Press Release, Holley Central School

HOLLEY – Holley Central School students attending kindergarten this fall are invited to attend the Transportation Department’s School Bus Safety Event on Aug. 28 from 9 to 11 a.m. in the Middle School/High School Parking Lot.

Participants will have the opportunity to ride a bus to the Elementary School Parking Lot and rotate through five, 15-minute safety stations. Buses will depart every 15 minutes.

Please RSVP to attend this event by Aug. 20 and select a time for departure (9 a.m., 9:15 a.m., 9:30 a.m., 9:45 a.m. or 10 a.m.) by calling 585-638-6297 or emailing tbeaney@holleycsd.org. Limited space is available, so participants should only bring their kindergarten student to this event.

In the event of severe weather, the event will begin at 1 p.m. on Aug. 28. We will notify registrants of this change.

New sidewalks, exterior lighting, landscaping and cupola work on the docket

Photos by Tom Rivers

ALBION – Workers this morning are up high on the Orleans County Courthouse in Albion, making repairs to the façade trim on the dome.

The county will also be replacing the roof hatch and seal the cupola, said John Papponetti, superintendent of the Orleans County Department of Public Works.

The sealed cupola should stop water from leaking inside. The hatch, which is used for workers to access the cupola and top of the dome has deteriorated.

The workers make a repair to the courthouse dome. The building was constructed in 1858 and is the focal point on the Courthouse Square, which is on the National Register of Historic Places.

The sidewalks and concrete steps have deteriorated and will be replaced. The County Legislature set aside $50,000 last month to replace sidewalks, upgrade landscaping, and relocate existing light fixtures at the Courthouse Square. That work will not begin until the dome and cupola work is completed. Papponetti said the dome/cupola should be done next Friday, Aug. 13.

Some of the large sandstone steps at the courthouse also will be repaired. They are crumbling in spots and don’t withstand salt, Papponetti said. The steps aren’t used that much because the main entrance to the courthouse has shifted to the side facing East Park Street through the County Clerks Building, which is a handicapped accessible entrance.

The big sandstone steps temporarily will be pulled out so there can be an inspection underneath.

“The courthouse is our pride and joy, the center of attention, but it is falling apart,” Papponetti told county, village and town officials during a recent meeting of the Orleans County Association of Municipalities.

Some of the efforts are preventive maintenance, but he said the building needs other attention outside of the immediate projects. He also is concerned about the main second floor courtroom that has cracks in the ceiling and some peeling paint. The large columns out front have cast-iron rings on the bottom that are rusting.

The officers and board members of the Democratic Rural Conference met on Wednesday and are calling on Andrew Cuomo to resign as governor.

“Regrettably, in light of the release of the results of Attorney General Letitia James’ investigation, which found credible and corroborated evidence that the Governor had engaged in pattern of sexual harassment, we the Officers and Board of Directors of the Democratic Rural Conference of New York State, call on Governor Andrew Cuomo to resign immediately,” according to a statement from Judith Hunter of Livingston County, who is chairwoman of the Democratic Rural Conference of NY State.

An investigation into allegations of sexual harassment from the governor concluded he harassed 11 women, and broke and state and federal laws for his actions. Attorney General Letitia James said Cuomo created a “hostile work environment.”

Cuomo has denied the allegations and said the report was full of “bias.” He hasn’t resigned and said he wants to make the state’s recovery from Covid his priority.

The State Assembly, however, is preparing for an impeachment trial.

“It is abundantly clear to me that the Governor has lost the confidence of the Assembly Democratic majority and that he can no longer remain in office,” Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie said in a statement on Wednesday. “Once we receive all relevant documents and evidence from the Attorney General, we will move expeditiously and look to conclude our impeachment investigation as quickly as possible.”

Provided photos: Black Button distillery in Rochester has been a regular at Medina’s Canal Village Farmers’ Market every month all summer.

MEDINA – The Canal Village Farmers’ Market has come a long way since it first opened six years ago.

Like other farmers’ markets everywhere, Medina’s market this week is celebrating National Farmers’ Market Week.

Although struggling through months of uncertainty, farmers’ markets became essential throughout the Covid pandemic, according to Chris Busch, president of the Orleans Renaissance Group, which sponsors the market.

“Now, in 2021, they’re better than ever,” Busch said.

That is the message the Farmers’ Market Federation of New York wants to get out by celebrating National Farmers’ Market Week.

Markets everywhere stayed open throughout the pandemic as an essential source of local, healthy food, and Canal Village Farmers’ Market was no exception, Busch said.  The local market created “meal deals,” which were packages of local products that could be ordered online and picked up via a drive-thru system at the market. Rose and Ken Baker of Baker Farms, along with market manager Gail Miller of Medina, and other CBFM vendors kept the market alive, providing healthy, local food for families’ tables, Busch explained.

“Now that the pandemic restrictions have been lifted, markets are open to all and finding ways to be better than ever,” Busch said.

“People really seem to be grateful for the return of the market,” Miller said. “This year, Canal Village Farmers’ Market has had outstanding vendor participation and record numbers of customers. Our old vendors have returned and new vendors have come on board. While regular and familiar customers have also returned, many new faces are in the mix too – especially young families. It’s been fantastic.”

Dubby’s Wood Fire Pizza made several appearances at Medina’s Canal Village Farmers’ Market this summer. Farmers’ Markets across the country celebrated National Farmers’ Markets Week from Aug. 1 to 7.

After a slow 2019 and 2020, Busch said they are seeing a 65 to 70 percent increase in customer traffic this year.

“Sales are strong with all vendors,” he said. “The increase is tangible and the market is hopping.”

“People are truly enjoying being able to gather Saturday mornings at the market,” Miller said. “Great crowds, outstanding product selection, live music, food trucks, weekly contests for adults an kids are just some of the market events. We absolutely love providing such an outstanding experience for the community every Saturday, and folks seem to be enjoying it.”

New vendors this year include NewHouse Breads, Heartland Organics, HateCuddler Craft Works, HeBrews 5:9 Coffee, Panek’s Pickin’ Patch, Flower Fields Forever, in addition to rotating food trucks, including Dubby’s Wood Fired Pizza, Kaleema’s Creative Foods, Greenlief’s On the Go and El Gran Burrito.

Those who are income-eligible are reminded to get and use SNAP coupons at the market. In addition to those, the market also accepts Double UP Food Bucks, FMNP and Fresh Connect checks. Most of the vendors now accept credit, Venmo and/or PayPal, as well as cash.

The summer market runs from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. every Saturday through October. The winter market will return from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturdays from November through May.

Several new weekly contests have been added this summer, Busch said. “Passport of Prizes” and a kid’s scavenger hunt are two of them.

Cheyenne Farewell

LOCKPORT – A 17-year-old pleaded guilty to second-degree murder in Niagara County Court on Thursday in the shooting death of a Medina woman on Oct. 17.

The teen admitted to firing eight shots at a garage door in Lockport, where about 100 people were having a Halloween party.

The gunfire caused the death of Cheyenne Farwell, 20, of Medina, and injured five other people including two others from Medina.

The 17-year-old shooter will spend a maximum of 20 years to life in prison. He will be sentenced on Sept. 30, according to the Lockport Union Sun & Journal.

A second defendant who is 16 pleaded guilty to first-degree manslaughter and could be sentenced to 5 to 25 years in prison. That teen said he had the gun, but didn’t shoot it. With manslaughter, he admitted to “aiding and abetting” the crimes, the Lockport newspaper reported.

The names of the two defendants are being withheld by the media due to their age and provisions of the Raise the Age Law, which in 2017 raised the age of criminal responsibility to 18 years old. However, 16- and 17-year-olds convicted of serious crimes can be sentenced as adults.

Farewell was a Brockport State College student, where she was studying to become a therapist and writer. She was an advocate for mental health. More than 300 people mourned her death at a vigil on Oct. 18, 2020 at State Street Park in Medina.

Farewell’s mother Rochelle Horner posted on Facebook on Thursday that her daughter received justice with the two teens pleading guilty.

She said the one teen who pleaded guilty to manslaughter showed remorse, while the shooter did not.

“There will be no horrific trial where anyone has to relive that awful night,” Horner said in her post. “Cheyenne may have her justice, but her dad and I and her family and friends still don’t have HER. The kids at that party who were shot or witnessed that nightmare will never be fully okay. But today we were given a gift. Thank you to everyone who has showed us support.”

LYNDONVILLE – The Lyndonville community is welcome to attend an ecumenical service at 4 p.m. on Aug. 14 at the Lyndonville Presbyterian Church, 107 North Main St.

“Many in the village are feeling grief from several years of sadness that has befallen this community,” said Martha Mitchell, pastor of the Lyndonville Presbyterian Church. “We have lost too many to accidents and natural causes.”

Many residents have lost loved ones due to Covid-19, she said.

“Covid also made many elderly or people who live alone feel a real sense of sadness because they were, in fact, even more lonely,” Mitchell said. “Some have lost jobs or have struggled with the effects of having to cope with remote learning for their kids. For whatever reason, the last two years have taken a toll on peoples’ mental health.”

Mitchell will be joined in leading the service by the Rev. Craig Rhodenizer from St. John’s Lutheran Church and Pastor Olga Gonzalez from Lyndonville United Methodist Church.

“It will be non-denominational and just a lovely way to bring everyone together, give them a time to share their grief and to restore hope,” Mitchell said.

The 4 p.m. service also will include information about purchasing a memorial brick at the Yates Community Library as part of a memorial garden at the library.

U.S. Senate Majority Leader Charles Schumer has issued a statement today, praising efforts in Orleans and Niagara to move forward with broadband internet projects.

“After thousands of rural families in Niagara and Orleans struggled for years to secure broadband service, I was proud to secure the breakthrough funding in the American Rescue Plan needed by the counties to connect them to 21st century broadband,” Schumer said. “I’ll continue to fight for broadband funding until every home and business in New York has access.”

The Orleans County Legislature last week voted unanimously to accept a $3,608,435 bid to make high-speed internet available for the current 1,351 address points that can’t connect to the service.

The Niagara County Legislature on Tuesday accepted a $4,286,325 bid to make high-speed internet in unserved areas of the county.

Both counties selected the proposal from RTO Wireless of Wellesley, Mass.

In Orleans, RTO will co-locate their technology on existing county-owned communication towers. Those sites include at the Emergency Management Office on West County House Road in Albion, Route 31A in Clarendon, Maple Ridge Road in Medina, Route 31 in Albion next to Public Safety Building, West Avenue in Lyndonville, Route 237 in Kendall, Route 237 in Holley by the water tank.

Orleans will use some of its American Rescue Plan funds for the project. The Orleans County Legislature in June accepted $3,918,951 from U.S. Department of Treasury, the first half of the American Rescue Plan Act funds for Orleans.

The county will use some of those funds for the broadband project, but also will be seeking other federal grants, including to help some of the homeowners with the hook-up costs for connecting to the technology.

Niagara also is seeking other state and federal funds to help fund the project.

Press Release, Genesee County Health Department

BATAVIA – The Genesee County Health Department is seeking information about the location of a dog and its owners following a dog bite incident on Saturday, July 17, around noon at Home Depot in Batavia (4181 Veterans Memorial Drive).

The dog is described as a small black dog on a leash. The dog’s owners were described as a male and female, approximately 40 years of age or younger. The employee was near register #2 and asked the owners if they could pet their dog. The owners said yes and the dog then bit the employee on their right hand. The owners were aware that the dog had bit the employee and asked if they were OK. The employee indicated that they were OK so the owners and dog proceeded to leave the store.

It is important to locate the dog to determine whether or not it is current on its rabies shot. If the health status is not identified, post-exposure rabies shots will be offered to the victim.

If you have information about the location of the dog and its owner, please contact the Genesee County Health Department at 585-344-2580 ext. 5555.

It is important to remember that dogs may act protective in unknown places and situations, so “love your own…leave the rest alone.” All wild and unknown animals (even dogs and cats) should be avoided whenever possible since the possibility of exposure to rabies can occur anywhere and anytime.

Press Release, Genesee and Orleans County Health Departments

BATAVIA – The Genesee County Health Department will be hosting a free drive-through anti-rabies immunization clinic on Thursday, Aug. 12, from 4 to 7 p.m. at the Genesee County Fairgrounds (5056 East Main Street, Batavia). This event is open to Orleans County residents.

“Animal rabies continues to be a serious public health problem in Genesee County,” said Paul Pettit, public health director in Genesee and Orleans counties. “We remind all residents to make sure that their animals are immunized against rabies and that their vaccinations are kept up to date.”

Vaccinations are free for dogs, cats and ferrets, but voluntary donations are accepted. Animals must be at least 3 months old. Each animal must be leashed or crated and accompanied by an adult who can control the animal. Limit 4 pets per car maximum.

Face coverings are recommended and please follow all social distancing requirements.

To save you time, click here to fill out your registration form in advance. Be sure to print out two copies for each pet to be vaccinated and bring them with you to the clinic.

The next anti-rabies immunization clinic in Genesee County will be held on Sept. 16. For more information, please contact the Genesee County Health Department: 585-344-2580 x.5555 or Health.Dept@co.genesee.ny.us.

“Please take advantage of this opportunity,” Pettit said. “Rabies is a preventable viral disease most often transmitted through the bite of a rabid animal. Please leave wildlife alone and do not feed, touch, or adopt wild animals, stray dogs or cats.”

There were 349 empty propane tanks collected in August 2019 at the last household hazard waste collection event in Orleans County.

ALBION – Last year the household hazardous waste collection event was cancelled due to concerns and restrictions with the Covid-19 pandemic.

The event will be back on Aug. 14 and there are still many slots available. The registration times are from 8 a.m. to noon with 15-minute slots. Each 15-minute time frame includes up to 20 registrants. To register, call the Orleans County Department of Planning and Development at (585) 589-3198.

The event, which is held in several stations at the Orleans County DPW on West Academy Street, 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, Inc. of Cincinnati about $18,000 to collect and remove the household hazardous waste, with the state them reimbursing the county about half of the costs.

Orleans County in 2019 accepted tires for the first time. There was a big response from the public with about 1,000 tires dropped off at by the Orleans County DPW on West Academy Street. The event this time is limiting people to 10 tires. The tires must be rimless. Only non-commercial and non-farm tires are accepted.

The collection event doesn’t include explosives, pressurized tanks, ammunition, PCBs, pathologic waste, infectious waste, radioactive waste, syringes, pharmaceuticals, computers and electronics.

Photos by Ginny Kropf: Card players passed the time with a game of euchre as they waited for lunch at the Medina Senior Center picnic Monday at Junior Wilson Club. Clockwise from left are Lee Smith, Larry Morgott, Kathy Ausman and Yvonne Peters.

Becky Karls from the Orleans County Office for the Aging distributed farmers’ market coupons to those eligible at the senior citizens’ picnic Monday.

MEDINA – Nearly 65 seniors from the Senior Center of Western Orleans enjoyed a catered picnic lunch Monday at Junior Wilson Club.

The day provided an opportunity not only for lunch, but for camaraderie, fun and a game of cards.

Becky Karls with the Orleans County Office for the Aging was there with coupons for farmers’ markets to those who were income eligible.

Highlight of the picnic was an auction of bagged gifts each senior was asked to bring. Billy Martin of Medina volunteered as auctioneer, as seniors bid on their unknown prizes, which included everything from gift cards and candles to playing cards, candy and gags.

Kelly Shaw, director of the Senior Center of Western Orleans, reminded seniors the center is closed Monday and Tuesday during August, but still open for cards from noon to 4 p.m. on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday.

Any interested senior is encouraged to join. Cost for the remainder of 2021 is $5 and a full year’s membership, beginning Jan. 1, is $10.

The center offers exercise from 10 to 11 a.m. Wednesdays and free baked goods on Monday mornings, resuming in September.

Events in the planning include a dinner meeting Sept. 13; a chicken barbecue, eat in or takeout, on Oct. 14; and a basket raffle on Oct. 16. Baskets may be donated any time the center is open. Deadline for donating a basket is Sept. 16.

Seniors line up for lunch at the senior picnic Monday at Junior Wilson Club. From left are Rosemary Eden, Cece Wilson, Marsha Snyder and Sherry Tuohey.

Auctioneer Billy Martin of Medina, left, and Lynn Creasey, president of the board of Senior Center of Western Orleans, auction off brown bags full of surprises at the senior picnic Monday at Junior Wilson Club.

Ten high school seniors in Orleans County were recently selected to receive the first of what will most likely become an annual award from United Way of Orleans County.

Earlier this spring, following a successful year in obtaining grants, the United Way board voted to award $500 scholarships each to two students in each of Orleans County’s five schools.

In July,  the scholarships were awarded to Colburn Spierdowis and Aisha Drisdom at Albion Central School; Andrew Drechsel and Julia Buck at Holley Central School; Ethan Kuhn and Madison Nardi at Kendall Central School; Isaac Becker and Lyndsey Snell at Lyndonville Central School; and Amanda Woodruff and Jacob Velesko at Medina Central School.

“The mission of United Way of Orleans County is be a connector of people, resources, ideas and funding to make our community stronger, and those students reflect and embrace that mission,” said Dean Bellack, executive director of United Way.

Criteria for receiving a scholarship was that each student must be heavily involved in community service and giving back, have good grades (not necessarily straight A’s), and be a good citizen.

“Rather than have students apply to us and we choose recipients, when we don’t know the students, we decided to have the schools pick the candidates,” Bellack said. “United Way is thrilled to be able to reward those who are giving back to their community.”

By Doug Farley, Cobblestone Museum Director – Vol. 2 No. 30

Cary Lattin

GAINES – Most local residents probably don’t remember a time before the Cobblestone Society existed. Nearly everyone in the vicinity can remember a school field trip to the Cobblestone Museum, or has attended an Old Timers Fair or two over the years. But truth be told, there was a definite beginning to the Cobblestone Society and a dedicated team of individuals who created a reality from a dream.

The rest of this article is taken from an interview with Historian Cary Lattin, as shown above, on July 24, 1979, undertaken by Orleans County Historical Association (OCHA) in an effort to record the collective memory of the county’s leading pioneers from the late 19th century and early 20th century. The full audio recording of Mr. Lattin’s interview is available in local libraries and also can be view online using this link.

Forming the Cobblestone Society, as told by Cary Lattin

I’ll try and tell a little bit about the history of the Cobblestone Society, why it was formed and how it was formed during the year 1959, when Gaines had the Sesquicentennial celebration, there was going to be a one day celebration or fair. It took about two months to get ready for this Sesquicentennial celebration.

We wanted to visit the points of interest around the town and we wanted to visit the Cobblestone Church at Childs. We went to the Universalist Board in Albion and asked them if they would open the church for one day so we could see the interior of this beautiful old Cobblestone Church. Two or three of us went down to the church and word came ’round, and we went through the building.

The plaster was bad in the ceiling and it was in kind of rough shape. There were many windows that were broken and the Universalist Board decided that it would be risky to have a bunch of children running around in the church. They might jar some plaster and break somebody’s glasses! So we didn’t have the Church to visit. During the Centennial, and after the Centennial, people commenced to ask, “What’s going to happen to the old church?”

When you tell a damn Yankee that he can’t have something, hell is out for dinner-time. Then they want it! They learned that in Prohibition. When they told the American people they couldn’t have booze, they got booze, one way or another. So, people in the neighborhood were concerned. People in the district were concerned, and in the town. “What’s going to happen to this old beautiful church? We had no organization formed that· could maintain the building or had no Society formed that could operate the thing like it is today.

Bob Frasch, 1961

During the winter of 1959 and 1960, Bob Frasch taught school in Holley, history and English, and he formed a Yorker Club in the Holley High School. One of the projects was to find the cobblestone houses in the Town of Murray and get all the information on these 14 cobblestone houses in Murray. There wasn’t too much information available.

He came into the office when I was County Historian and asked me what I knew about a cobblestone house. I said, “I have lived in on one for about 60 years. And by way of talking about cobblestone buildings, there’s a beautiful church building in Childs.” He said, “Let’s go see it.” So we proceeded to go down to Childs, stopping by Homer Brown’s house to get the key to the church. When Bob Frasch saw the interior of this old Cobblestone Church, he really flipped! He said, “This building should be saved.” I said, “Yes, I know it should be saved but how are you going to save it? We have no organization whatsoever to do this. We have no money.”

Well, people commenced to get concerned. The Historian of the Town of Albion, Katharine Billings, whose ancestors had been attendants of this church and the Historian of the Town of Gaines, Howard Pratt were interested. And that’s the way it hung fire. The next fall in 1960, Charlie Thompson called me one morning about six o’clock and said, “Say, they are going to sell the Cobblestone Schoolhouse. We better do something about it.” So I went down to see Charlie, and he said all the district schools have been centralized in the five schools in Orleans County, Kendall, Holley, Albion, Medina, and Lyndonville.

He says, “You know they are going to sell this building next week Tuesday at Albion Central School. They are going to dispose of it.” “Well,” I said, “Charlie, will you go up to the meeting? You can vote. Vote against selling it; to hold us on the table for six months until we can do something?” And he said, “Sure.” So I took it upon myself to go and see about 12 or 14  people in the immediate district, Gaines  #5, to see if they would go to the Albion Central School meeting and see if we couldn’t save this, stall this off, for four or five or six months until we could get an organization.”

Bob Frasch and I went to the meeting and asked if we could be heard, and we both talked about holding this up until an organization could be formed. Our main purpose was to save the Cobblestone Church and the Cobblestone School. We gave them a pitch and they listened. Walter Balcom was there. He had gone to school at this Cobblestone School. He had attended the Cobblestone Church when they had their meetings there twice each summer. He had a very fine vocabulary of four-letter-words. He got up and said, “I make a blankety-blank motion that this blankety-blank schoolhouse be left on the table for six months, and if you blankety-blank guys can’t get organized in that time, you don’t deserve the damn school!”

And, they voted unanimously to hold the sale up for six months. They tossed us a torch and then we had to do something. So we got an ad hoc committee, so to speak. We had no money. We had no funds, we had nothing! And on this, we wrote a letter, Bob Frasch, it was in his writing. And, we got Katharine Billings, the Albion Historian, and Howard Pratt, who was Gaines Town Historian, and Morris Wilson, who lived next door to the Church and one or two others. Bob Frasch and the committee and myself, signed this letter. We sent this letter out to 100 people. We went through the telephone directory and looked in there and saw names of people we thought would be interested in saving their heritage. Well, the meeting was called at three o’clock on a cold Sunday afternoon in October 1960.

Some of the first officers and directors of the Cobblestone Society in 1960: (left) Maurice Wilson, Vice-President; Cary H. Lattin, Director; Katherine Billings, Secretary; Robert Frasch, President; J. Howard Pratt, Director; and Hannah Thompson, Treasurer.

You know there were 65 people showed up at that meeting, and we had a slate of officers drawn up. We’d asked all these people if they’d either be a director or an officer, and we told them what we wanted to do at this meeting. There were about 60 people signed up to be members. Some of them paid the $2.00 dues right then. So, we had the thing started. We agreed to meet at the Village Inn in about two weeks and get an organizational meeting. We had a dinner meeting over at the Village Inn and we had the west room pretty well filled up.

There were probably 89 to 100 people there who were interested in saving this building. Carl Schmidt was there. He was also at the first meeting. He had written a book about cobblestone buildings in 1944. The little books that he wrote in 1944 are collector’s items today. So, we had a slate of officers drawn up. We had a cross section of our people, we had an attorney, we had two architects, we had school teachers, we had farmers, and we had businessmen on this thing. We had a cross section of what was going on. With the help of the attorney and Bob Frasch, they came up with a set of by-laws and a constitution.

State Education Department Charter

We asked for a charter from the New York State Department of Education. And we were wise. That was our attorney’s advice. “Get this charter from the state Department of Education if you possibly can.” So we had the application for a charter and it was signed by, I think, the directors and the officers. By the end of the six months we had a temporary charter.

So, when the school-house came up for sale, the next April, that was in 1961, we had $129.00 in our fat little hands to pay for the school- house! That’s what we had to pay for deeds and search and the necessary proper papers that has to be signed to transfer the property. So we owned the building.

We were in business. Carl Schmidt came up with the idea that we would have a tour that spring, 1961. And, we held a Cobblestone Tour and made money. It was held right around this vicinity. That fall we had an auction in the schoolhouse to make money, but our main concern was to save the church. We made some overtures to the Universalist Board in Albion, and they were in our corner, so to speak.

John Brush, who was a director on our society, was in the hierarchy of the State Universalist Convention and his influence didn’t hurt a bit. He was a trustee of St. Lawrence University. He has endowed St. Lawrence University very well. It took about two or three years before the final papers came through. After the papers were signed by the Universalist State Convention and the Universalists over here had relinquished what they had in the building, it seems that they sat for six months in Judge Serve’s office. I saw him one day in the courthouse hall and I said, “You know, Judge, why don’t you hurry that up a little bit? We want to get title to that building and we want to do things!” He said, “You know, Cary, don’t try to coerce a Supreme Court Judge. I wouldn’t want to put you in jail.”

So, in about three years we got clear title to the Cobblestone Church in Childs. We were in business for real. The Cobblestone Society put a roof on that building that cost $2,200 before we owned it. That’s how much we thought of the building. So then we had two buildings.

John Brush, early 1900s

Well, our angel, John Brush, is a good friend of mine. I’ve known him as long as I’ve known anybody around Albion High School, and he is a fairly wealthy man. I said, “You know one day we should restore the tower.” There was a tower on that church when it was first built. The tower was removed in 1918 because it was getting deteriorated. The timbers were rotten. So, the Universalist Society decided to take the tower off. And, John Brush said, “I think so too, and I will pay for it.”

Cobblestone Church tower restoration, 1966

So, John and I went to see Hobart Snell who was the only contractor close by, and John and Hobart made a deal, and the tower was restored. And John Brush paid for it himself. I remember when he was up there the terrace in front of the church was in bad shape when we bought the church. They were all covered over with woodbine. Nobody knew there was a terrace there, just thought there were some steps going up there.

So one day when there were some of the directors down there, we decided to pull up some of the woodbine, and discovered there was a terrace. It looked pretty crummy. One day John said, “I think we better do some repair on the front of the church. I will repair the terrace and furnish some landscaping.”

Pasquale DiLaura

So, we went to see “Pat” (Pasquale) DiLaura, who was the last of the Orleans County quarrymen. He was as fine a gentleman as I ever hoped to know. “Pat” DiLaura was Mr. Stone Quarry, Medina Sandstone.

He was 80 years old at the time, and he said he would take upon the job of restoring the terrace. He still had some influence at the quarries in Hulberton, and he went down there with some of his trucks and got a couple loads of stone to re-lay this terrace. With his stonecutter helper, Sandy Malone, “Pat” DiLaura re-laid the stone.

Frankie Swierczynski let us have four or five of his boys over there to do the grub work. They had to dig out the trench and do some of the heavy lifting. There was “Pat” DiLaura and Sandy Malone that made the terrace and that was laid in 1966. It looked pretty nice. These shrubs that were replanted, came from a nursery up in Newfane, and that first summer they were planted there, they guaranteed these shrubs to live. I said, “That’s awful nice, to guarantee these shrubs!” However, he said, “You got to water them this summer.”

I watered them 27 times that summer. I got water for free from Hank Radzinski’s spigot. You know, neighbors are better than money sometimes. When Hank Radzinski was going to get his license for a Liquor store, right next to the church, he was having problems. The Secretary of the Orleans County Liquor Authority came to me and said, “How many times are you going to have service in your church?” It wasn’t my church and I wasn’t having the service, but that’s what he said. I said, “We don’t know whether we would have any service.” “You know,” he said, “Hank is going to have problems getting a liquor store next to a church.”  I said, “If you talk to any Cobblestoner and they try to do anything to stop his liquor store, clobber them!” I told Howard Pratt, and I told a couple of others, “If they wanted to have a liquor store there, he is going to get it. Let’s have his good will.”

So we had his good will. When we wanted water, we had thousands and thousands of gallons of water. I talked to Hank about it and he said, “I know it. I appreciate what you guys didn’t do.” So we were in business.