, where a new one will be built. The board members include, from left: Martin Goodenbery, Vice President Chris Gerken, President Nadine Hanlon, Chaley Swift and Charles Patt.

The school leaders celebrated the ground-breaking for a $25 million construction project for an array of improvements at both the elementary school and junior-senior high school building. The project includes new roofs for both school buildings, as well as energy efficient improvements, heating and ventilation work, and updated security measures. Both sites will also see improvements to parking lots and sidewalks.

The junior-senior high school was built in 1971 in an “open classroom” model that didn’t include contained classrooms. The capital project gave all the classrooms four walls and their own door.

Provided photo: This photo from July 2016 shows employees for the Elmer W. Davis of Rochester tearing off the roof of the Kendall Jr./Sr. High School. The building’s front entrance was given a radical new look over that summer.

One of Kendall’s capital project included a dramatic change to the exterior and front entrance of the Kendall Jr./Sr. High School as well as many interior upgrades.

“We’ve totally transformed both buildings, and all the fields,” Chrstensen said about the capital projects. “It will great instructional space for years to come.”

Lisa Levett, president of the Kendall Board of Education, issued this statement on behalf of the board:

“During Julie’s years at KCS, her commitment to the academic success of students led to high graduation rates and test scores, as well as the implementation of one-to-one devices for kindergarten through grade 12 and a ranking among the top seven percent of schools nationally.

“Her leadership advocating for student excellence kept our schools open five days a week during the 2020-21 school year. She led us through two beautiful state-of-the-art capital projects and many extracurricular program accomplishments. We are thankful for her knowledge and dedication to the success and continued development of KCS. Congratulations and best wishes to Julie in the next chapter of her life.”

Former Kendall Board of Education President Nadine Hanlon, left, smiles with Julie Christensen, school district superintendent, after the Board of Education accepted seven different construction bids on Sept. 24, 2014 for upgrades to the elementary and junior-senior high school. Those bids totaled $16.4 million.

Hanlon was the BOE president for seven years until her term expired June 30, 2020.

“Julie did a great job for the district she was very conscientious to provide quality education on the taxpayers’ budget,” Hanlon said. “She led the teachers and staff in providing a quality education.”

She said Christensen supported bringing in more resources for students, including mental health professionals and a school resource officer.

“People want to come to Kendall schools,” Hanlon said. “We have great graduation rates and Regents scores. She has been a great leader of all the staff.”

Kendall is working with Monroe 2-Orleans BOCES 2 District Superintendent Jo Anne Antonacci to pick the next superintendent.

A survey has been mailed to district residents and also is available online to assist the search committee in picking Kendall’s next superintendent. Click here to see the survey.

Some of the questions asked include:

• What are the three most essential considerations regarding experience and background in hiring the next Kendall Central School District superintendent?
• What are the three most essential personal/professional characteristics that should be sought?
• In your opinion, what is the single greatest need for the Kendall Central School District right now?
• In your opinion, what is the single greatest need for the Kendall Central School District in the next three to five years?
• What is it about Kendall Central School District that makes you the most proud?

The Monroe 2-Orleans BOCES website will provide updates about the search process, including future forums to meet the finalists. Those forms are tentatively planned for Oct. 21, 27 and 28. The goal is to have the next superintendent begin on Jan. 1, 2022.

Click here to see the section on the BOCES website about the Kendall superintendent search.

‘I would gladly give up all of my interest in a rocket to the moon to go back again to 1910 and ride once more behind that old horse in the dust of the Fair Haven Road.’

By Doug Farley, Cobblestone Museum Director – Vol. 2 No. 31

Sanford B. Church, family photo

GAINES – The Hamlet of Childs was by its very location, front and center, during the celebration of the Sesquicentennial of the Town of Gaines in 1959.  The milestone of the passage of 150 years of time from 1809-1959 was indeed cause for celebration amongst locals and onlookers, alike.  As part of the Sesqui, a 32-page publication was produced that talked about the overall history of the town and reflected on many of the changes that have taken place in the town over the years.

This week’s installment of “Historic Childs” takes a look at an article that was included in the Sesquicentennial publication that featured the reflections of one of its citizens, Sanford B. Church (1904-1976).  In his lifetime, Mr. Church practiced law for 40 years and was a founding director of Albion Federal Savings and Loan Association.

He was the owner of the Orleans Republican newspaper, a member of Christ Episcopal Church and Renovations Lodge of Masons. Mr. Church was also the grandfather of current Orleans County Judge Sanford A. Church. The photos included this week were not part of the original essay, but have been included to bring additional understanding to Mr. Church’s remarks.

“Requiescat (Prayer) in Limbo,” by Sanford B. Church, 1959.

This is a chronicle, of sorts, designed with the intention of recalling to the minds of those who read it, some of the customs, practices, institutions which have ceased to be a part of our way of life here in the Town of Gaines during the past fifty years. “Limbo’, according to Webster, is a place or condition of neglect or oblivion, and it is into oblivion that many things we have all known well have passed since 1909. While the loss of some of these causes us no regret, others give a nostalgic tug at our heartstrings and bring back fond memories of a bygone era.

Thompson Farm, Ridge Road, Gaines, late 1800s, showing unpaved Ridge Road. Paving of Ridge Road was not complete until the 1920s.

First and foremost on my list is the passing (or almost) of the dirt road in our town. Certainly, with one exception I can think of, the dirt road as it was fifty years ago has completely ceased to exist. Frankly, I’m sorry. While the modern highways bearing their streams of automobiles from farms to town and maybe still farther away, are an essential part of our current way of life, the little dirt road had a definite charm of its own, and I have always had a special fondness for it in my heart.

In this connection, it is interesting to note that the end of the era of the dirt road was just beginning in Gaines fifty years ago right now. In 1908 the “macadam” road to Gaines was built, and two years later the blacktop road to Fair Haven and beyond was under construction.

Democrat Wagon from Coloney Farm, Gaines Centennial Parade, 1909

Although I was pretty small back in those days, I can well remember coming home from Oak Orchard in my father’s ‘‘democrat wagon’’ (I suppose it was the station wagon of the time) on a summer’s evening in 1910. At that time there was a large camp for the road workers, and as I recall it was on the west side of the Oak Orchard Road, about a half mile north of the Ridge.

I remember it was dusk, and as the horse plowed his way through the dust, the men were singing and the darkness sparkled with their little fires. In point of time, it was a long drive from Albion to the lake in those days, and many is the buckboard, buggy or democrat we passed on the way, to say nothing of an occasional surrey or phaeton, or a farm wagon creaking and groaning under its load of hay or grain. Such vehicles as these are all gone, so long gone, in fact, that I was startled to see a manure spreader recently on the road not far from Fair Haven (Childs, if you like) drawn by a team of brown horses.

Erie Canal towpath, Gaines Basin, c. 1900 before Barge Canal expansion

Well do I remember blacksmith shops (Joe Vagg’s was the last one to go in Gaines, wasn’t it?). Clure White and his fabulous pond full of goldfish, the old stone mill north of Eagle Harbor, the golf course and country club north of Eagle Harbor, which has both come and gone within this half-century, the towpath along the Erie Canal, the machine shop (maybe you know what work was done there; I don’t) in the rear of the Bacon house in the triangle at Five Corners, the East Gaines store (at the corner of the Kent Road and the Ridge – a vacant lot now), the Congregational Church at Gaines which burned in 1950, Huskin’ Bees, Bees to clear out the drifted roads in winter, and many, many other pleasant, friendly, everyday things.

Traction Engine, Maple Lawn Farm, Childs, early 1900s.  Note the belt driven power system extending from the engine into the barn.

I can’t remember back to the old, old threshing machine which was propelled by horsepower, and any way that’s back before 1909.  But I can distinctly recall the so-called old-fashioned threshing machine, drawn and propelled by a great, smoke-spouting steam “traction engine” which is gone from these parts (although it is in common use in New England, parts of Pennsylvania, and even in other parts of this state).

Almost as good as the arrival of a circus, was the advent of the threshers with their fascinating equipment on a hot summer’s morning. As a child I’ve stood many times in front of the farmhouse where Dan Bolger and his family lived, and seen the men set up the machine, connect the great belt to the traction engine, and bring the wagons loaded with wheat into line. Presently the engine would he belching smoke higher than the barn, the huge spout of the threshing machine would he spewing out straw in a never-ending stream, and the golden grain would run out into the waiting sacks.

Straw stack, Coloney Farm, Childs, c. 1900.

At noon, the activity would suddenly cease, and after a hasty cleaning-up session, the threshers would crowd about the tables to consume the meal the women had prepared. Then, afterwards, the threshing went on all the afternoon, until all the wheat was threshed, the straw stack was two stories high, and the wheat was sacked and ready for market. It was always an eventful day, an interesting and enthralling sight at the time, and a pleasant memory now.

Windmills exist no longer in Gaines, as far as I know. At least, there are no working ones. But they are by no means totally extinct. There are some still in use in this county, and still more in parts of Genesee and Wyoming. Down in the central part of the state, and in parts of New England, they are very common. For those of you who are doubting Thomases, I respectfully refer you to a brand new aluminum one a half-mile east of Navarino on U. S. 20 (south of Syracuse).

George B. LaMont, horse drawn binder, c. 1930.

To the best of my knowledge, no horse-drawn farm tools are in use in the Town. But, like windmills, they are much in use elsewhere for instance, in eastern Pennsylvania and New England. Likewise with the ‘‘little red schoolhouse.”  If you are lonesome for these relics of our youth here in this land of the centralized school of university proportions, go to rural New England. There you will find all of them your heart desires (and without swimming pools!).

One of my informants has assured me that there are no outside privies remaining in Gaines, but I can assure him that he’s wrong. While they are on the wane, they definitely are still very much with us, and I have an idea that they will be for a long, long time to come. But hitching posts (except for ornamentation) are a thing of the past, along with dry houses and evaporators.

Picking and sorting apples in 1904, LaMont Farm, note use of barrels for storage and shipping.

In my opinion, the cooper shop is deserving of a memorial from the apple growers of the past in Gaines, because the heyday of the barrel was also the heyday of the apple industry in all of this area. In the early part of this century the crop was usually good, and there was an ever-ready seller’s market, particularly overseas. Am I not correct that many of the fine, old homes of Gaines owe their existence to the fact that around 1900 apples were selling at $14 a barrel in foreign ports, notably in the free port of Hamburg.

Gaines Sesquicentennial Parade float from Coloney Farms, 1909

And what about circuses and the thrilling parades which always preceded them? And don’t tell me there have been no circuses or circus parades in the Town of Gaines since 1909, because I know better. I’ve watched many a parade go past mv house headed north, turn about (with considerable difficulty) at North Street, and head back up Main Street, with bands playing, flags flying and elephants joined tail-by-trunk in a long line.

Calliope as seen at Krull Park, Olcott NY, July 2021.

Perhaps the most thrilling part of the parade (to me, at any rate) was the steam calliope, and I can well remember one in particular, which was huge. Of course, as always, it brought up the rear of the parade, and was giving out great clouds of steam all along the route. The player sat on a fancy settee which overhung the rear wheels, and as the vehicle passed under the trees in front of what is now the Lions Club house, the steam descended, completely enveloping player, calliope, horses and all.

As for circuses themselves, I can well remember three back on the Church farm, at least one of which was within the past twenty-five years. But they’ve gone now, not only from Gaines, but from almost everywhere and circus parades, I understand, have completely drifted into oblivion, forever obscured from their clouds of steam from their now silent calliopes.

While modern economists tell us it is a good thing, and a sign of progress, the passing of the small farm makes me sad. The little farm, usually a one-man operation or certainly a one-family operation, was for a long, long time the measure of the American way of life. For generations the families which worked these small places were the real “grass roots” of the country, and the salt of the earth. It is true that some of these small farms are still with us, but each year a few more of them drift into the limbo of the past, along with the asheries with which Gaines was once so liberally blessed.

Paradise Road, not existing today, as seen on this 1913 map, at one time had two cobblestone homes at its northern terminus, north of Ridge Road. One home was owned by Nahum Anderson, great-great-grandfather of retired Historian Bill Lattin. Bill noted that Nahum said the soil on Paradise Road was so poor that “it was only good to hold the rest of the world together.”

And Paradise! Have you ever been to Paradise while the half-dozen houses were still standing? Back then, there was no need of going to the “wild west” to find a ghost town. We had our own right here in Gaines. Just when it was finally abandoned, I don’t know, but it has completely fallen to pieces in the last half-century, and now consists of stones scattered about the meadow at the end of the old Paradise Road.

Gaines Academy after a third story had been removed 1930s, Courtesy Town of Gaines Historian

So it was, too, with the old Gaines Academy, except that this institution is marked by a State sign on the south side of the Ridge, across from the Town buildings. The Academy building has completely collapsed into rubble during the past fifty years, but it was, I am informed, abandoned long before that.

Harness maker Philo Henry Peters is shown here at the entrance of his harness store in Albion, 1905. A sampling of the numerous types of leather goods he produced is seen in the store windows and also on the life-sized horse mannequin he moved outdoors in fair weather.

Harness shops are gone, kerosene lamps (except in emergencies) are no more, and the gas-light era has long since passed. So with the kind of well with an “old oaken bucket” (there were a lot of them fifty years ago).

Blind Man’s Bluff, Bisque Figurine, circa 1890

And think of the old children’s games, like Blind Man’s Bluff, Cops and Robbers, and the like. And the songs which have come, been sung and loved, and gone…and the dances…and the celebrations…and the weddings…and all of “those we have loved long since and lost awhile.”

When I come to read this over, now that the space allotted to me is exhausted, I realize something I never thought of when I started: This little chronicle is a half-century slice carved out of the life-time in the Town of Gaines, in the County of Orleans, State of New York. It tells of the way of life in this community during the period 1909-1959, and all that is set forth in it is now history – a history which many of us living have helped to shape.

View of Gaines business section looking east along the Ridge Road, 1930s, during the period of recollection by Sanford B. Church.

Progress is wonderful, so I’m told, and we should be duly thankful that we’re living in this modern day and age, with all of its many wonders. Probably this is right, and probably a psychologist would say that I’m simply wishing for my irrevocable youth when I would gladly give up all of my interest in a rocket to the moon, to go back again to 1910 and ride once more behind that old horse in the dust of the Fair Haven Road.

County stays over 40,000 — barely

The U.S. Census Bureau today released population counts for each county in the United States. The data shows a 5.9 percent decline in Orleans County, which was biggest drop among Western New York counties and most in the GLOW region.

Orleans shrunk by 2,540 people in the 10 years, according to the U.S. Census Bureau, dropping from 42,883 in 2010 to 40,343 in 2020.

The county managed to stay above 40,000 people in the census count.

The Orleans County population in recent counts include 42,883 in 2010, 44,171 in 2000, 41,846 in 1990, 38,496 in 1980 and 37,305 in 1970.

The percentage drop from 2010 to 2020 in Orleans County is the most among Western New York counties and the GLOW region. All of those counties declined except Erie and Monroe.

Here is a breakdown of the population changes in WNY and GLOW:

• Genesee, down 2.8 percent from 60,079 in 2010 to 58,388 in 2020
• Livingston, down 5.4 percent from 65,393 in 2010 to 61,834 in 2020
• Orleans, down 5.9 percent from 42,883 in 2010 to 40,343 in 2020
• Wyoming, down 3.9 percent from 42,155 in 2010 to 40,531 in 2020
• Monroe, up 2.0 percent from 744,344 in 2010 to 759,443 in 2020
• Erie, up 3.8 percent, from 919,040 in 2010 to 954,236 to 2020
• Cattaraugus, down 4.1 percent from 80,317 in 2010 to 77,042 in 2020
• Chautauqua, down 5.4 percent from 134,905 in 2010 to 127,657 in 2020

Some counties experienced a bigger population loss, by percentage, than Orleans. They include:

• Schoharie, down 9.3 percent from 32,749 in 2010 to 29,714 in 2020
• Franklin, down 7.8 percent from 51,599 in 2010 to 47,555 in 2020
• Delaware, down 7.7 percent, from 47,980 in 2010 to 44,308 in 2020
• Madison, down 7.4 percent from 73,442 in 2010 to 68,016 in 2020
• Herkimer, down 6.8 percent from 64,519 in 2010 to 60,139 in 2020
• Otsego, down 6.0 percent from 62,259 in 2010 to 58,524 in 2020

By Mike Pettinella, GCASA Publicist

Photo courtesy of GCASA: Jessica Budzinack is GCASA’s parent/family support and project specialist.

The Healthy Moms, Healthy Babies program at Genesee/Orleans Council on Alcoholism and Substance Abuse is making a difference in the lives of women dealing with substance use issues while trying to raise a family, according to Jessica Budzinack, the agency’s parent/family support and project specialist.

“During the past year, we have been able to connect with parents or family members that need individualized support, putting a primary focus on pregnant and post-natal women and women who have children that were exposed to substances in the womb,” Budzinack said.

“Parents in recovery or parents that struggle with addiction have different needs and different barriers that they need to overcome.”

The initiative is supported by the Health Resources and Services Administration of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services as part of a financial assistance awarded totaling $500,000, said Rosalie Mangino-Crandall, GCASA’s director of Project Innovation and Expansion.

Mangino-Crandall said the specific program is funded by an HRSA Rural Communities Opioid Response Program-Neonatal Abstinence Syndrome (RCORP-NAS) grant.

The HRSA RCORP-NAS program places emphasis on pregnant women, mothers, and women of childbearing age who have a history of, or who are at risk for, substance use disorder or opioid use disorder, and their children, families and caregivers.

At GCASA, Healthy Moms, Healthy Babies specifically supports pregnant and post-partum women with substance use disorder and their partners and children as well as anyone caring for a child exposed to substances in the womb.

Services include case management (including connections to treatment, healthcare coordination, and assistance with social determinants of health), parenting peer support, recovery peer support, and transportation and childcare assistance.

Budzinack said the program offers “coach-like peer support to parents and their families.”

“We work with them to overcome obstacles, such as navigating the Family Court system, helping them find extra support for their children and helping them … connect to different organizations or resources that they need to help them be successful parents,” she said. “We also connect them with our Prevention team, which offers active parenting classes and other forms of education.”

She noted that she also has been able to assist mothers with children in foster care.

“We do what we can to help during the process of trying to bring them home. We help them navigate in that area to achieve those goals,” she said.

Healthy Moms, Healthy Babies staff are committed to lifting mothers and children with self-esteem issues as well.

“Another thing that they face is stigma,” Budzinack said. “They kind of feel like the world is shaming them for making that decision. Our job is to make them feel comfortable and responsible, and educate them to the best of our ability. Education is a big thing.”

Mangino-Crandall said the project utilizes the research-based Positive Direction Model created by Dr. Davina Moss-King to help pregnant women prevent and mitigate the effects of substances taken during pregnancy on their babies.

“This includes properly taking prescription medication such as MAT (medically-assisted treatment) medications as well as illicit drugs, alcohol and misused prescription drugs,” she said. “Women who receive medically-assisted treatment have different needs, and there’s much to consider in those cases.”

Budzinack mentioned the high level of uncertainty and fear faced by pregnant women on MAT who have just given birth.

“They have so much to think through,” she said. “How does this affect my pregnancy? What’s going to happen after I have the baby? Just to have someone that they can talk to without judgment, to make sure they know the importance of her health and the health of that child.”

She said she worked with a woman last summer who was pregnant and had two daughters in temporary foster care.

“We helped her to meet the criteria for the Office of Children and Family Services to bring her children back home while she underwent medically-assisted treatment to maintain recovery,” she explained. “Through support of a case manager, participating in The Recovery Station (on Clinton Street Road) and taking advantage of active parenting classes, things are working out for her.”

Budzinack said the woman has made a concerted effort to get her children back and that commitment has paid off. Her baby is going to be a year old in a couple months and both of her older daughters are back home with their mother.

Healthy Moms, Healthy Babies is backed by a consortium that includes the following original partners: Oak Orchard Health, Lake Plains Community Care Network, and Genesee and Orleans County Health Departments.

More recent partners include Oak Orchard WIC (Women, Infants and Children), Genesee and Orleans County Mental Health Departments, United Memorial Medical Center, UMMC Moms Program and Orleans Recovery Hope Begins Here.

For more information or to make a referral, click here or call Budzinack at 585-813-8583.