HOLLEY – The Holley Rotary Club has awarded five scholarship to graduating seniors, including a new Jessica Mandigo Service Above Self Award.
While a student at Holley, Jessica attended a Rotary-sponsored youth leadership camp. She returned from that weekend inspired to start an Interact Club, which she did. Jessica is now a Rotarian.
Each year a new honoree will be selected and their name engraved on the plaque that bears her name. It will be displayed at the high school. The awardee will also receive a $250 scholarship.
Morgan Cary
Kohl Morgan is the first to receive this new honor. Kohl has been an active member of our Interact Club and is always there to assist. He’s the first to step up and lend a hand, without prompting. His presence is nearly a given at community events and volunteer opportunities. Where you find Kohl, you find laughs and you find his peers drawn to him. He’s a natural leader.
Megan Harrington
The Holley Rotary Club also awarded four $500 scholarships for graduating seniors. They are Morgan Cary, Megan Harrington, Olivia Radford and Tyler Jones.
Morgan Cary was a Class Officer, Editor of the Yearbook, played 2 sports, and was an active Interact Club member. She will be going to GCC next year.
Olivia Radford
Megan Harrington was extremely active in Interact and has been from the beginning. She is an officer this year and worked very hard at planning the Day of Caring. She has helped with many Rotary dinners, participated in Slapshot, and also went to Canada last year with Rotary to talk about Interact Club. Megan is going to Ohio State University next year.
Tyler Jones
Olivia Radford was active with Interact during her 8th-10th grade years. She is a very active girl overall as a 3-sport athlete, National Honor Society member, and a volunteer with the Salvation Army, Hamlin animal shelter, Catholic Charities as well as a local food bank. She is going to St. John Fisher next year for nursing.
Tyler Jones recently joined the Interact Club and has been a very active member. For the Day of Caring he and his mom worked to drop off a ton of donations. He is always asking how he can help, what he missed at a meeting, or what is coming up. He will be going to SUNY Brockport next year to major in Political Science.
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 14 June 2020 at 9:45 pm
Plans must include policies for use of force, crowd management, community policing, implicit bias awareness and de-escalation training, restorative justice practices, community outreach, and a transparent citizen complaint procedure
Gov. Andrew Cuomo signed a new executive order on Friday that requires all law enforcement agencies in the state to adopt plans for community policing.
Those plans need citizen input and must be adopted by April 1, or that department could lose its state.
Cuomo’s executive order is called the New York State Police Reform and Reinvention Collaborative. It mandates all of the state’s roughly 500 law enforcement agencies must discuss with the community if policing strategies need to be reinvented.
“Our law enforcement officers are essential to ensuring public safety — they literally put themselves in harm’s way every day to protect us,” Cuomo said. “This emergency regulation will help rebuild that confidence and restore trust between police and the communities they serve by requiring localities to develop a new plan for policing in the community based on fact-finding and meaningful community input.”
Cuomo said some communities make be happy with how their law enforcement agencies are currently functioning. Those departments need to affirm that response from the community and send that as a plan to the state.
Other communities may want significant changes in how a department operates, including with the number of officers, equipment and the allocation level of tax dollars used to fund that department.
“The protests taking place throughout the nation and in communities across New York in response to the murder of George Floyd illustrate the loss of community confidence in our local police agencies — a reality that has been fueled by our country’s history of police-involved deaths of black and brown people,” Cuomo said.
Cuomo, speaking today at a news conference, said a village or city mayor may drive the process for the plan and getting citizen input, or a County Legislature leader, council president or Public Safety chairman could take the lead.
Cuomo wants frank discussions among communities and the law enforcement agencies, and a clear understanding of the impact to the local taxpayer for the police.
Cuomo said the following need to happen for a law enforcement agency to be in compliance with the executive order:
Police forces must adopt a plan by April 1, 2021 to be eligible for future state funding and certify that they have:
Engaged stakeholders in a public and open process on policing strategies and tools;
Presented a plan, by chief executive and head of the local police force, to the public for comment;
After consideration of any comments, presented such plan to the local legislative body (council or legislature as appropriate) which has approved such plan (by either local law or resolution); and
If such local government does not certify the plan, the police force may not be eligible to receive future state funding.
The governor has signed about 10 executive orders regarding the police since the death of George Floyd on Memorial Day.
Cuomo’s “Say Their Name” agenda includes allowing for transparency of prior disciplinary records of law enforcement officers by reforming 50-a of the civil rights law; banning chokeholds by law enforcement officers; prohibiting false race-based 911 reports and making them a crime; and designating the Attorney General as an independent prosecutor for matters relating to the deaths of unarmed civilians caused by law enforcement.
Cuomo said the demonstrations have already led to changes in policing.
“All the great activists in history will tell you protest is a means to an end,” he said today. “The end is change, the end is reform. Protest is not for the sake of protest. Demonstrations are not for the sake of demonstrations. It’s to make a point, it’s to communicate, it’s to get attention, and then it’s actually make change.”
The New York State Police Reform and Reinvention Collaborative ‘s a “game changer” that will serve as a national model, Cuomo said.
“Every community in this state gets to redesign its police department,” he said. “Every community in this state gets to determine what is the appropriate public safety function in 2020.”
Cuomo said many law enforcement agencies don’t have the trust and respect of the communities they serve.
He expects to see communities develop different plans for police departments, which range in size from one officer to 38,000 with the New York City Police Department.
“There is no such thing as a statewide police department, that’s the state police,” Cuomo said. “Every community has its own police department, its own wants, its own needs … Different communities have different needs. They have different opinions. They have different ideas. Fine, make the police department work for you, but do it. Do it.”
Cuomo said it’s now up to the community leaders across the state, law enforcement officials, activists and other citizens to get together.
The plans must address the law enforcement agency’s use of force, crowd management, community policing, implicit bias awareness and de-escalation training, restorative justice practices, community outreach, a transparent citizen complaint procedure and other issues specific to each community, Cuomo said.
“It now requires real leadership, not just criticism, not just suggestions,” Cuomo said. “You need a real leader or number of people to lead and actually make this happen.”
Governor Andrew M. Cuomo today signed legislation (S.3253-A/A.1360) – the “New Yorker’s Right to Monitor Act” – affirming the right of an individual to record law enforcement activity and to maintain custody of that recording and any instruments used to make the recording.
“Transparency is critical to renewing the community’s trust and confidence in our policing systems,” Governor Cuomo said. “Stopping police abuse vindicates the overwhelming majority – 99.9 percent – of police who are there to do the right thing, and by making clear that all New Yorkers have the right to record and keep recordings of police activity we can help restore trust in the police-community relationship.”
Senator Kevin Parker said, “Sunlight is the best disinfectant! The right to record act will ensure protection for people who record misconduct by police. The senseless murder of George Floyd is a stark example of why transparency is needed. I appreciate Governor Cuomo recognizing the critical nature of this bill and signing it into law.”
Assembly Member Nick Perry said, “There should be no cover, and no comfort for wrongful behavior in any police department, and as free Americans and New York citizens, we have always been informed and aware that we have the right and freedom to monitor and record acts of misconduct by bad apples in our police departments. We are grateful for the Governor’s bold and positive leadership against relentless resistance from those behind the blue wall of silence. This new law makes it clear and unquestionable that as New Yorkers we are claiming and will exercise this right to protect us from the dishonorable actors who hide behind the badge, while abusing the awesome powers we afford them as police officers.”
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 14 June 2020 at 1:09 pm
Baseball, softball among the sports, with limits of 2 spectators per child
Photo by Tom Rivers: Drew Boyce of Carlton pitches in last year’s Albion Midget League championship. Carlton won, 1-0, over Sandstone Park on July 23. The league has played every year since 1956, except for this season.
Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced today that low-risk youth sports will be allowed to resume on July 6, as long as a region is in Phase 3 of the reopening.
Orleans County is in the Finger Lakes Region, which started in Phase 3 on Friday.
The sports allowed include baseball, softball, gymnastics, field hockey, cross country and crew.
There will be a limit of two spectators per child on the team or activity.
Most of the local sports leagues cancelled their spring and summer seasons. Some of leagues left open the chance for playing later in the summer or fall.
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 14 June 2020 at 12:40 pm
The number of confirmed deaths from Covid-19 this past week in New York State continued to decline.
There were 271 deaths in the state from June 7 to June 13, which was down 19.1 percent from the 335 the previous week.
It is a dramatic decline from the height of Covid-19, when the state suffered 5,226 deaths from coronavirus during week of April 5-11.
The deaths last week were 5.1 percent of the high nine weeks earlier. The state has managed to reduce the weekly death rate every week since hitting the high during the week of April 5-11.
The number of deaths on Saturday was 23, the lowest in nearly three months.
“This is really great news,” Gov. Andrew Cuomo said about the declining deaths at a noon news conference today. “But of all the numbers that is the one number we can’t change. That is the one number we can’t fix, and that is the number of lives lost.”
Cuomo urged New Yorkers to continue social distancing, wearing a mask in public and using other precautions to reduce the spread of the virus, especially as more businesses are allowed to reopen.
He said he is outraged by the number of violations being reported of businesses violating safety precautions to protect people from Covid-19, including people not wearing masks and establishments violating capacity.
Cuomo today said bars and restaurants could lose their liquor licenses for violating the executive orders.
He emphasized people need to wear masks when in public and when social distancing isn’t possible.
“Show a modicum of respect and wear a mask,” Cuomo said today. “We’re not asking for much. It’s basic decency of a society.”
If the Covid-19 infections and hospitalizations spike, Cuomo said the state could be forced to roll back the reopening of businesses and activities in areas that are not complying with the executive orders, or the state could pause the reopening.
The 271 deaths last week is an average of nearly 39 a day, which is down from about about 48 a day the previous week, and the 72 daily average two weeks earlier.
Week of June 7-13: (271 deaths)
• June 7, 39; June 8, 46; June 9, 53; June 10, 36; June 11, 42, June 12; 32; and June 13, 23.
Week of May 31 to June 6 (335 deaths)
• May 31, 54; June 1, 58; June 2, 49; June 3, 52; June 4, 42; June 5, 35; June 6, 45.
Week of May 24-30: (505 deaths)
• May 24; 96; May 25, 73; May 26, 74; May 27, 74; May 28, 67; May 29, 67; May 30, 56.
Week of May 17-23: (730 deaths)
• May 17, 106; May 18, 105; May 19, 112; May 20; 105; May 21, 109; May 22, 84; and May 23, 109.
Week of May 10-16: (1,107 deaths)
• May 10, 161; May 11, 195; May 12, 166; May 13; 157; May 14, 132; May 15, 157; and May 16, 139.
Week of May 3-9: (1,568 deaths)
• May 3, 226; May 4, 230; May 5, 232; May 6, 231: May 7, 216; May 8, 226; May 9, 207.
Week of April 26-May 2: (2,176 deaths)
• April 26, 337; April 27, 335; April 28, 330; April 29, 306; April 30, 289; May 1, 299; May 2, 280.
Week of April 19-25: (3,097 deaths)
• April 19, 478; April 20, 481; April 21, 474; April 22, 438; April 23, 422; April 24, 437; April 25, 367.
Week of April 12-18: (4,484 deaths)
• April 12 (Easter), 671; April 13, 778; April 14, 752; April 15, 606; April 16, 630; April 17, 540; April 18, 507.
Week of April 5-11: (5,226 deaths)
• April 5, 599; April 6, 731; April 7, 779; April 8, 799; April 9, 777; April 10, 783; April 11, 758.
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 14 June 2020 at 11:11 am
Photos by Tom Rivers
ALBION – Stacey Kirby Steward works on a mural Saturday morning inside Hoag Library. Steward, an Albion native who lives in Spencerport, is creating a large mural of swans flying over the Albion countryside.
“I’m very excited about this painting,” Steward said Saturday. “It contains a lot of what I love about Orleans County.”
Her mural will show three swans flying over the Erie Canal, showing the Gaines Basin Road bridge. The painting also highlights the farm fields, Lake Ontario and some of the cobblestone houses.
This is the second art project at the library by Steward. She designed the stained-glass window with swans.
An anonymous donor is covering the cost for Steward to create the painting. The library surveyed patrons last fall to get their votes on three designs for the mural, which will go in the Curtis Room, the largest meeting space in the library.
Steward submitted sketches showing swans, eagles or hawks in flight over the canal.
The vote totals include 71 for swans, 62 for eagles, and 27 for the hawk design.
Before Hoag Library opened in July 2012, Albion’s public library was known as the Swan Library. That site opened in 1900 in a former mansion at 4 North Main St. in 1900 and remained the library’s site for 112 years.
Steward will add three swans to the mural. She will paint them next Saturday. The library is pushing to have the mural in place by June 23, when the library will serve as a polling place for a special election and primary.
Jim Babcock’s construction business will handle installing the mural to the wall.
Steward hired a drone photographer to get photos of the countryside in early fall.
This is Steward’s sketch showing three swans in flight over the Albion.
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 14 June 2020 at 9:40 am
Photo by Tom Rivers: A hanging basket of flowers is shown in downtown Medina on Thursday evening.
Today started off chilly, with a low of 39 recorded in Medina at 6 a.m., according to the National Weather Service in Buffalo.
It will warm up to a high of 64 today with sunny skies.
The forecast this week shows lots of sunshine. The highs the rest of the week include 73 on Monday, 77 on Tuesday, 83 on Wednesday, 86 on Thursday and 88 on Friday.
If you are a senior in high school in 2020, the year may not have ended the way tradition has taught us.
Thankfully, my smart, funny and beautiful niece, Lillie Burgoon, shows the positive in what has been an unconventional senior year. I dedicate this post to her words below, and to all seniors who have found silver linings.
She writes:
Having my last day of senior year be March 12 instead of June 20 was a shock that no one would have predicted at the beginning of the school year. Covid-19 has taken everyone by surprise and put a halt on life, and getting in the way of so many things that we, as seniors, deserved to experience.
We lost our Senior Prom, Senior Bash, our last days of high school, and maybe even walking the stage for our graduation, which is just so heartbreaking to think about. While I might not experience those milestones that everyone has in 12th grade, I’m extremely lucky. I’m healthy, and no one I love or even know has contracted the virus, so we’ve all been safely tucked away in our homes.
While it’s so easy to focus on the sad stuff going on in the world and the scary possibilities about the future, it’s so important to just keep looking on the positive side and keep informed with what’s going on, to keep yourself in the best position to stay healthy and happy.
With moving away to college only three months away, the biggest thing on my mind is spending time with my family and soaking up that time before it ends, and social distancing has created a good opportunity for that! I spend every day with my little sister and, on the weekends, soak up the sun with my mom and stepdad added in and just spend time together, which is something I might not have been able to do if we were living on a normal schedule.
With the scary unknown about the future of our schooling, our teachers have done an amazing job keeping us positive and helping us along the way during these confusing times. They are constantly in contact whenever you need them, supporting us with the work we need to have completed and just being a friendly face, which has been so important. Considering the circumstances, they’ve done just an amazing job and keep a smile on my face during our Zoom meetings.
We don’t know what’s going to happen in the world, or something as small as our senior year, but looking on the bright side makes all the difference. I had a great ¾ of my senior year, Facetime keeps me connected to my best friends, and I’ve found a lot of happiness in being outside to explore nature.
These are obviously not the days that I would want for the end of my career in school, but it’s special to see how my friends and family are coping with these times and finding new ways to stay happy and healthy!
Lillie
“The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams.” – Eleanor Roosevelt.
Share your positive senior story, visit my blog live online at https://www.positiveperksposts.com and catch up on weekly photo perks and past posts. Like and share your comments. Congrats Class of 2020!
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 13 June 2020 at 6:41 pm
Photos by Tom Rivers
KENDALL – Jack Gillman is pictured with a 1966 Ford Thunderbird in his barn behind his house I Roosevelt Highway.
The engine started on fire this afternoon and was spreading through the car. Gillman, a former Kendall town supervisor, called 911 and then used two fire extinguishers to keep the fire contained to the car.
His neighbor Dan Hance also came over with a fire extinguisher to prevent the car from being totally engulfed in flames.
Justin Niederhofer, an Orleans County fire investigator, looks at the engine to pinpoint the cause.
Gillman has been working to restore the car the past 20 years. It only needed to be painted before he was finished. He drove the car earlier today.
He said the engine was flooded out and the carburetor backfired, causing a spark with caused the engine to catch on fire. The flames melted the battery, wiring and the brake system.
Gillman isn’t giving up the car. He said if he can find another engine he thinks the car could be on the road in about a month.
Kendall firefighters were dispatched to the scene just before 4:30. They were able to ensure the fire was put out.
“Luckily he had a fire extinguisher and was able to knock it down,” said Jordan Willis, a captain with the Kendall Fire Department.
Gillman said without the fire extinguishers the entire barn likely would have caught on fire.
By Kim Pritt, Contributor Posted 13 June 2020 at 3:00 pm
Let’s go on an adventure together….to Hershey and Gettysburg, Pa.!
Sharing an adventure with great friends you don’t get to see very often is a special treat. In October 2017, I met some friends in Hershey, Pa. for a few days – I drove down from Albion and they drove up from Sanford, N.C. I went down a day early because I wanted some time to explore along the way and not feel rushed to get there. It also gave me the pleasure of stumbling on some cool attractions to kill the time until they arrived.
When thinking of the Hershey / Gettysburg area, you typically think of Hershey Park and the battlefield. But there is so much more to see and do, if you have the time. I got there just after dusk, so I got some dinner and settled into a nice little motel in Hershey. The next day, I had several hours before my friends were expected to arrive later in the day, so I got up early and started exploring. I found a great vintage diner in nearby Hummelstown called the “Soda Jerk Diner” for breakfast. I went to Hummelstown looking for a dam that was listed on a local attractions list as a “must see.” I never found the dam … must be a well-kept secret location … but I did find “Indian Echo Caverns” and decided to stop and check it out. It turned out to be a great way to spend an hour or so of my morning. If you like caverns, it is well worth the time to visit and it isn’t far from Hershey.
A crystal lake inside Indian Echo Caverns in Hummelstown, Pa.
After my cavern tour, I headed back to Hershey to see what I could find. I drove by Hershey Park – it was closed for the season (we were there over Halloween weekend), but what I could see of it looked really nice. I’m not a big theme park fan, but it looked like a great place to go, if you are! Near the entrance to the park, I spotted “Zoo America” full of wonderful animals that can be found in North America. Well, I love animals and zoos, so my next stop to kill time was a no-brainer. I spent the next few hours enjoying the lovely little zoo and all of its residents.
My friends arrived from North Carolina late afternoon, so after an adventurous morning, I met up with them at the condo they had booked for us. We heard that a visit to Hershey must include chocolate martinis … we all agreed that sounded scrumptious, so we asked for a recommendation for a restaurant that could deliver on a good dinner and chocolate martinis. We found a great restaurant and had a fantastic meal … and topped it off with the famous chocolate martinis! WOW – they were so good – very potent – but so good! There were several to choose from – I chose one with caramel and my friends chose one with Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup and one that was with Special Dark Chocolate. We tried each other’s and decided that, while they were all amazing, our favorite by unanimous vote was the Special Dark Chocolate one.
Of course, the trip included a tour of the battlefield at Gettysburg.
A row of cannons on the Gettysburg Battlefield
When we were planning the trip, we debated how we would do the tour. We could save money and drive through ourselves at our leisure, but since none of us had ever been there, we wanted a guided tour so we could learn more about what we were going to see. There are bus tours available, and that was what we were leaning towards doing … until I stumbled on the option of a personal guided tour with a park ranger! I found it on the park’s website – the option to have a licensed park ranger drive your vehicle and give you a personal tour. The cost was a flat fee per vehicle and it ended up being less than the three of us would have paid for our bus tour tickets … so, yeah – that’s what we did! And we were so very glad! If you really want to do Gettysburg right, get a personal guided tour – you get to go somewhat at your leisure (they do have a time schedule, but it is a bit flexible) with photo stops at all the major monuments, impromptu stops as time permits, and the best information, stories, conversation, and answers you can’t possibly get in a large group or on your own. If you’ve never been to Gettysburg, I really recommend you go … it isn’t like any other battlefield or war memorial site. There are so many monuments – one for every state and regiment that participated in the battle, even ones to honor the dogs and horses that lost their lives beside their humans. Some homes and structures are still standing after all these years with cannon and bullet holes in the walls. It really is amazing, overwhelming and emotional.
My favorite photo from the trip – this is one of the key farm houses involved in the Battle of Gettysburg.
After we finished our tour of the battlefield, we went to The Hershey Story Museum. This is a nice little museum that tells the story of Milton Hershey, his very interesting life, and how he brought chocolate to Pennsylvania. It really was quite fascinating. We got our tickets for the museum off Groupon and it included a special chocolate tasting, which is usually an additional charge. At the end of the tour, we sat down for our tastings. Each set had six flights of hot chocolate made from cocoa beans from different places around the world in shot glasses. Each one had a distinctly different taste, and we were instructed to taste them in order – darkest to lightest. My favorite was the one from Java with 33% cocoa and a subtle caramel flavor. There were three of us and our ticket gave us four tastings, so we got to share the fourth for even more delightful deliciousness … and I so wanted even more!!! (hahaha)
Flights of hot chocolate from around the world for a chocolate tasting at the Hershey Story Museum.
Another fun attraction in Hershey is Hershey’s Chocolate World. We were told they had the best gift shop and chocolate shop – they were RIGHT!!! What a place! Candy and candy-related gifts as far as the eye can see. They also had rides and other activities, but we were just there for the shopping.
I like to find little local favorite spots for meals when I’m traveling. We drove past a place that had a big sign saying “Best Food in Town.” We had to stop to see if they were just full of themselves or if it was true … it was true!!! If you’re in Hershey, check out the Parkside Hotel. It’s a small pub-style bar and grill that’s not much to look at, but has really great food, friendly staff, and the locals at the bar made sure to make us feel welcome, too.
So, our trip came to an end and we went our separate ways – I headed back to NY and my friends back to NC. I would have liked to tour the Hershey factory, but sadly they stopped allowing tours back in the 70s. But, you can drive by and see the factory and smoke towers. It is pretty cool – I pulled in there to check it out on my way out of town. All in all, it was a really fun couple of days with good friends and exciting adventures.
If you’d like to see more photos from my Hershey / Gettysburg trip, visit my blog post.
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 13 June 2020 at 12:26 pm
POINT BREEZE – The body of a deceased person found on the shoreline at Point Breeze this morning is a male, Undersheriff Mike Mele said.
The body was discovered this morning by a woman who was watching the sunrise at the Point. She spotted the body just east of the harbor, between the Oak Orchard Lighthouse and the former Barbary Coast restaurant next door.
Orleans County Sheriff’s deputies were dispatched to the scene at about 5:20 in the morning.
The Monroe County Medical Examiner’s Office is doing an autopsy to try to determine the cause of death.
Mele said the Sheriff’s Office has reached out to counties along Lake Ontario and also the Canadian government to see if they have any recent missing person reports. Mele estimated the person had been in the water within two weeks.
The male didn’t have a wallet on him or any tattoos. The State Police identification is assisting the Sheriff’s Office in the case, Mele said.
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 13 June 2020 at 8:16 am
Photos by Tom Rivers
MEDINA – Owen Foos, right, and Andrew Lafave carry boxes of food to a trunk of a vehicle outside the Calvary Tabernacle Church in Medina on Friday.
There were 352 vehicles that stopped by the church for a food distribution that expanded from one box to three.
The distribution was supposed to be maxed out at 300, but the church was able to accommodate more than 300.
The distribution was scheduled to go from 9:30 to 11:30. Cars were lined up by 8 and the distribution continued until after 12:30 p.m. due to the long lines that stretched out over several streets. Most of the vehicles were in line for hour and a half to 2 hours.
Greg Reed, director of the Orleans County YMCA, hands a box to Andrew Lafave. Some of the YMCA staff helped with the distribution on Friday.
Three different trucks delivered the food on Friday morning. The boxes were in three groups: mixed dairy, cooked meat and produce. Each box was about 25 pounds.
Vince Iorio, pastor of the church, motions for the next vehicle to pull up. The church uses the former Medina High School on Catherine Street.
The next distribution may be moved to the Medina Middle School where there is a bigger parking lot, but that hasn’t been confirmed yet.
Heather Smith, director of the Orleans Community Health Foundation, volunteered at the food distribution with her daughter Gabriella. Smith’s son Isaac and daughter Paige also helped with the effort..
Donna Poore, left, coordinator of the food pantry at Calvary, asks how many are in the household, if there are any senior citizens in the household and what zip code they live in.
Melissa Blanar, right, is director of the Office for the Aging in Orleans County. The OFA handed out 100 washable face masks to seniors and 200 bottles of 2-ounce hand sanitizer. The OFA did the same last Friday during a food distribution in Albion.
The volunteers went through about 1,000 boxes of food on Friday.
This round of food distributions introduces a new state-funded program called Nourish New York. This funding allows Foodlink to purchase local product.
Some of the Foodlink product also is from the federal USDA’s new initiative called CFAP (Coronavirus Food Assistance Program). In this program, distributors who would normally serve schools, restaurants, and municipal programs are able to pre-pack boxes of perishable product and deliver to distributions being done all over the country.
People don’t need to register for the food distribution. They are encouraged to clean out their trunks and keep their windows closed. Volunteers will put a box of food in the trunk and then close the trunk.
The food distributions the next two weeks include:
Friday, June 19 – Community Action, Main Street Store, 9:30 to 11:30 a.m.
Wednesday, June 24 – beginning at 10 a.m. at the Orleans County 4-H Fairgrounds on Route 31 in Knowlesville (includes one box of produce)
Friday, June 26 – Holley Community Center, former Save-A-Lot grocery store parking lot, 9:30 to 11:30 a.m.
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 12 June 2020 at 6:58 pm
There has been another death at the Orchard Rehabilitation and Nursing Center in Medina, bringing the total deaths at the nursing home in Medina to 18.
Orleans County has now had 49 residents die from Covid-19, with 30 at The Villages of Orleans Health & Rehabilitation Center in Albion, and one death of a community member outside a nursing home.
The Genesee and Orleans County Health Departments today is reporting one new confirmed case of Covid-19, a Carlton resident who is in the 60s. This person was not on mandatory quarantine prior to testing positive.
The county has now had 247 people test positive for Covid-19. The Health Departments is reporting today that two more community members have recovered after getting Covid-19, bringing the total recoveries outside facilities to 97.
There are currently 14 residents hospitalized with Covid-19.
In Genesee County, there are no new cases today.
There also is one more recovery, bringing that total to 141 in Genesee.
Click here to see an online map of cases in Genesee, Orleans and Wyoming counties.
The facility breakdown is only showing the total positive cases from those facilities with confirmed cases of Covid-19.
More information from the Genesee and Orleans County Health Departments:
• Phase 3 is open today. With that in mind, everyone in Phase 3 should have developed and implemented their Business Safety Plan and in place prior to opening whether it be a business, house of worship, non-for-profit organization, etc.
You are responsible to have your plan and all necessary supplies in place prior to opening. You will not be submitting your plan. However it must be on the premises in the event of a state, local or safety inspection. Keep checking the New York Forward website for your industry/organization summary guidelines.
If you have questions regarding your business operations, please contact the Finger Lakes Regional Control Room: flnyf@esd.ny.gov.
• Guidance for indoor seating at restaurants and food services establishments and for personal care services for tattoo, piercing facilities, appearance enhancement practitioners, massage therapy, spas, cosmetology, nail specialty, UV and non-UV tanning, or waxing are now posted on the NY Forward website under Phase Three Industries.
Remember plans (including that the affirmation guidance has been read) and supplies have to be in place before opening.
• Garage/Yard sales are now able to be open following masking, social distancing, sanitizing and limiting to 10 or under. Garage and yard sales – as informal events for the sale of used goods by private individuals in residential settings – are permitted to operate so long as sellers ensure that (1) people can be safely and appropriately spaced such that each person is at least six feet away from others and, in no case, should the space be occupied by more than 10 people at any given time; (2) appropriate face coverings must be used by people in areas or situations where they are likely to come within six feet of another individual; and (3) adequate hand hygiene supplies (e.g. hand sanitizer) and regular cleaning/disinfection protocols are in place. Sellers may consult the New York Forward safety plan template for additional precautions that they should consider implementing during such sales.
• Social gatherings still 10 people or less: Per Governor Cuomo gatherings (groups, assembly, meeting, etc.) of 10 or less are permitted with social distancing and sanitization protocols in place. The executive order is through June 21st or unless it is extended.
The Health Departments do not authorize or allow exemptions from the Governor’s orders. If you have questions about the orders you can go to forward.ny.gov.
• Protestors urged to get tested for Covid-19. Governor Cuomo is urging all protesters to get a Covid-19 test. Find a test site near you.
• Orleans waiting direction on state on when DMV can reopen: Jack Welch, CAO of Orleans County, said the county is awaiting a Governor’s executive order to allow us to open the DMV by appointment. We look forward to the day we may announce our ability to greet the public by appointment at DMV.
• Mental Wellness: Six New Yorkers. Six weeks. Coping together. New Yorkers are coping with a lot. Coping Circles are free six-week support and resilience groups, held by video or phone, facilitated by licensed mental health professionals. Learn more and sign up at ny.gov/copingcircles for a Coping Circle, including specialized Circles for Healthcare Workers and First Responders, Survivors of COVID-19 Infection, Job Loss due to COVID-19, or Loss of a Loved One to COVID-19.
Jillian Menzie, a senior at Byron-Bergen Jr./Sr. High School, and Ashlyn LeBaron, a senior at Albion’s Charles D’ Amico High School, were selected as this year’s recipients of $1,000 scholarships from Genesee/Orleans Council on Alcoholism and Substance Abuse (GCASA) Foundation.
Typically, the scholarship award recipients are honored at GCASA’s Annual Membership Meeting and Luncheon. Due to COVID-19, this meeting will be held virtually this year.
“We are disappointed that we are unable to recognize and honor these deserving young women in person with their parents and school representatives present,” said Shannon Ford, GCASA Director of Communications and Development. “Their scholarship applications were outstanding.”
LeBaron and Menzie both plan to pursue a degree in nursing.
GCASA Foundation supports the work of GCASA and other non-profit organizations in Genesee and Orleans Counties. Several organizations have received mini-grants in the past to help sustain the crucial work they do in our community.
Jillian Menzie
The Foundation also invests in the future substance use disorder workforce by supporting individuals pursuing a degree in health sciences or human services.
The board of directors of both GCASA and GCASA Foundation are committed to providing quality services. Educated, skilled employees and board members are the necessary for effective service delivery.
“As a member of the selection committee, it was wonderful to read about all the applicants’ academic accomplishments and their commitment to community service,” said GCASA Foundation Board Treasurer Virginia Taylor. “Our recipients, Ashlyn and Jillian, were exceptionally impressive and we are thrilled to award scholarships to help cover some of their college costs.”
GCASA Foundation has been pleased to honor many commendable students over the past several years.
