By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 24 October 2020 at 2:02 pm
Photo by Tom Rivers: Ariyanna Boccacci, 14, of Albion helps with a food distribution on Wednesday at the Orleans County 4-H Fairgrounds. Volunteers distributed 3,000 boxes of food – 1,000 each of meat, dairy and produce. Each vehicle could receive one of each.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture announced on Friday it will be extending a food distribution program for another two months through Dec. 31.
The USDA has authorized $500 million for a fourth round of purchases for the USDA Farmers to Families Food Box Program. USDA is issuing solicitations for the fourth round to existing Basic Ordering Agreement (BOA) holders and expects to award contracts by Oct. 30 for deliveries of food boxes from Nov. 1 through Dec. 31, 2020.
“I’m gratified by the overwhelmingly positive response to the Farmers to Families Food Box program from families, distributors, food banks, faith-based organizations and non-profits in communities across the country,” said U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue. “We recently surpassed 110 million boxes delivered, and millions more are headed to Americans in need. I’m very pleased that we are able to extend this program and continue our relief efforts for American farmers and families.”
In Orleans County there have been distributions most Fridays at either Albion, Holley or Medina and every other Wednesday at the Orleans County 4-H Fairgrounds.
There will be a distribution this coming Friday in Albion at the Main Street Store parking lot, beginning at about 8:30 a.m.
In the fourth round, as in the third round, states have been allocated boxes based on the internal need of the state. The program will continue the purchase of combination boxes to include fresh produce, dairy products, fluid milk and meat products, the USDA said.
Congressman Chris Jacobs, R-Clarence, said he was pleased to hear the program will continue for two more months.
“I commend the USDA and the Administration for continuing to make American families and farmers a top priority,” Jacobs said. “The Farmers to Families Food Box program has been a highly successful program that has provided healthy nutritious food to millions of American families. I have seen how it supports farmers and agri-businesses right here in NY-27 and will continue to advocate for programs that support local agriculture.”
Photos courtesy of Cobblestone Museum: The Farmers Hall is on Route 98, just south of the Route 104 intersection. The building was originally a church in Kendall and then the Kendall Town Hall.
(Editor’s Note: This is the 11th article in a series about historic Childs in the Town of Gaines. The hamlet of Childs lies just north of Albion at the intersection of Routes 104 and 98. In 2019, Childs was selected to be on the Landmark Society of Western New York’s “Five to Revive” list. In 1993, the federal U.S. Department of the Interior declared the Cobblestone Museum in Childs a National Historic Landmark, the first site in Orleans County with that distinction.)
By Doug Farley, Cobblestone Museum Director
CHILDS – The Cobblestone Museum maintains several wooden structures in the Hamlet of Childs in addition to its National Historic Landmark cobblestone buildings. The large wooden Greek Revival building that is located on the southern end of the campus is known today as Farmers Hall. It has a truly unique and storied history since it was first built in the Town of Kendall in 1855.
Originally the Universalist Church of Kendall, this Greek Revival structure served its congregation in Kendal until the early 1880s when a German Lutheran congregation used the church for another two decades. Following that, the building became the Kendall Town Hall, a status that lasted until a new Town Hall was built in the 1970s.
The next intended use for the old building in Kendall would have been a preservation nightmare. Kendall officials had planned to use the old church turned Town Hall for fire practice. That tragedy was narrowly averted when Cobblestone Museum officials received permission to move the two-story building to their campus to display their growing collection of farm tools from the 19th and early 20th century.
The biggest obstacle to this decision for the Cobblestone Museum board was they had run out of land on which to put the building. That dilemma was solved when Mrs. Neva Murray made an offer of land adjacent to the museum property. In May 1978, Museum Director Bill Lattin, Kendall Town Historian Mrs. Delores Sedore and four CETA workers (a Nixon-era job training program) began the monumental task of disassembling the building, board by board, and numbering all of the components for later reassembly at the museum’s artisan campus on Route 98.
Almost miraculously, the building was reassembled by November of the same year. Bill Lattin has recently lamented, “If I knew then what I know now, I never would have started that project!”
Joe Ward, Eddie Drisdom & Ronnie Tower are shown outside their job site at Farmers Hall following its reconstruction. The next year work progressed on the building’s interior, followed by pulling together the Museum’s farm tool collection from the disparate corners of the county where donated objects lacking display space had been stored for many years.
Once accomplished, June 1, 1980 was selected to be the day of celebration for the completion of the Herculean task.
Dignitaries from around the state came to speak at Farmers Hall Dedication. Shown here are (from left) Marcia Hart, Kendall Supervisor Mike Paduchak, NYS Senator John Daly and Rev. Richard Hood from the Pullman Memorial Unitarian Church.
Over 2,000 spectators assembled that day to enjoy the 70-unit Farmers Parade on Route 104.
Five generations of Kirby Farms were celebrated in one of many farm floats.
Everyone was a farmer for at least one day. The parade route stretched from the 104 Country Shop in Gaines to Zambito Produce in Childs. Coach Ed Stackwick served as Parade Marshall and a reviewing podium was set up in front of the Cobblestone Universalist Church.
A timeless message proclaimed using antique farm equipment.
A square dance followed the parade in the parking lot of Radzinski’s H&A Superette and adjoining liquor store.
Farmers Hall has continuously served as an educational site since it was dedicated right up to today. Here we see the first school tour in Farmers Hall in 1979 when teacher Mr. Gary Kent (back row center) brought his Social Studies class from Kendall School.
Georgia Thomas demonstrates butter churning outside of Farmers Hall at a Cobblestone Museum event in 2018.
Hundreds and hundreds of school tours later, C. W. “Bill” Lattin ended his official tenure as Cobblestone Museum Director in 2010 after 40 years of dedicated service to the museum community. At that time Farmers Hall was officially dedicated in his honor. Bill worked tirelessly to create a facility that would be both educational and interesting, all while preserving so much of our storied past for future generations.
In 2017, after almost 40 years of school tours and more, Farmers Hall was beginning to exhibit some bowing walls and sagging floors, and needed some preservation work once again. The Cobblestone Museum secured grants from Rochester Area Foundation, Orleans Foundation (Curtis Fund), and Genesee Country Antiques Dealers Association that provided funds to shore up the foundation pillars and added rafter ties to “tighten” the building, bringing it back to its original shape. Matching cedar siding was also added to the rear of the hall and other important work was accomplished as well.
It is hoped that the building is now ready to face the next 150 years of its life as a centerpiece in the Historic Hamlet of Childs.
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 23 October 2020 at 9:19 pm
HOLLEY – The school district has informed the community a Holley High School teacher has tested positive for Covid-19.
The positive test follows two students who have tested positive in the Holley Junior-Senior High School.
The teacher was last working at the school on Wednesday and the last day the teacher had contact with students was on Tuesday with the “Red Hawks” cohort, Brian Bartalo, the district superintendent, said in a letter to the community posted on the district website.
Orleans County Health Department officials have told Holley school leaders the teacher’s Covid case does not appear to be related to the two positive student cases.
“Contact tracing has to begin as soon as possible,” Bartalo said. “Just as in the student cases, the district is unable to legally disclose any further details or personal identifiable information about this teacher per the federal privacy laws.”
The district this evening was planning to share class rosters and contact information with the Health Department so that the department can begin the tracing process.
“The only students (parents) who may be called will be those high school students (Red Hawks) who were in school on Tuesday and who may have been in close contact with this particular teacher,” Bartalo said. “At this time, there’s no need for students to quarantine or get tested, unless you are contacted by the Health Department and directed to do so.”
If a student is contacted and put on mandatory quarantine, the district asks that the family call the high school nurse at 638-6316, ext. 5100 or the principal’s office at 638-6318, ext. 5505. The district will work with the students about being fully remote during the quarantine period.
It is recommended that students and staff members continue daily monitoring for symptoms of Covid-19 which could include fever, loss of taste or smell, headache, cough, shortness of breath or difficulty breathing, sore throat, fatigue, congestion or runny nose, body aches and/or nausea. If these or unusual symptoms occur, please consult your medical provider, Bartalo said in his letter.
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 23 October 2020 at 4:45 pm
Orleans County is reporting three more confirmed cases of Covid-19, including a student at Holley Junior-Senior High School for the second day in a row.
The Holley student was under mandatory quarantine at the time of being tested positive. The individual is under mandatory isolation and will remain there until fully recovered. Contact tracing is in process, the Genesee and Orleans County Health Departments said this afternoon.
“Individuals identified by the Health Department as being close contacts with the student have been and/or will be contacted by the Health Department’s contact tracers and placed under mandatory quarantine,” Health Department officials said in a news release.
Individuals identified by the Health Department as being a close contact will be expected to follow the New York State Department of Health quarantine guidelines.
The three new confirmed cases today bring the total to 366 who have tested positive in Orleans since March.
The new positive cases reside in Carlton and Murray, and the individuals are in the age groups of 0-19, the 20s and the 40s. Two of the individuals were not on mandatory quarantine prior to testing positive.
Orleans also has 14 new individuals on precautionary quarantine due to travel from restricted states.
Genesee County is reporting 2 new positive cases of Covid-19 for a total of 350 positive cases since March.
The new positive cases reside in Darien and Oakfield. One person is in the 20s and the other is in the 60s. The individuals were not on mandatory quarantine prior to testing positive, the Health Departments said.
Genesee has 5 new individuals on precautionary quarantine due to travel from restricted states.
Genesee also has 5 people hospitalized due to Covid-19.
This is each region’s percentage of positive test results reported over the last three days.
• Statewide Data: The positivity rate is 1.15 percent for tests on Thursday, including 2.31 percent in the focus zone areas and 0.98 percent outside the focus zones.
“The experts told us we would see infection rates increase through the fall, and we’ve seen that as cases rise again across the nation,” Gov. Andrew Cuomo said. “In New York, we are attacking micro-clusters where we see them, and that will be our strategy through this season as we see micro-clusters come and go.”
Within the focus areas, 18,563 test results were reported yesterday, yielding 428 positives. In the remainder of the state, not counting these focus areas, 122,945 test results were reported, yielding 1,209 positives.
The governor also noted that localized areas that are seeing outbreaks are also seeing hospital admission increases, and remain the main driver of new hospital admissions for the state. Nearly 50 percent of all new daily hospital admissions in New York State over the past 14 days have been from Brooklyn, Queens, Rockland, Orange, and counties along the Pennsylvania border where we have “micro-cluster” focus zone areas.
Press Release, Genesee-Orleans-Wyoming Opioid Task Force
There will be several drive-through Drug Take Back events on Saturday in Genesee, Orleans and Wyoming counties.
The events are a chance to turn in unused or expired medication for safe disposal and help prevent prescription drug abuse, accidental poisoning and also protect the environment.
This service is free and anonymous, no questions asked.
The five events in the three counties are all from will be from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.
Genesee County
• Alva Place Parking Lot
Corner of Alva Place and Bank Street
*Sharps will also be accepted at this location only*
• Pembroke Town Hall
Rt. 5 at Rt. 77 in Pembroke
Orleans County
• Orleans County Sheriff’s Office
13925 State Rt. 31 in Albion
*Sharps will also be accepted at this location only*
Press Release, U.S. Senators Charles Schumer and Kirsten Gillibrand
WASHINGTON D.C. – U.S. Minority Leader Charles E. Schumer and U.S. Senator Kirsten Gillibrand, member of the Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry, today announced $180,366 in federal funding for the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation to protect New York’s wildlife and deer population from the serious threat of Chronic Wasting Disease.
CWD is an infectious, degenerative disease of cervids in deer and moose that causes brain cells to die, ultimately leading to the death of the affected animal. This funding was allocated through the United States Department of Agriculture’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service and will be used to create a researched based digital media campaign to control and reduce the risks of this disease.
“New York’s diverse wildlife and amazing outdoor ecosystems are part of what make this state so beautiful,” said Senator Schumer. “We must do everything we can to foster healthy biodiversity and protect our deer and moose populations from Chronic Wasting Disease. I’m proud to secure funding that will continue to develop New York as a sanctuary for wildlife and educate people on the risks of CWD.”
“New York State is home to diverse wildlife and we must address the ever-evolving challenges impacting local plants and animals,” said Senator Gillibrand. “This critical funding will help protect our biodiversity and reduce the risk of Chronic Wasting Disease for deer and elk – especially the white-tailed deer population in New York State that are at serious risk of CWD. I will continue fighting to protect the health and safety of our wildlife population across the state.”
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 23 October 2020 at 12:06 pm
Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced $357 million in funding road improvement projects in every county of the state, including $1.2 million to resurface Route 237 from the Genesee County line through Clarendon, the Village of Holley and Town of Murray.
These infrastructure renewal projects will incorporate the use of environmentally conscious construction techniques such as warm-mix asphalt and cold in place asphalt recycling that can be applied at significantly lower temperatures, thereby reducing fuel consumption and decreasing the production of associated greenhouse gas emission during construction, Cuomo said in a news release.
These techniques also allow existing materials to be reused and can reduce the amount of materials that would otherwise be trucked to landfills. The projects announced today are currently being designed and construction will begin next spring.
“New York continues to lead the nation in demonstrating that infrastructure investments supporting economic growth can be balanced with protecting our precious environmental and natural resources,” Cuomo said. “These investments are laying the foundation for sustained growth in tourism and business development while enhancing the resilience of the supporting infrastructure.”
This funding, administered by the New York State Department of Transportation, will support 135 paving projects and the renewal of approximately 1,740 lane miles of pavements across New York State.
Other nearby projects include:
• Genesee County: $1.3 million to resurface Route 98 from Route 20 to the City of Batavia (South Limit) in the Towns of Alexander and Batavia.
• Livingston County-Monroe County: $27.5 million to resurface I-390 from Routes 5 & 20 (Exit 10) to I-390 (Exit 12), including mainline and ramps, in the Town of Avon, Livingston County and in the Towns of Henrietta and Rush, Monroe County.
• Wyoming County: $1.2 million to resurface Route 98 from Route 20A to Route 354 in the Towns of Sheldon, Bennington, and Attica, Wyoming County.
• Erie County: $12.8 million to resurface I-290 From I-190 to I-90 in the Towns of Amherst and Tonawanda.
• Erie County: $2.1 million to resurface Route 263 (Millersport Highway) from Route 270 (Campbell Boulevard) to Route 78 (Transit Road).
• Niagara County: $5.6 million to resurface I-190 Northbound from Route 384 (Buffalo Avenue) to Route 31 (Witmer Road) in the City of Niagara Falls and the Town of Niagara.
New York State Senate Republican Leader Rob Ortt (R,C,I-North Tonawanda) is calling on Gov. Andrew Cuomo to release $1 billion in unused federal CARES Act funds that remain in New York State’s coffers.
The federal CARES Act originally contained $7 billion in funding for the State of New York and was distributed to local governments with populations greater than 500,000 residents. While this was helpful to New York State, its largest cities, and larger counties, reduced sales tax revenue and a lack of federal aid have put immense financial pressure on many smaller governments around the state.
“Each day that passes, small towns, villages, and county governments across our state are being forced to make difficult financial decisions due to the lack of state funding and planning,” Ortt said. “One billion of the approximately $3 billion dollars remaining from the original CARES Act funding is currently categorized for ‘other’ use and I can think of no better way to make use of this ‘other’ category spending than to throw a lifeline to our struggling local governments.”
Ortt called for the Division of the Budget to immediately release the funding to local governments who did not receive previous assistance. He also suggested that distribution from these available funds should be allocated by utilizing the same formula used for local governments in the state’s Aid and Incentives to Municipalities (AIM) distribution.
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 23 October 2020 at 8:41 am
The temperatures will take a big swing from today to Saturday. Today will be mostly sunny with a high of 80 in Orleans County. Then tonight the temperature goes down to 43, according to the National Weather Service in Buffalo.
Saturday is forecast to reach a high of 49 with showers likely before 10 a.m. Sunday is forecast for a high of 48.
It is a great time to get out for a walk in Orleans County, especially at one of the local historic cemeteries. It’s hard to top the fall foliage at Mount Albion Cemetery. This photo shows the arch at the main entrance of the cemetery on Route 31.
The cemetery is well cared for by the Village of Albion and local veterans’ groups make sure veterans’ graves are marked with a flag.
The Ingersoll monument stands out amidst the colorful leaves at the cemetery.
LYNDONVILLE – National Grid has a planned outage for about an hour from 11:59 p.m. Friday until about 1 a.m. Saturday, the Orleans County Emergency Management Office announced today.
There are approximately 1,800 customers affected by this event in the village and surrounding towns, the EMO said.
The outage is for required station tests at the station located off of North Main Street and Railroad Avenue in the Village of Lyndonville.
The affected customers are in the entire Village of Lyndonville, the Town of Yates and parts of Ridgeway.
All customers have been forwarded a previously recorded phone message of the planned outage.
This year’s event will be drive-through and carve at your home
Press Release, Lyndonville Lions Club
LYNDONVILLE – Lyndonville Central School students K-6th grade can look forward to another year of pumpkin carving presented by the Lyndonville Lions Club.
The Lyndonville Lions Club is holding its annual Rick Callard Pumpkin Carving Contest between 10 a.m. and noon this Saturday. The event will be held at the Lyndonville Fire Hall on Main Street.
However this year’s contest will be a little bit different. Due to current Covid-19 restrictions on gathering, this year’s event will be drive-through, touch-free only.
The Lyndonville Lions Club will be handing out free pumpkins plus a complimentary goodie bag to each Lyndonville school child up to age 12 present in your vehicle. A Lions Club member will place each pumpkin and goodie bag in your vehicle for you to ensure a safe touch-free environment for everyone.
While we anticipate having plenty on hand, both pumpkins and goodie bag quantities are limited and will be given out on a first-come-first-served basis until they are gone – so you are encouraged to show up early!
We invite you to bring your child or children to pick up your complimentary pumpkin and decorate it in the safety, convenience and comfort of your home. On the night of Saturday, October 24th, we encourage you to share your child’s pumpkin carving and creations with us on our Lyndonville Lion’s Facebook page.
The Lyndonville Lions Club wishes everyone a fun safe Halloween and we look forward to seeing you this Saturday.
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 22 October 2020 at 4:57 pm
Orleans County is reporting one new Covid-19 case this afternoon, a Kendall resident in the 50s.
The individual was not on mandatory quarantine prior to testing positive, the Genesee and Orleans County Health Departments said.
Orleans has now had 363 people test positive for Covid-19 since March.
The county also has 8 new individuals on precautionary quarantine due to travel from restricted states.
Genesee County didn’t receive any new confirmed cases today, and remains at 348 cases since March. One Genesee resident is hospitalized with Covid.
One of the individuals reported yesterday is a resident at Premier Genesee Rehabilitation and Nursing Center in Batavia. That is the first positive case at that facility.
Genesee also has 8 new individuals on precautionary quarantine due to travel from restricted states.
Updates from the Genesee and Orleans County Health Departments:
• Micro-clusters: The initiative will take the most significant action within the cluster (Red Zone), moderate action in the area surrounding the cluster to stop the spread (Orange Zone), and precautionary action in the outlying communities (Yellow Zone). To learn more about the Cluster Action Initiative, click here.
• School Guidance: New York State Department of Health has provided guidance regarding when/if to send a child to school and when/if staff should report. This guidance has been sent out to all school districts and primary care providers.
If you have issues with this guidance or further questions we encourage you to contact your state elected officials or the state directly as the local counties do not have control over what the state directs. For the guidance document, click here.
• The Covid-19 Report Card is an online dashboard which tracks real-time Covid-19 infections and testing operations of every New York school and school district. Click here to access the Report Card.
