My friend Heather was telling me about the importance of my new lot number in Tennessee. There is energy behind each property number, if you entertain the possibilities of balancing energy… Being I am sort of an empath, I am big on energy.
We feed off energy, so it is important to make sure you are on a path that will lead to good energy. My friend assured us our address #283 in TN is a favorable number. Our conversation led me to Google for a bit of research on this concept. First reduce your property number to a single digit. This allows you to properly diagnose your Address Numerology. For example.. 2+3+8 = 13. Then 1+3 = 4. Four is Heart Chakra and represents love.
We all need love so this is splendid. The lucky colors are pink and green, which is so awesome because as a combo pink and green are my favorites together! A four is the most grounded of the numbers and those that spend time in fours need safety and security. A four is also great for growing a business. If you are a four then you live in a world where promises must be kept – integrity is a big thing. One pitfall of a four is that you can be very inflexible in your thinking and tend to be quite conservative.
All of this totally describes me – both the good energy and the not-so-good energy. Funny thing is that as I was thinking this over I realized that I currently have all of these things and I am not even on the mountain yet. Come to find out I already spend most of my waking hours in a Four. My home in NY is 364 which reduces to a 4 and my business is 139 which also reduces to a 4. There are no coincidences. Your home is your foundation for life and its energy should be one that is compatible with your soul and dreams.
The wonderful thing is no matter your numerological foundation, once you leave your bubble you can have a great adventure, even for a non-risk taker like me. We protect the safety and security of our home, but also crave a bit of adventure when we get out into the world. I am glad I have lived under the watchful eye of the Four because its energy has blessed me with a 30-year marriage full of love, laughter and happiness, plus a business that has blossomed for the last 20 years. Goodness, I can not wait to see what happens at 283 because 364 and 139 have already given me so much.
Just for fun, reduce your number and see what kind of energy your home has. See if it is one that can make you happy! This is not scientific at all, but it never hurts to check off all the boxes when building a serendipitous life. I talk alot about self and being responsible for our self and happiness, but truth be told I have a little superstition in me too!
Google Address Numerology for more information. If anything it is fun to imagine its power in the universe. Oh and if you are a 5, I will be over sometime to let loose :).
Share what your number means, visit my blog live online (click here) and catch up on Weekly Photo Perks and past Sunday posts. Like and share your comments.
Albion goalie Sydney Mulka goes high to make a save on Nov. 11 during an overtime win vs. Depew in the Class B1 semifinals. It is one of Cheryl Wertman’s favorite sports photos from 2020.
Click here to see her other picks as well as the top 10 sports stories of the year picked by Mike Wertman, the sports editor.
GAINES – The Thompson family farm is another longtime farming operation in the Hamlet of Childs whose roots go back to the early 1800s. In 1872 Henry Williams bought the farm to the east at the corner of Brown Street Road and Route 104 thus enlarging the farm to 235 acres.
Elmer Thompson of East Barre married Henry’s daughter, Theda Williams, and moved into the homestead on Ridge Road. Their son Charles Thompson inherited the farm from his father. He married Hannah Harding and they had four children: Gary, Gail, Ruth and Ross. The Thompson farm as seen is this picture from the late 1800s shows an unpaved Ridge Road. Paving was not accomplished until the 1920s.
Charles Thompson operated the dairy and cattle farm on both sides of Ridge Road. He started with Black Angus beef cattle and added 35 milking cows. The beef cattle were out to pasture on the north side of the road, except during the winter months when they were housed in the west barn. The dairy cows were put out to pasture during the day on the south side of the road. The picture shows the dairy barn and milk house on the east. The Thompson farm also included a farm seed business that supplied corn, wheat and other seeds to local farmers.
Historian Bill Lattin examined the large hand-hewn beams in the back barn that is still standing and dated its construction to the 1820s.
Activity on the farm continued year around. As late as the 1940s, farm chores were done in the winter using horses to pull a sled.
Charles Thompson’s daughter, Gail (Thompson) Johnson, who still lives on land once held by the farm, has many fond memories of family life growing up. She said, “I really enjoyed playing outdoors. We stayed home. I played in the corn picker and pretended it was a spaceship.” Gail said she learned her simple philosophy of life from her father and mother. Charles did not spend money foolishly. He lived a frugal life and only bought what he could pay for with cash, including all of the farm equipment.
Gail remembers when the family first bought a television set in the 1950s. They watched it together as a family about one hour every evening. Gail recalled that at a certain point in time the TV broke and Charles decided they wouldn’t get it repaired. He said, “You kids should do your homework instead.” And, that’s what they did.
Gail’s mother Hannah lived a simple life, too. She was a thrifty homemaker and canned farm produce to make meals for her family. Following her husband’s death, a friend asked Hannah if she was going to can some fruits and vegetables for the winter. Hannah remarked, “No! I am not going to be a slave to another vegetable.”
Gail said her father stopped farming around 1960 and put his land in the Soil Bank Program instead. She said, “The state kept coming up with new regulations, year after year, like demanding that the barnyard be paved with cement. Dad had complied for years with the state but it became very difficult to make a living. He had gone from simple milk cans to bulk milk tanks which had cost quite a bit of money.” The Soil Bank paid farmers not to grow crops, but to mow the grass instead. Gail said government regulations forced a lot of the small farmers in the region to go out of business.
Gail remembered that her parents were involved in many farm related activities including Gaines Grange. She said, “My mother used to sell donuts at the Grange square dances on Saturday evenings.” She also recalled attending family picnics at Indian Falls, probably related to her father keeping Brown Swiss cows. She said, “Our farm was pretty much self-sufficient. Beef and dairy cows brought in meat and milk, and chickens supplied eggs.” Like most farms, the Thompsons had a large vegetable garden to provide their daily needs.
The Albanese brothers – Anthony, Dominick and Frank, farmed about 50 acres along the north side of the Ridge in Childs between the Cobblestone School and Church in Childs. They also operated the Orleans Hotel in Albion from 1944-1955. Their farming enterprise included a large farm on Sawyer Road where they grew Apples, cabbage and tomatoes, among other crops. They also had a large labor camp on Sawyer Road to house about 100 migrant laborers who came up from the south to harvest the crops.
In the 1950s the brothers built a combination liquor store and farm market on Ridge Road. They sold a large variety of homegrown produce in their roadside stand, seen here, in Childs. Anthony’s son, Robert Albanese, remembers working at his father’s Sawyer Road farm during High School. Bob said, “I worked weekends on the farm. They had over 300 acres of orchards and all-in-all we picked 100,000 bushels of apples each year.” In addition to the roadside stand, the farm sold produce to Comstock Foods. Farming continued there until about 2000.
The Albanese Brothers farming operation also included greenhouses on West Academy Street in Albion that raised over 5 million tomato plants each year. They sold these to local farmers and to the tomato industry. The greenhouse operation continued into the 1990s before they were all removed.
Robert’s mother, Eleanor Albanese, is shown inside one of the greenhouses in about 1950.
Bob Albanese recalled that each tomato flat contained 118 young plants which were started each year from seed. He remembers having to track down all of the empty wooden flats again in the fall so the process could start all over again each year. Here we see an Albanese Brothers invoice for Robert Kirby’s purchases of 300 flats of tomato plants in 1948. While $198 was a lot of money in 1948, it averaged out to one-half cent per tomato plant.
Here are some of the colorful annual bedding plants grown in the Albanese greenhouses that kept gardeners coming back year after year.
Businesses that supplied goods and services to farms and farm workers were also important to any farming community, and Childs was no exception. One of these businesses was the Janus Service Station and Garage located between the Cobblestone Schoolhouse and Albanese Farm Market on Route 104. Owner Frank Janus sold Sinclair Gas and convenience store items to farm workers and highway passersby beginning in the 1900s. He also specialized in repairing cars, trucks and farm equipment. Frank’s wife, Victoria, operated a lunch room on the premises before the NYS Thruway opened in 1954. Historian Bill Lattin remembered, “I bought the last drop of gas sold there in 1970s. The pump ran out of gas in mid-fill and that was the end of that.”
Very little remains of the Janus Service Station today, except two “cobblestone” style pillars that once held Sinclair Gasoline globes.
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 1 January 2021 at 9:33 pm
Photos by Tom Rivers: These Kendall graduates walk by a large 2020 sign created for the commencement ceremony on June 26, 2020, which was moved from the auditorium to outdoors at the Kendall Firemen’s grounds. Families watched from cars and trucks due to a cap on crowds at 150 for graduation ceremonies because of the Covid-19 pandemic. Each vehicle counted as one person if the event was a drive-in. Kendall and others in the community found ways to adapt during a year of unprecedented challenges.
Orleans Hub smashed its record for traffic in 2020 with nearly 11 million pageviews and by averaging nearly 10,000 unique visitors each day for the year.
The 10,932,597 pageviews last year was up by 15 percent from the 9,556,253 in 2019, which was the previous high for the Hub.
We also averaged 9,956 unique visitors, which was up 17 percent from the previous record of 8,529 in 2019.
Sean Kennedy wore these cool 2020 glasses for Holley’s commencement on June 27.
We saw a noticeable spike in mid-March with Covid-19 impact, when schools and non-essential businesses were closed. We covered the impact each day throughout the year.
We get some pushback – too much on Covid, some people tell us. But we are committed to getting out the information to the community. Based on the reader traffic, we know most people want updates in this long public health emergency.
We tried to cover lots of other community news as well this year. We appreciate the readers checking the site so often, and for advertisers choosing us to help promote their businesses.
Here is the monthly traffic report for 2020:
January: 835,154 pageviews (27,838 daily average)
February: 819,021 (27,301 daily average)
March: 1,064,215 (35,474 daily average)
April: 1,034,461 (34,482 daily average)
May: 936,049 (31,202 daily average)
June: 843,672 (28,122 daily average)
July: 841,576 (28,053 daily average)
August: 861,688 (28,723 daily average)
September: 812,577 (27,086 daily average)
October: 923,199 (30,773 daily average)
November: 931,530 (31,051 daily average)
December: 1,029,455 (34,315 daily average)
Orleans Hub went live almost eight years ago. After 2019, when we had a 1 million pageview jump, I didn’t think we could grow much more. I thought even back then it would take a lot of bad news to push us past 10 million.
Well, 2020 delivered with near-constant bad news. The public health crisis is 10 months and counting. We tried to show a resilient community in 2020, highlighting ways to live, work and celebrate safely while protecting others.
The five public schools, for example, all found new ways to hold their high school graduation ceremonies. They couldn’t do large indoor or outdoor gathering like before. They stayed within the guidelines – no more than 150 people – and still gave graduates a fitting sendoff.
Businesses found new ones to serve customers, through curbside sales, deliveries or on-line. Major projects moved along including the redevelopment of the former Holley High School and the Bent’s Opera House in Medina.
Most parades and festivals were cancelled but community groups weren’t shut out with all their events. In Medina, the annual Parade of Lights was a “reverse parade” with people driving by stationary floats and decorated fire trucks. Service clubs and non-profits served chicken barbecue dinners – take-out only.
After the spring high school sports season was wiped out, athletes returned in the fall, wearing masks while playing soccer and golf, even while running long distance in cross country.
Even Santa got creative. With his in-person visits discouraged by the health Department, Santa met with children and their families through Zoom video conferencing. He made the rounds standing from the back of a pickup truck and waving to kids.
The show went on.
Here are the annual page views and average daily unique visitors annually since the Orleans Hub started in 2013:
2013: 1,697,887 – average daily unique visitors: 2,100 (went live April 1)
2014: 5,267,498 – average daily unique visitors: 4,700
2015: 7,811,345 – average daily unique visitors: 6,739
2016: 8,334,946 – average daily unique visitors: 7,112
2017: 8,553,605 – average daily unique visitors: 7,884
2018: 8,467,818 – average daily unique visitors: 7,463
2019: 9,556,253 – average daily unique visitors: 8,529
2020: 10,932,597 – average daily unique visitors: 9,956
Santa couldn’t do in-person visits like usual in 2020 so he found other ways to spread holiday cheer, including riding from the back of a pickup truck in Albion on Dec. 19.
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 1 January 2021 at 6:35 pm
The National Weather Service’s map shows a winter weather advisory covering most of the state.
There is a winter weather advisory in effect until midnight tonight in Orleans County and most of New York State.
It will be icy with periods of snow, sleet or freezing rain that will result in slippery roads and limited visibilities, the Weather Service said. Drivers are urged to slow down and use caution.
“Plan on slippery road conditions,” the Weather Service said. “This will especially be the case this evening.”
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 1 January 2021 at 4:07 pm
Photos by Tom Rivers
BARRE – Greg Rosato (right), a tree climber from Gaines, is 65 feet up a tree helping to free Melissa Allport of Carlton after she got stuck in the branches next to the Pine Hill Airport this afternoon.
Allport was doing a New Year’s Day jump from an airplane about 10,500 feet up with WNY Skydiving. The group does a popular skydiving event annually to start the year.
This was the 54th jump for Allport, who is a licensed skydiver. She said her helmet fogged up and she became disoriented in the air. She also was using a larger parachute at 200 square feet and the wind took her into the trees next to the air strip at the airport.
Allport said she learned from the experience and is looking forward to jumping again.
Barre and Clarendon firefighters took a 20-foot-high ladder back into the forested area by the airport. That wasn’t nearly high enough to get Allport. Rosato, a motor equipment operator for the Orleans County DPW, also has run his own tree business the past 25 years.
Firefighters reached out to him at about 1 p.m. Rosato was home and was able to respond.
Rosato used tree climbing spikes to get up to Allport. He threw a rope over limbs above him and tied himself off with his harness in case he slipped. He was able to quickly climb the tree and get to Allport, whose legs were getting numb with the temps in the low 30s.
Allport was already wearing a harness for her parachute. Rosato used a carabiner hook to connect a rope to Allport’s harness. The firefighters had a pulley and they were able to lower Allport through the branches. Rosato helped to guide her as she went down. He used a chainsaw to remove some branches that were in the way.
Melissa Allport thanked the firefighters and wished them a Happy New Year’s Day as she was lowered to the ground.
Barre firefighters say there have been few calls over the years for the skydivers. Tim Allen, owner of WNY Skydivers, has done 9,000 jumps himself. He praised the firefighters and Rosato for their response. They had Allport down in about 45 minutes after the initial dispatch call.
“Greg and the folks at Barre Fire Department did a great job,” Allen said.
Rosato was also able to get the parachute out of the tree, by cutting a few branches.
Greg Rosato said he was happy he could help today.
Once Allport was safe and back in the clubhouse, other skydivers were ready for their jumps at about 10,500 feet.
The Orleans County Health Department and Orleans Community Health are working together to provide more rapid testing opportunities for residents.
“We have received the rapid testing Binax cards and Abbott machines and test kits through the New York State Department of Health,” stated Marc Shurtz, CEO/CIO of Orleans Community Health. “We have established a drive-through testing site at our Walk-in Care Clinic and are scheduling tests that best fits the needs of the resident.”
For patients that are exposed, have symptoms, need clearance for pre-operation, travel or nursing home visitation, we are here to assist you in getting the correct test you need. Please remember for exposure you should wait at least 3-5 days post exposure as it may be too soon to test. If you would like to speak to a provider regarding your symptoms and treatment you may schedule an audio tele-med visit for assessment and the need for testing.
“This is another opportunity for county residents to be tested as needed, and the rapid tests from NYSDOH are free,” stated Paul Pettit, Public Health Director, Genesee and Orleans County Health Departments. “Because the rapid testing supplies are provided by the State Department of Health there are no costs to those needing tests.”
“Services are limited due to staffing and testing protocol,”,” stated Nicole Helsdon, Office Manager for the Albion Walk-in Care Clinic. “We can only process a certain amount of tests per day. We ask that people be patient and call for an appointment at our office (585-589-2273) and follow the prompts. Our staff will return your call as soon as they are able to schedule your test.”
Residents are still encouraged to limit time with non-household members, wash hands frequently with soap and water / hand sanitizer if soap and water are not available, wear masks/face-coverings when out in public and keeping at least 6’ away from others in public. Limiting time in public helps to lower the spread, especially if you aren’t having friends and family to your home.
The most important thing to remember, that if you are sick with anything, please stay home. Contact your primary care provider for instructions.
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 1 January 2021 at 10:32 am
Nearly 3,000 cases reported during month in Genesee, Orleans and Wyoming counties
This graph from the health departments in Genesee, Orleans and Wyoming counties shows how the cases have surged recently. Click here to see a detailed chart on cases in the three counties. This graph shows Genesee nearing the 2,500-case marker, Orleans getting close to 1,500 and Wyoming over the 1,000 marker.
December saw the biggest surge in Covid-19 cases during the pandemic in the three local rural counties of Orleans, Genesee and Wyoming.
There were 2,993 cases reported in the three rural counties that combined have about 140,000 people. Before December, there were 2,108 Covid cases in the three counties – since March.
November was a big spike, too, when the 1,133 cases in the three counties were more than the total for all three counties the first eight months of the pandemic.
But December was something else entirely. Those 2,993 cases are nearly 60 percent (58.7) of the total of 5,101 cases in the three counties since March.
All three counties saw a major uptick in cases in December, with Genesee the hardest hit with 1,495 new cases and 22 deaths. Orleans was up by 753 cases and Wyoming by 745.
The three counties, from March through October, had 975 Covid cases combined. At the end of November, the combined cases was at 2,108 and is now at 5,101 after Dec. 31.
Orleans was the hardest hit by Covid in cases – before November. In Orleans the cases were driven by an outbreak in the spring at two nursing homes, which combined had 147 cases by late June. In Late October, Orleans had the most of the three counties with 399 cases, followed by 375 in Genesee and 201 in Wyoming.
But the cases have really taken off in Genesee in November and December. Genesee has had 2,070 Covid cases the past two months.
Here is a monthly breakdown of the Covid cases and deaths in the three counties.
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 1 January 2021 at 8:56 am
Provided photos
ALBION – Nadine Hanlon takes the oath of office on Thursday afternoon as the Orleans County Clerk. She is joined by her husband Mike and daughter Michela. Hanlon’s other daughter Marisa just started a job at Unity in Rochester as a surgical physician assistant. Orleans County Court Judge Sanford Church administers the oath.
Hanlon, a former Kendall town clerk, was elected county clerk in November. She worked the previous 15 years as the clerk to the Orleans County Legislature. She also was on the Kendall Board of Education for 10 years, including seven years as the board president.
Tracy Cliff takes the oath as one of the deputy county clerks. She is joined by her husband Mike while Church administers the oath.
Pam Boyer is the other deputy clerk and works at the DMV office. Boyer has been the deputy at the DMV the past three years. Cliff will work out of the Clerk’s Office where she has been an index clerk the past five years.
“Both ladies are good at what they do and I am looking forward to continue to work with the great staff that operates the Orleans County Clerk’s Office,” Hanlon said.
She looks forward to getting past the Covid-19 pandemic when the offices can return to normal. The DMV transactions are currently being handled by mail or by appointment.
“The restrictions are very stressful to staff along with those we need to serve,” she said. “We just continue to ask for patience during these trying times.”
Nadine Hanlon had a small swearing-in ceremony with Judge Church and Tracy Cliff.
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 31 December 2020 at 8:28 pm
ALBANY – A three-person Farm Labor Wage Board voted today to keep the overtime threshold for farmworkers at 60 hours per week.
The New York Farm Bureau wanted the threshold to stay at 60 hours, while some labor groups wanted it to drop to 40 hours to align with many other industries.
Denis Hughes, former president of the New York State AFL-CIO, cast the lone nay vote today. He requested an amendment that would keep the threshold at 60 hours for two more years and then do an eight-year phase-in to 40 hours. In that scenario, Hughes said the OT threshold would be reduced by 2.5 hours each year over eight years until it was at 40 hours a week, starting Jan. 1, 2030.
He wants farmworkers to be at 40 hours to start overtime like workers in restaurants, food processing and some other sectors of the food industry.
But Brenda McDuffie, chairwoman of the Farm Labor Wage Board, said there is too much uncertainty now in the farm economy to commit to lowering the overtime threshold.
McDuffie, president of the Buffalo Urban League, said farmers have had their markets disrupted by the Covid-19 pandemic. There is no certainty when the Covid impact will end, she said.
She noted the overtime wage is going up in upstate in 2021, from $11.80 to $12.50 per hour. The Wage Board will consider the issue again between Nov. 1 and Dec. 15, 2021.
New York Farm Bureau President David Fisher joined McDuffie in voting to keep the threshold at 60 hours in 2021. This past year was the first year the 60-hour threshold was in place. Before there wasn’t a weekly limit before overtime wages were implemented.
Fisher advocated for waiting at least three to five years to consider lowering the threshold, so more data could be analyzed on the impact for farms and the workers. Farmers have said in hearings there could be unintended consequences where workers get paid less per week with the overtime threshold dropping because farms could be force to cut hours.
“I had encouraged giving the process more time to fully evaluate what a lower threshold would mean for all involved, especially with such limited data from this year,” Fisher said in a statement. “I’d like to thank my fellow wage board members for their time and professionalism and encourage the Department of Labor to continue to work with the farming community to do what is best for our farms and employees. We need each other for agricultural production and our rural communities to flourish.”
There were five public hearings on the issue this year for the Wage Board to gather information and testimony. McDuffie said the group will continue to collect data and wants to hear from more farmers and workers in 2021.
State Republican Leader Rob Ortt issued a statement in support of the board’s decision today.
“While today’s announcement is positive, the reality is our farms are still under great strain,” Ortt said. “The Senate Republican Conference believes a vibrant agriculture industry is critical to the economic success of our state. We urge Leaders in Albany to reject any new burdens on our family farms and work with our Conference to advance solutions that will help grow this critical part of our state’s economy.”
Ortt said Albany has already imposed new burdens on family farms across the state. Lowering the OT threshold would have raised their costs during a time of economic crisis in the state.
“I thank the hundreds of farmers, farmworkers, and supporters who took the time to advocate on this issue and look forward to working with them to support New York agriculture in the future,” Ortt said.
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 31 December 2020 at 6:01 pm
In the final day of 2020, the Genesee and Orleans County Health Departments reported 109 new confirmed cases of Covid-19 in the two counties, bringing the total to 3,825 in the two counties since March.
Orleans County received 34 new positive cases of Covid-19 for a total of 1,376 cases since March.
The new positive cases reside in the West Region (Yates, Ridgeway, Shelby), Central Region (Carlton, Gaines, Albion, Barre) and East Region (Kendall, Murray, Clarendon).
The individuals are in the age groups of 0-19, 20s, 30s, 40s, 50s, 60s, 70s and 80s. Of the new confirmed cases, 5 of the individuals were on mandatory quarantine prior to testing positive.
Of the new cases, 2 are residents of the Orchard Rehabilitation and Nursing Center in Medina.
Orleans also is reporting 24 of the previous positive individuals have recovered and been removed from the isolation list.
The county has 13 residents hospitalized with Covid, which is down from 21 on Wednesday.
A resident in the county under age 65 passed with Covid, which is the 62nd resident to die with Covid this year.
“We are saddened to report the death of one of our community members,” the Health Departments said in a news briefing. “We will not report any other details out of respect for the person and their family. We extend our deepest condolences to the family and friends of this person during this very difficult time.”
In Genesee County, there 75 new confirmed cases of Covid-19 to report today, bringing the total to 2,449 cases since March.
The new positive cases reside in the West Region (Alabama, Darien, Pembroke), Central Region (Alexander, Batavia, Bethany, Elba, Oakfield) and East Region (Bergen, Byron, LeRoy, Pavilion, Stafford).
The individuals are in the age groups of 0-19, 20s, 30s, 40s, 50s, 60s, 70s, 80s and 90s.
The county also is reporting today that 83 of the previous positive individuals have recovered and been removed from the isolation list.
Genesee has 7 residents hospitalized with Covid, up from 4 on Wednesday.
Of the new cases, 4 are residents at LeRoy Village Green Residential Healthcare Facility.
Correction: Please note there was a miscount for reporting the deaths yesterday. There are 29 Covid-19 related deaths in Genesee County, not 30.
Message from the Genesee and Orleans County Health Departments: Please note the Genesee and Orleans County Health Departments will be closed for the New Year’s Day holiday and will not be updating data until Monday afternoon. We thank each of you for your encouragement, assistance, diligence during this very extraordinary year.
We look forward to continuing to provide updated health information and wish each of you a safe, healthy and Happy New Year! We encourage everyone to limit their time in public and to celebrate virtually with family and friends who don’t live with you.
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 31 December 2020 at 11:42 am
The public health director in Orleans and Genesee counties acknowledged a delay in contact tracing due to an overwhelming caseload for the state’s contact tracers.
Paul Pettit, the public health director for the two counties, urged those who are close contacts with people who test positive to begin self quarantining right away, and not wait to be reached by contact tracers.
The state’s tracers aren’t connecting with people often until four or six days after they have been identified as close contacts, Pettit said this morning on a Zoom conference call with reporters.
The local public health departments in Orleans and Genesee will do the initial case investigations to determine close contacts. They then hand off the contact tracing to the state.
But the state has been overwhelmed with surging caseloads locally, regionally and state-wide, Pettit said.
The local health department staff were doing the case investigations and contact tracing when there were only a few new cases each day.
But the cases have gone up dramatically recently. In Orleans County, there are 719 new cases so far in December, an average of 24 new cases a day. There were 623 cases the first nine months of the pandemic in Orleans.
In Genesee, there have been 1,420 new cases so far in December, an average of 47 new cases a day. There were 954 cases in Genesee the first nine months of the pandemic.
Pettit stressed for people to self isolate if they have been identified as a close contact. If they don’t have symptoms for 10 days, they can end the quarantine.
“The message I want to put out there is to start quarantining,” Pettit said.
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 31 December 2020 at 9:25 am
The number of flu cases is down significantly locally and state-wide so far this flu season.
There were 304 flu cases reported statewide in the week ending Dec. 19, compared to 5,297 during the same week last year.
Locally, Orleans County has two reported flu cases so far this season, compared to 266 this time a year ago.
Genesee County also has two reported flu cases 12 weeks into the flu season, compared to 598 during the same time period in 2019.
Wyoming County has six reported cases, compared to 454 a year ago by the third week of December.
The data is available online through the State Department of Health (click here).
The Genesee and Orleans County Health Departments encourage people to get a flu shot now to build up immunity.
“Once you have the flu vaccine, if you do get the flu, research shows that the vaccination reduces the risk of severe illness,” the Health Departments said. “Getting a flu vaccine can save healthcare resources for the care of patients with Covid-19 and other illnesses.”
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 31 December 2020 at 9:02 am
The online registration is open for rapid Covid test clinics next week in Orleans and Genesee counties. Orleans will be shifting the clinic back to Wednesday after doing them on Monday the past two weeks.
The clinic is from 1 to 4 p.m. at the Orleans County 4-H Fairgrounds on Route 31 in Knowlesville. Pre-registration is required. (Click here for the link to the state sign-up site.)
The county ran a rapid testing clinic on Monday for people who are asymptomatic. There were 532 people tested, and 54 were positive for Covid or 10.2 percent. Of the 54 who were positive, 49 are Orleans County residents.
Genesee County has its clinics on Tuesdays and Thursdays, except for today. At the clinic on Tuesday, there were 550 total tests including volunteers helping with clinic with 27 total positives, including 22 Genesee residents. (Click here for the registration link to the next Genesee clinic.)
Genesee has its county-run clinic from 1 to 4 p.m. at the Genesee County Emergency Management/Fire Training Center, 7690 State Street Rd., Batavia.
The Genesee and Orleans County Health Departments advised that if people have tested positive they shouldn’t use the testing clinics to determine if they are now negative. These clinics are intended to identify new cases. People can test positive for weeks after initially testing positive, the Health Departments said.
Those getting tested should use the Rapid COVID-19 Test Intake Form for the clinics in Orleans and Genesee (click here). People will need one form per person being tested.
If you are filling out the form, please complete it, print it out and bring it with you.
If the clinics are closed please check the NYS COVID-19 Drive through test sites: Call New York State Department of Health Testing Appointments (1-888-364-3065) or
Monroe Community College – testing by appointment only (click here)
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 30 December 2020 at 10:44 pm
Each year I try to pick some of my favorite “people pictures” and also highlight images from notable news events the past year.
The top photo shows Richard Brakenbury, holding a sign that says, “I Miss My Wife” during a picket on May 29 outside The Villages of Orleans Health and Rehabilitation Center in Albion. His wife of 61 years, Connie Brakenbury, died on May 12.
The family said she contracted Covid-19 at The Villages while in the rehab section. She was trying to build back her strength after being dehydrated and feeling weak. She was at The Villages for 20 days.
She was one of 30 residents at The Villages who died after getting Covid this year. There were about a dozen picketers were outside The Villages on May 29. At that point, 26 people had died after getting Covid at the nursing home in Albion.
The state Department of Health would fine The Villages $20,000 after an inspection May 9 showed facility staff weren’t following proper infection prevention and control measures. One example included certified nursing aides and licensed practical nurses entering and exiting a room of a person with Covid, and then entering rooms of other residents without Covid.
The county had 62 residents die from Covid in 2020, with 30 at The Villages, 24 at Orchard Rehabilitation & Nursing Center in Medina, and eight other community members.
Firefighters break through ice to cross a quarry in Murray on Jan. 4 to get to a dog stranded in icy water. Firefighters were dispatched to the scene at about 4 p.m. and were able to bring the dog to dry land at about 4:40.
The dog named Lily fell down an embankment by the Erie Canal and was stranded in a quarry. The dog was out for a walk with its owner. The dog walked too close to a steep embankment and fell.
Lily wasn’t injured and promptly ate a bowl of dog food and then took a nap when she got home.
There were many fires in Orleans County in 2020, including this one late at night Jan. 5 in Holley. The 4,000-square-foot house with a cupola was a landmark at corner of Rts. 31 & 237. The house had four apartments with 11 residents. A fire broke out at 11 p.m. on Jan. 5. Firefighters worked through the night to contain the blaze to the one building.
The fire displaced 11 residents, including three elementary school children, a high school senior and a baby. The fire was ruled accidental and investigators weren’t able to determine the cause due to the extensive damage. Investigators believe the fire started in the kitchen at one of the four apartments.
Kendall Deputy Fire Chief Dan Schultz is a silhouette with the Holley apartment building on fire behind him on the night of Jan. 5. Firefighters from Holley and neighboring communities were at the scene late into the night.
None of the residents were injured, but they lost their possessions in the blaze. Three cats and a dog also died in the fire, that broke out about 11 p.m. and quickly tore through the house owned by Stanley Passarell.
Matt Jackson, left, takes the oath of office as Medina’s new fire chief on Jan. 13. Tom Lupo, the chief the previous four years, administers the oath in the village office in front of other firefighters, village employees and Jackson’s family.
Jackson was a full-time firefighter in Medina the previous 13 ½ years, including 2 ½ years as a captain, the department’s second highest leadership post.
The band Crikwater from South Buffalo performed on Jan. 17 at Lee-Whedon Memorial Library in Medina for the Finally Fridays concert series. Crikwater performs many Irish American traditional folk songs. Band members include from left: Peter Zalocha, Liam Caulfield, Charles Coughlin and Matthew Sperber.
Finally Fridays was in its 19th season. The concerts draw about 200 people to the library. Lee-Whedon made it nearly through the entire concert series before canceling the last concert on March 13 due to concerns about the spread of Covid-19.
Workers from Upstate Tower Construction erect a 180-foot-high radio tower on Jan. 20 next to the Orleans County Public Safety Building along Route 31 in Albion. These workers are connecting the top section of the tower. They are more than 100 feet up high.
This was one of four new radio towers to go up in the county. The towers are part of a $6 million project to upgrade the emergency communications system in the county.
Frank Ferri pours wine for Kimmie Martindale of Kendall during the Wine About Winter event in downtown Medina on Feb. 1. There were 24 stops for people to taste wine, including this location, the Wallflower Studio. More than 800 people bought tickets for the event. This was one of the few big indoor events during 2020. In mid-March, the state imposed many restrictions on crowd sizes to try to slow the spread of Covid-19.
Altar servers prepare to lead clergy down the aisle for a rededication Mass on Feb. 9 at St. Mary’s Catholic Church in Holley. The church celebrating completing five years of renovations and capital projects.
The interior used to be an ivory white color and but was changed to include stenciling and more colors, which church leaders say better highlights the craftsmanship in the building’s interior, and also adds to the worship experience. The altar includes a triptych mural of three paintings about Christ.
Nichole Williams of Knowlesville celebrates winning a $1 million lotto jackpot on Feb. 12 with New York Lottery personality Yolanda Vega. They are shown at the Crosby’s in Elba, where the winning ticket was purchased on Jan. 11. Williams, 30, recently fought cancer. She said the money will pay off medical bills and help her start a college or career fund for her three children. Williams is shown in her work clothes as a unit assistant at the Orchard Manor Rehabilitation and Nursing Center in Medina.
“It’s definitely a blessing,” Williams told reporters on Feb. 12. “It’s definitely a huge weight lifted off my shoulders that I can provide college for my kids or if they don’t want to go to college we can put it towards a tech school or whatever else they want to do.”
It was a packed auditorium at Kendall Junior-Senior High School on March 7 for the All-County Music Festival. This was a week before all of the Orleans County schools would shut down for in-person school the rest of the 2019-2020 school year.
This photo shows the junior high chorus, which included 93 students from the five school districts in the county. Jacqueline McLean of LeRoy served as guest conductor for the group.
Firefighters including Troy Kingdollar, front left, and Bob Freida, front right, served as pallbearers for Jon DeYoung. They are shown at Mount Albion Cemetery. DeYoung, Clarendon’s fire chief, died at age 55 on March 10 after a seven-year fight with colon cancer. DeYoung continued to lead the department and respond to emergency calls while getting chemo and radiation treatments.
The shelves at the ALDI grocery store in Medina were bare on March 14 after a rush on grocery stores early in the Covid-19 pandemic. ALDI had to close temporarily to restock. Other stores limited items to prevent hoarding of cleaning products, toilet paper and other household essentials.
Medina announced on March 14 that the school buildings “are closed until further notice.” All five public schools in Orleans County did not have in-person classes again after March 13 for the 2019-20 school year.
Marcell Taylor, owner of Absolute Xquisite Cutz on East Bank Street in Albion, gives a hair cut to Dan Perl of Elba on March 21. This was the last day barbershops and hair salons were allowed to be open until May 30 as part of the governor’s effort to slow the spread of Covid-19.
Sue Babbitt of Albion is emotional when she was greeted on April 12 by a procession of family, friends and co-workers. Her husband, Ray Babbitt, is with her on the front porch. A line of about 25 vehicles drove down East Park Street to welcome Sue Babbitt home. Babbitt is a well-liked office manager at the Ace Hardware in Albion. She battled through a near fatal case of the flu and pneumonia, which deteriorated into acute respiratory distress syndrome.
The McDonalds in Albion took a break from promoting its menu to thank healthcare workers on the frontlines of the Covid-19 pandemic. This photo was taken on May 1.
A caravan of about 100 vehicles road 50 miles throughout Orleans County on May 16 to raise awareness for small businesses. Art Hill Excavation in Medina is in front in the yellow trucks as the procession heads down Route 31 in Holley. Adam Johnson, owner of the 39 Problems bar and restaurant in Albion, organized the event. He and other small business owners were frustrated many of the merchants on Main Streets were shut down by the state for two months or more.
“I feel like a lot of the small businesses aren’t getting enough attention from Albany,” Johnson said in May.
While many family-owned businesses were largely shut down, the corporate retailers seemed to be flourishing and couldn’t keep their shelves stocked, Johnson said.
“You can go to big box stores but not the mom and pop stores,” Johnson said. “It seems backwards.”
Wally Skrypnik, commander of the American Legion in Albion, plays Taps during an observance on Memorial Day in front of the Albion Middle School on May 25. There is usually a large crowd for the Memorial Day service each year at the school. But in 2020 there was no Memorial Day service or parade with social gatherings still limited to no more than 10 people due to the Covid-19 pandemic. The Honor Guard had eight veterans and they did a gun salute and played Taps at eight sites in Albion – cemeteries and memorials for veterans.
Edee Hoffmeister, a hairdresser for 40 years, wore a mask and also a face shield while working for the first time on May 30. It’s a new requirement by the state.
“I hate it,” said Hoffmeister, owner of Celebrity Day Spa. “I feel very claustrophobic. But I’m very happy to be open. I’ll do what I have to do.”
Hair salons and barbers have many restrictions as part of Phase 2 of the state reopening the economy. People who enter the business are given a temperature check when they step inside. If it’s a 100 degrees or more, they aren’t allowed to stay inside.
Hoffmeister and her staff also have to have a Covid-19 test every two weeks. Her business was significantly curtailed, however. She could cut hair and color it, but she couldn’t do nails, facials, pedicures or body treatments. She can’t trim a beard.
After a haircut, she has to disinfect the chair and counter and wait 10 minutes before the next customer.
There were several Black Lives Matters demonstrations in Orleans County in 2020, including this one in Albion on June 6. Marquise Riddick, left, and Eboni Taylor, center, both graduated in the Class of 2013. They are college educated and both want to be teachers.
The two friends said they felt compelled to have a Black Lives Matter event in Albion. They were encouraged to see 75 people attend, and have numerous people beep their horns in support.
Taylor said Orleans County should push for more diversity in the police departments and Sheriff’s Office. She would like to see more black teachers and minorities “in official positions.”
Riddick attended a protest on May 30 in Rochester and he said it was an empowering event.
“It was really inspiring how everyone came together in Rochester,” he said. “I wanted there to be one in the community where I grew up in.”
After a walk from the intersection at routes 31 and 98 to the Courthouse Square on June 6, the group from Albion laid down for 8 minutes and 46 seconds. That’s how long George Floyd was on the ground on May 25, while a police officer had his knee on Floyd’s neck before Floyd died. After his death, there were protests against police brutality all over the country, including in Orleans County.
This sign on the door leading to the sanctuary at North Point Chapel in Albion urges people to not give hugs or hand shakes for now. This was on June 9, the first Sunday where churches had the option to be open for in-person services since mid-March, but attendance was capped at 25 percent capacity. About 20 people attended the service in person, down from the usual 50 before the pandemic.
“We should just get together,” elder Albert Alexander said from the pulpit. “It doesn’t have to be perfect.”
Albion teachers on June 18 went on a two-hour parade through the school district. They wanted students to know they have been missed during the previous three months of at-home learning.
Some of the prekindergarten team include from left: Peggy Lemcke (who would retire as an aide) and teachers Jennifer Waters and Deanna Moore. They are shown on King Street, near the start of the parade.
It was a first-of-its-kind graduation at Kendall on June 26. Normally the ceremony is inside in a packed auditorium. This year the celebration was at the Kendall firemen’s grounds.
The state set a maximum size at 150 people for graduation ceremonies, unless people were in cars. Kendall decided to have an outdoor ceremony and allow families to drive-in and park.
The 51 graduates had seats on chairs that were spaced six feet apart to meet the state’s social distancing guidelines.
Carol D’Agostino, the high school principal, addresses the graduates and the crowd. She is joined on stage by Lisa Levett (left), president of the Board of Education, and Julie Christensen, district superintendent.
The stage was donated for use by Kludt Farms. Christ Farms decorated the stage for the event.
Caleb Boyce stands with his Medina classmates June 26 on the Vets Park field after they moved their tassels to symbolize their graduation from Medina. Caleb and his classmates all wore masks due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
The district moved the ceremony from the school auditorium to the outside venue and broke the 110 members of the Class of 2020 into three groups of about 37 each. They were given three tickets for family members. That allowed for about 150 people to be at the service to stay within the state’s maximum limit.
These Holley graduates walk to a stage set up in front of the Holley Junior-Senior High School parking lot, where graduation was held June 27.
The state allowed outdoor graduations at drive-in movie theaters. Holley considered having the ceremony at a drive-in, but there isn’t one very close by.
“Why do you have to go to a drive-in?” said Susan Cory, the high school principal. “We can turn our school into a drive-in.”
The class has 81 members, but three foreign exchange students returned to their home countries in Greenland, Spain and Portugal.
Nevaeh Moss, 13, of Medina has fun on Medina’s new splash pad that opened for the first time on July 9. The splash pad is at the Pine Street Park off Park Avenue.
The committee that raised the money and pushed for the project includes Nicole Goyette, Tom Hungerford, Bob Sanderson and Maureen Sanderson.
Thomas Vazquez and Morgan Greco make their entrance and walk down the red carpet during Medina’s senior prom on July 22 at Becker Farms in Gasport. The event was planned for June 12 but was delayed due to Covid-19 restrictions on crowd sizes. Medina capped this evening’s event at up 150 people.
Michael Cavanagh, the high school principal, said about 110 students attended the event, and there were also teachers and other chaperones. He met with student leaders in June who were adamant they wanted the prom, even if it was pushed back into the summer.
“The voices of the students were loud and clear: they wanted one more chance to be together,” Cavanagh said.
There were some restrictions at the event, including no dancing.
John Keding, owner of Keding Automotive on East Avenue in Albion, is shown at his shop on Aug. 17. He retired later that month after 70 years as a mechanic. He has been working as a mechanic at 14, first fixing lawn mowers. Keding, who was two weeks from his 85th birthday when this photo was taken, said he will miss his customers and daily interactions out in the community.
A motorcyclist gives a fist of support to acknowledge the crowd that lined the Public Square in Holley on Sept. 12 for “Back the Blue” ride in Orleans County in support of law enforcement. The man looks up and was impressed by the sight of a large American flag hanging over Route 31. There were more than 500 vehicles in the ride, with about 300 of them motorcyclists.
There was a long line of vehicles on Horan Road in Medina on Sept. 18 for a food distribution at the Ridgeway Volunteer Fire Company parking lot. The delivery truck was about two hours later than expected. Long lines of vehicles often waited two hours of more at food distributions from April through the end of the year.
Heather Rowley of Holley organized a Black Lives Matter demonstration on Sept. 19 in Holley. She is holding the Black Lives Matter sign.
Rowley was joined by her sister and brother, and four of their friends from Holley and Brockport.
Rowley, 30, wanted to publicly support the cause, especially after a big processional a week before in support of law enforcement.
“This is in direct response to the Back the Blue rally,” Rowley said. “We want to show people of color in our community that we support them and we hear them.”
Julian Montague, an artist from Buffalo, worked on a mural in Medina on Sept. 19. He painted on two walls of a building at the corner of Pearl Street and West Avenue. It was one of four new murals in the area near Proctor Place.
Montague painted colorful geometric patterns and added eyes and mouth to give the mural some added personality.
“It’s playful and a little weird,” he said.
More than 300 people attended a candlelight vigil on Oct. 18 at State Street Park in honor of Cheyenne Farewell. She was shot and killed the previous day during a Halloween party on Niagara Street in Lockport. Five others were wounded by gun shots including two current Medina High School students.
“People just loved her,” said Destiny Satkowski, who graduated with Farewell in 2018. “She didn’t care what color you were, who you liked or where you were from. She treated everyone the same. She was a friend you could count on. She had the most joyous laugh.”
Demolition day arrived on Oct. 27 for Elba’s water tank from 1934. The standpipe that held about 300,000 gallons of water was taken down by a team of welders from Iseler Demolition of Port Hope, Mich. Once the water tank was down, Iseler cut it into pieces.
Elba switched over the water system to a new 750,000-gallon water tank.
Three of Holley’s most recent mayors joined for a photo on Nov. 10 during a celebration of the $17 million transformation of the former Holley High School into 41 apartments and the village offices. Pictured from left include current Mayor Kevin Lynch, John Kenney (mayor from 2006 to 2016) and Brian Sorochty (mayor from 2016 until July 15, 2020.)
All three had roles in the redevelopment of the building. Home Leasing of Rochester led the transformation of the building, which needed support from local, state and federal governments. Lynch is a member of Holley’s Class of 1975, the last group of seniors to graduate from the former school.
Firefighters arrived on the scene of a fire at 221 West State St. in Albion just after 4:30 p.m. on Dec. 5. The fire would spread to two neighboring houses. Garry Tarr, one of the residents, was mixing compounds with fireworks in a garage. He tested one of the fireworks and it exploded, according to police. The garage was quickly engulfed in flames that spread to the houses.
Cars are lined up just before 1 p.m. on Dec. 16 for the first rapid Covid test clinic in Orleans County. There were 402 people tested at the Orleans County 4-H Fairgrounds that day and 12 of the tests came back positive. Orleans County is ending the year with a dramatic increase in the number of new confirmed Covid cases in December.
The county was at 1,342 confirmed cases during the pandemic as of Dec. 30, with 720 of those in December, compared to 623 the first nine months of the pandemic.
My friend Heather was telling me about the importance of my new lot number in Tennessee. There is energy behind each property number, if you entertain the possibilities of balancing energy… Being I am sort of an empath, I am big on energy.
