American Legion leader enjoys honoring veterans, connecting with community

Photos by Tom Rivers – Larry Montello is pictured with the memorial next to County Courthouse for victims of the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks. Montello, the American Legion and county officials dedicated the memorial on the 10th anniversary of the attacks. The First Presbyterian Church is pictured in the background.

ALBION – Larry Montello has been an active community member and leader for the American Legion since he moved to Orleans County about 13 years ago after marrying an Albion woman. Montello, a Ridgeway resident, drives bus for Community Action Transportation System.

He grew up in the Adirondacks and joined the Army in 1979 after graduating from Fort Edward High School. He served 14 years in the military.

Montello, 52, is a past county commander for the American Legion, and a past post commander in Albion and Medina.

He organizes the annual memorial service for the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks that killed nearly 3,000 people. Montello has visited all of the memorial sites for victims of the attacks at the World Trade Center, the Pentagon and Shanksville in rural Pennsylvania.

He raised the funding to have Sept. 11 memorials in Orleans County by the County Courthouse, Legion Post in Albion and Rotary Park in Medina.

He is organizing an upcoming Feb. 1 service for the “Four Chaplains.” That 9:30 a.m. service will be at the First Baptist Church in Holley on Geddes Street. The Four Chaplains all were Army chaplains who gave their lives to save other civilians and military personnel as a troop ship sank on Feb. 3, 1943.

Montello assists with other Legion and community events, including the annual oratorical contest, flags on veterans’ graves and other events.

He was interviewed last Monday at Tim Hortons in Albion.

Q: Why did you join the American Legion?

A: I started out as a Son (of the American Legion) underneath my dad. My dad got me going along with my brother. I joined the service with my sister. We joined the Army together. She went to Fort Leonard Wood in Missouri and I went to Fort Dix in New Jersey where my dad went.

Orleans County Legislator Don Allport, left, teams with State Assemblyman Steve Hawley and Larry Montello in raising the 9-11 flag last Sept. 11 during a service at the Elk’s Club in Albion. Montello organized the memorial service.

Q: For a newcomer in Orleans County, you quickly made a mark and emerged as a leader.

A: I was the commander in Albion for four years, the commander in Medina and also the county commander. I went up the chain.

Q: What is your role right now?

A: Right now I am sergeant of arms for the county because I want to go in rank in the district. I gave up some of the county duties, but I don’t want to totally give something up.

Q: How long have you been organizing the 9-11 services?

A: I started in 2005, not long after I first got here.

I’ve put a lot of time working on the memorials. I got a nice surprise from the county when they put in a new flag pole and big cement base for the stone.

I do it partly because my sister was working down there (in Manhattan) in Building 7 near the Twin Towers. By the grace of God her boss sent her out on an errand so she wasn’t there when it happened.

When I was in the Sons (of the American Legion) I went down there when it was pretty much cleaned up and when they dedicated the new 9-11 building (The Freedom Tower). The year before last we went down to New York and I actually got to go in Building 7 where my sister worked. It was emotional.

Q: Why do you keep the local memorial service going and try to include many of the first responders?

A: I get them all involved (local and state police departments, COVA, fire departments, Mercy Flight) because they were all involved.

Q: I remember you also did a Pearl Harbor service.

A: Hopefully this year we will do it again.

The Orleans County Legislature was presented an official 9-11 flag on Sept. 24, 2014, from Larry Montello, past commander of Medina’s Butts-Clark American Legion and also the coordinator of 9-11 memorial events in Orleans County. The flag given to the Legislature was the first one to fly in front of the courthouse about four years ago. Montello, left, presented the flag to David Callard, Orleans County Legislature chairman.

Q: Why do the Four Chaplains service?

A: I did it back home. It’s part of history and it shouldn’t be forgotten just like 9-11. I started it with Jean Johnston, who has since passed away. I’ve been doing it in her honor since.

At the service we bring in all of the colors. It’s in Holley this year so we’ll bring in Holley’s colors, the county colors, the auxiliary county colors, the VFW county colors, the POW flag and then the Canadian flag and American flag.

We have a Color Guard to bring it in. And then we have members get up and do a part of each of the chaplains, sharing their biographies. When they are done, they go down from the podium where I have a wooden box with each of the chaplain’s names. They lay a rose down on it and a light a candle.

We carry an American flag in for everybody that went down on the ship and a wreath. After that we play Taps.

We go to different churches (every year) in the community, a Catholic church, a Protestant church, a Baptist church.

Q: How is the Legion membership doing, locally and nationally?

A: It has ups and downs. Right now we’re down a lot. On average we lose 10 to 15 World War II veterans a day nationally.

Q: I think people might think, with the recent wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, there would be a new group of veterans who could join the Legion. Do many of them join the Legion?

A: No. When they get home they go back into society and that can take a long time.

Q: How much worry is there about the future of the Legion and VFW?

A: I don’t think there is worry, we just have to promote what we do. We’re not just a bar. Everybody thinks we’re just a bar. We do a lot of things for the community. Since our county is so small, I put all of the posts together to work as one. We get more out of it that way.

Q: I know you do the oratorical contest, and the Honor Guard at funerals.

A: Each Legion has its own Honor Guard, but the Posts and the VFW will join together. You get more people that way. They’re all people from the older generation. For a lot of the younger generation when they get out of the service the first thing on their mind is to get a job. That’s what was on my mind.

A lot of the ones on the Color Guard are all retired.

Larry Montello, front center, waves while he joins other walkers at the start of the “Making Strides Against Breast Cancer” at Watt Farms in October 2013. Montello was part of a team from Community Action that walked in memory of Kathy LaLonde, a former Community Action employee.

Q: Why have you stayed active with the Legion?

A: I like working with kids, I like working with the community, and I like working with the veterans. I’ve always said if I knew back home in high school what I know now I would have aced history. I have friends of mine in the Albion Post that were in the Death March. I have a friend from back home who was a POW.

Listening to their war stories is unreal. A lot of people don’t realize this is part of history.

I enjoy doing the 9-11 service because it’s part of history. The community can’t forget that day. When it first happened everybody in town had a flag up. Now, it’s hardly ever.

Q: What else do you want to say?

A: I wish more of the public would get involved with our events, and don’t just think the American Legion is a bar. There are a lot of other things the Legion does. We make sure all of our veterans have flags on their graves for Veterans’ Day.

I just wish more of the public would get on the ball with us and know that when we’re going out for donations we’re not using that for the bar but for flags, the 9-11 service and for veterans.

Kendall woman has grown roadside stand to multi-faceted farm market, and community hub

Photos by Tom Rivers – Lora Partyka is pictured on a tractor at Partyka Farms, 1420 County Line Road (Route 272). Behind her is a quilt block, Farmer’s Daughter. Partyka has maps for the Country Barn Quilt Trail of Western New York.

KENDALL – Lora and Jeff Partyka have built a popular farm market in Kendall at the corner of routes 18 and 272. They have been farming together since they were married in 1985.

Their two sons, Scott and Steve, are now partners in the business. They sell sweet corn and fruit from their farm market, and also go to several farmers’ markets and supply Wegmans.

Mrs. Partyka grew up on a beef, cattle and hog farm in Niagara County. Her husband grew up on a dairy farm in Churchville. A friend introduced the two.

Mrs. Partyka spearheaded the barn quilt trail in Kendall, and has a block, The Farmer’s Daughter, at Partyka Farms. The business also has maps and hosts bus tours for the barn trail.

The family is involved in numerous community events, and will host a “Sundae Smack Down” on Sunday from 3 to 5 p.m. Teams from the Town of Kendall will square off with eaters from the Town of Hamlin. The winner is the town that finishes a 7-scoop ice cream sundae in the quickest time. Proceeds will go to charities in the towns.

Lora Partyka is pictured with her sons, Steve, 28; and Scott, 25. They are partners in the business with their mother and father, Jeff.

Partyka was interviewed recently by Hub editor Tom Rivers inside the farm market.

Q: This started when you had a wagon by the road. Did you ever think it would turn into this?

A: I didn’t really think about it. I was originally from Niagara County. I worked at a beauty salon. I grew up on a family farm, my parents’ farm in Barker. Then I worked at a beauty salon in Lockport. Then I worked a night job because I was young and wanted to make money.

Jeff and I met through mutual friends. He worked for a farm in Knowlesville. That’s where I met him. He had just purchased this farm (in Kendall). We were going to get married. I moved over here. I didn’t know anybody or even where to start to go back to work.

Within a few months I was pregnant so it wasn’t like I was going to go out and get a new job. I grew up selling produce. My father had a big beef and hog farm and we sold tomatoes and sweet corn by the road. My grandparents went to market in North Tonawanda. Their farm was in Ransomville. Growing up, sometimes I went to market with grandma. We all did that.

So we had some produce here from the all of the fruit. I had a table under a tree first. Then Jeff built me a wagon and then I needed another wagon. This used to be orchard all up to the road. We needed to get cars off the road so we took out some trees.

Q: The community responded to the Partyka produce?

A: We had a good year in ’91. Jeff wanted to build an apple storage to store some of our apples so in ’92 we put up this building as an apple storage. I said to Jeff, ‘Why don’t you put a front on it and I can put the produce under there?’ I never thought we’d go any further with it.

We are very conservative. We had just enough money for the building. The next year we laid a little cement and I put tables out there. And in here was just dirt. Our boys were babies. They dug ponds and played with their Tonka trucks. I had a little cooler in here to feed them, and I worked out of the front. That’s how they grew up.

My husband said, ‘Why don’t we put ice cream in?’ I didn’t want ice cream. I wanted greenhouses. But we went with the ice cream. It was smaller then. We made our own cider and that was here. Over the years we just did a little bit more. We never wanted it to get real big because we don’t feel in our area you could maintain it. You’d have to have so much labor and everything else.

We’re at a nice size where everything just kind of flows together.

Partyka added these signs showing the distance of Kendalls and Holleys in other states, as well as other distant towns that share names with local communities.

Q: You’ve steadily grown?

A: We just did a little bit at a time as we had money. It’s grown into a solid business but we’re very diversified. You’re not going to live off ice cream. You don’t make a lot of money with ice cream. But we have the grills and the gift shop and the produce. As far as produce, there is a wagon on every corner now. People have to like your stuff. We’re kind of known for our sweet corn and peaches. For our little area in the middle of nowhere, we’re doing pretty good. But we have different events. We have Christmas in July. On Father’s Day we had a beef on weck with 230 people. We’re trying to do a different event to be a little different.

Q: You also have a nice playground here.

A: It’s the same thing where we’ve done a little bit at a time. The pavilion we just put up three years ago. We’ve had different birthday parties here, and wedding receptions and showers. We make it really relaxing.

Q: Besides this market, you go to farmers’ markets as well?

A: I go to Batavia two days a week and North Chili one day a week.

Q: You physically do it?

A: Oh yeah. I load the trucks and go with my help. I always feel when your owners get off the trucks, they go in half. The customers want to know what’s coming next. I’ve seen people get off their trucks and the trucks go down.

On Thursday nights Jeff goes to Irondequoit and on Sundays he goes to Brockport. I’d like to see him not go anymore because he’s busy and I’m busy. On my trucks people are so used to me being there. I have some customers who will wait for me to wait on them.

Partyka Farms includes a gift shop with ice cream and baked goods.

Q: What is the secret to making this work over 25 years?

A: I was born one of 8 children and I had fantastic parents. They never handed us anything. We were pretty much on our own. We’ve all done pretty good. I don’t need material things to say I’ve done good. I feel I’ve done good with my family and my business. I feel very blessed with everything.

You’ve got to believe it and go after it. You have to try.

Q: You’re involved in many community projects, including the barn quilt trail. Wasn’t that initially just going to a block on your greenhouse but it definitely grew from there?

A: It’s grown. I think it’s up to 90. I read an article about another community doing it and I decided we needed to do it in Kendall. It’s worked out well. It’s kind of quieted down because they have been around for a while. However, we printed 250 maps this year and we’ve gone through that many. It’s amazed me from the beginning that so many people are interested in it.

I think ours was the first one done out in the country. Now a lot of them are. The people picked out their own things and meanings. In other places they were picked out by committees. It’s been good for the community and Kendall.

I give Kendall so much credit for being supportive of it. They didn’t make us get permits. I told them to let the people clean up their properties. It’s not a written word. It’s not a sign. Let them enjoy their town.

Steve Partyka, 28, works the land at the corner of routes 18 and 272 in Kendall.

Q: It’s great that it worked.

A: I hate to say I never sat down and planned it all out. They say you should have a business plan and this and that. I would be driving in my market truck and would think, ‘This thing is getting crazy and I think we need a headquarters. Well, the Town Hall won’t work because they’re not open on weekends and that’s when most people would be out. Well, we’re open seven days a week so I guess it’s us.’

The first time a bus company called me I said we could put a guide on for them. Jean Hart and Cathy DeMarco said they would do it. They went around and took pictures and got a book together. It wasn’t all planned but it worked out.

Q: Did you design and paint the blocks?

A: The people picked their own design. We painted them. I painted them, my employees painted them. Any time we had extra time we went back and painted them. I’m not a gridder as far as putting the design on. Cathy DeMarco, Kathy Kast and Jane Ferris took their time to come and do it. They were awesome. I wouldn’t have been able to do it without them or my employees.

Q: What else do you want to say?

A: I feel really blessed to have such an incredible family and to live in a great town. I have great employees. I couldn’t ask for better employees. I was given a chance so I went with it.

Olde Dogge Inn owner caters to pets

Photos by Sue Cook – Olde Dogge Inn owner Jennifer Stilwell sits out front of the business with Frank the pug.

By Sue Cook, staff reporter

GAINES – Since 2000, the Olde Dogge Inn has been a staple in the community as one of the only stand-alone pet stores in the county. Jennifer Stilwell opened the business on Route 104 in Gaines.

The store carries a wide variety of pet products to help keep pets healthy and happy. Olde Dogge offers an assortment of services to assist owners with pet care and boarding. Some small animals are also for sale including several species of fish.

The business will be featuring its pet festival on Saturday, which Stilwell plans to make an annual event. Stilwell is excited to see how far the business has come in its 14 years.

Stilwell holds William. Some of the birds that Olde Dogge Inn sells are behind.

Q: Tell me a little about yourself.

A: I have four kids. They’re 15 to 20. I live right here in Gaines about 2 miles from the kennel. I grew up in Albion. I’ve been here since 3rd grade. I graduated from Cornell University with an Animal Science degree and started dog grooming out of college. That’s kind of what led me to this.

Q: Did you always plan to open a pet shop?

A: When I was 15, I worked for Starrview Kennels (in Barre). I remember saying, “This is what I want to do with my life.” They looked at me and said, “You’re crazy. It’s a 365-day-a-year job.” I said, “I don’t care. This is what I want to do.” So since I was 15, I wanted to open a kennel.

Q: Was this business originally yours?

A: I opened this business in 2000. Right out of college, I bought a kennel in Rochester called Lakewind Kennels. I still own it, although I’m in the process of selling it. In 2000, when I started having children I wanted to be closer to home when I worked. This was just an old rundown building. It hadn’t been opened in probably 15 to 20 years. So we renovated it and opened The Olde Dogge Inn.

Q: What sort of services do you offer here?

A: We have boarding for dogs, cats, small animals and birds. We also offer grooming and training, then we have the store on top of that.

One of the back rooms contains the aquariums, as well as fish care products.

Q: What are some of the types of products you offer here?

A: We have premium foods, some small animals like birds, all kinds of pet health products, plus lots and lots of dog and cat toys. There are items like leashes, harnesses, even some outfits and we have plenty of treats! We have tropical fish and all sorts of aquarium products, too. We have 23 tanks of aquarium fish and I think a lot of people aren’t aware of that.

Q: Do certain breeds present a challenge for the groomers?

A: The huge hairy ones are time consuming, but not especially difficult. You’d be surprised because sometimes it’s the smallest dogs that are difficult. It might take three people to calm down an upset little poodle. For grooming, if it’s a difficult dog, we will assign two groomers, or even three, and help to distract the dog or help to hold it. We try to make it as easy as we can on both the pet and the groomer.

Groomer Lindsay Moore is giving a bath to a happy little customer.

Q: How do you handle some of the naughty or scared animals for boarding?

A: For boarding, our runs are set up so that we don’t have to touch the animal if it doesn’t want to be touched. We would prefer to give it attention, but there are some dogs that just do not want us touching them. They can get outside on their own, we can feed them and clean their runs without touching them.

A lot of people have a fear about boarding their dogs and think it’s terrible, but the dogs usually settle in within a couple hours of coming here and the people worry the whole time they’re on vacation. I’d like people to know the dogs are almost always settled and calm. We’ll send videos to people or pictures on cell phones to show them how well the dogs are doing. A woman called her dog from England and we held the phone up to the dog’s ear so she could talk to the dog. A lot of people worry about the whole boarding thing, but the dogs do great.

We provide lots of blankets so it’s nice and cozy. We also have an “uptown area” of upscale runs where they can watch TV. They’re very quiet runs segregated from the rest of the dogs. They have raised brass beds. They’re a kind of fancy area.

We also the puppy room, which is for small dogs, not necessarily just puppies. It’s for the small dogs who would be nervous about the big dogs barking in the regular runs. They can play together with other small dogs and there’s a big yard they can all go out in. Senior dogs could go in there, too.

We try to make it as comfortable as possible for the dogs they are. So nervous dogs or older dogs can be separated.

This is just one of the many kennel areas at Olde Dogge Inn.

Q: How many employees do you have here?

A: I have 10 employees. The sales clerks are also kennel attendants. Anybody that runs the desk has the job of making sure animals are okay in the back. We have groomers that also are kennel attendants when they are not performing grooming duties. Everybody that works here knows how to do just about everything, so if there’s a question, people can come in and ask almost anyone.

Q: What about the trainer?

A: We have a trainer that comes from Harmony Dog Training and has years and years of experience. She does it on her own and rents space when she comes here.

Q: How did you choose and hire your groomers?

A: Right now in New York state there’s no certification or licensing requirements. All of the groomers here have been trained personally by me. They started out interning by bathing, grooming and brushing and slowly worked their way up to clipping and learning the styles. All of them have learned this from me. Most of them have been here since day one. So we’ve been open almost 15 years and three out of four of them have been here since day one.

Q: Who are the store pets?

A: We have Edward the white cat who is pretty well known to customers. He was a stray that we brought in. We also have Carlisle, the black and white cat, who was left on our doorstep. He was left on Christmas Day about six years ago. He and Edward just fell in love immediately so we kept him. We have Bob the pitbull. He’s just a big doof who’s very sweet. We have Ruby, a chow mix. We also have Present, a pitbull corgi mix. All of these dogs are rescues. I also bring Frank, William and Josephine with me to work every day and then they go home with me. Frank is a pug, William is a Chinese crested and Josephine is a Boston terrier.

Q: On Valentine’s Day, Edward was pink on his ears and tail! How did he end up like that?

A: We tell Edward that he has to pay rent to live here. He does our grooming advertisement and on holidays we use our pet dyes on him. He’s been lots of colors like green, purple and pink. He’s been red, white and blue for the Fourth of July, too.

The pink lasted a long time. You can’t wash it out, so we wait for it to grow out. We kept saying we’d pick a new color for Easter, but he was still pink so we left it.

Stilwell and Josephine show off one of the walls of dog toys in the store.

Q: What sorts of events does Olde Dogge have throughout the year?

A: We did a free toenail trimming clinic in January. We usually do holiday photos, too, around Christmas time. We’re going to do them again this year with an old-fashioned vintage Santa and vintage costumes.

Q: You have the pet festival coming up on Saturday, Aug. 9. What will be happening there?

A: It’s the second time we’ve had the pet festival and we want to make it an annual event. We’re doing old-fashioned dog photos during that. My son is a photographer and he’ll be doing those. Cindy the Pet Psychic is coming. The Orleans County K-9 Unit will be here doing demos with their dog. The 4-H kids from Orleans County Heelers will be doing agility, obedience and flyball demonstrations and they’ll be selling some concessions. There’s going to be pet costume and talent contests.

From 1 to 2 p.m. there will be a power hour sale! There’s also going to be a $5 nail trim clinic. Rescue groups will be there with adoptable pets. We’ll have food companies with info and free samples. We’re also going to have $5 pet ID tags, too. There’s going to be lots of stuff going on throughout the day and the festival runs from 10 a.m. until 4 p.m. Petpalooza Magazine’s Petmobile will even be there!

Q: So I thought the psychic sounded like kind of a cool thing. How did you get in contact with her and what are her readings like?

A: We had a pet psychic here our first year of the pet festival. A friend had recommended her to come. She had done a reading on my English bulldog. She said that we were going to have a litter of puppies coming up and that Annabelle wanted to make sure we kept one of her babies. Shortly after that, we did have a litter. The psychic had said it would be five puppies and we had five puppies. We kept one of the babies for Annabelle and they were best buddies. I was at a Petpalooza event in Rochester and Cindy the Pet Psychic was there and she did some readings for some of my employees. They said they were dead on. We had her come to our Christmas party and she did readings for all of us. She was really really accurate. She just seems to tell you what your dog is thinking, so we wanted her here for this festival.

Q: So what are future plans for Olde Dogge Inn?

A: We work alongside PAWS animal shelter adopting cats out for them. We’ve adopted 12 or 13 cats out for them. We’d like to continue that. We’d also like to continue our free toenail clinic every six months. For people who can’t really afford it, we don’t want their dogs suffering. We’ve talked a little about expanding. This building is huge and we thought we’d never run out of space, but now we actually are running out. Maybe down the road we’ll talk about it more. We want to focus more on community-based events that are helping dogs out and keeping them healthy at reasonable prices. I’ve found a lot of people in this area can’t afford a lot of the services, so we try to make costs reasonable and give them options.

To learn more about Olde Dogge Inn or the pet festival, click here.

Dance Studio owner has embraced arts and music

Photos by Tom Rivers – Amy Sidari has given her dance studio a dual purpose as the cabaret with live entertainment and desserts.

ALBION – Life-long Albion resident Amy Sidari opened her own dance studio in 1997 at the corner of West Bank and Liberty streets. She and her dance instructors work with hundreds of children (and some adults) each year.

Sidari, 46, expanded the scope of Gotta Dance last July, opening the Cabaret at Studio B. More than 20 different acts have been in Studio B in the past 12 months and Sidari will debut a variety show this Saturday. (The site at 28 West Bank St. has professional sound and lighting.)

Sidari will be one of the performers, along with high school music teacher Gary Simboli and Gloria Lear, one of Sidari’s dance instructors. Marcy Downey will join the variety show in the beginning and other community members will perform with the group in later dates.

Marcy Downey, left, and Amy Sidari pose in front of the curtains at the Cabaret at Studio B in this photo from a year ago, when Downey was the debut act in the Cabaret. They will be part of a new variety show starting this Saturday at the Cabaret.

The Cabaret Variety Show will be a throwback to the variety shows of the Dean Martin and Lucille Ball era. Sidari wants to bring humor and showcase local performers in the new show.

She talked with Orleans Hub editor Tom Rivers on Thursday about the latest venture and career with Gotta Dance.

Q: I remember when you started here. It was the former DA’s office.

A: We just had the one room. There wasn’t even a waiting room. Blessings to my dad (Ace Caldwell) for all of his craftsmanship. I tell him I’m the creator and you’re the builder so let’s do it, and we do it.

Q: Why is this fun for you, working with all of these kids and some adults?

A: I think it is what God wants me to do. I just think my gift is loving people. I love them through any way that I can and music seems to be the easiest way to love people.

Q: It seems like there are a lot of dance options with several studios. I wonder why it’s so popular because when I was a kid I don’t think we had any dance places.

A: It was a different time when we were kids. I think it’s because we have good teachers. No matter where you are dancing kids are being more inspired to take on the performing arts.

I think our school programs with the dynamic music and drama inspires the children as well. When they come to me they already understand music. There is sense that this is a passion for them. I think it’s a credit to all of the studios. Everybody is doing a good job.

Some of the Gotta Dance students perfomed on Main Street during the Strawberry Festival Parade on June 14.

Q: What is the benefit for a kid to do this?

A: There are a lot of benefits. When they’re in that awkward age, their puberty time, it doesn’t appear when you’re a dancer. There is a sense of grace, centering, elegance that comes through.

I would say that mathematically, the right side of the brain, it’s been proven it’s a little more engaged. There is memorization, patterns, muscle memory. There is a fluency and things become more natural to put yourself and your mind into the sequence.

These kids are sharp. When they’re coming in they’re not just doing dance. They have other clubs and other activities. They might come in and go through four different dances flawlessly. Their minds are working.

You know what if they’re here with me they’re safe. They’re not doing things that aren’t good for their body or good for them. The environment is only a positive, acceptable environment. They learn a lot of respect for each other and how to work through relationships here that maybe are uncomfortable because we all have to work together.

Q: I know you have the dance studio, but you also started the Nicholas Kovaleski Hometown Christmas.

A: That’s been four years. That was really God.

Q: You’ve added more besides the dance studio. You added the Hometown Christmas and then the Cabaret last year. The Cabaret seems to be working, don’t you think so?

A: There is a need. When I see people walk through my door for the first time, and the puzzled look on their face, and then they walk through this door. You watch their face and there is a sense, ‘Wow, this is Albion?’ You watch them leave and they have tears in their eyes because they are so happy they came. It’s a good, good feeling.

Q: You took a leap trying the Cabaret?

A: I wanted something more in my life. It was very peaceful once I decided to do it.

Seamus Kenney, a 1993 Albion graduate, returned home for the Christmas holiday and also put on a concert in December at the Cabaret. Kenney, a professional musician, lives in Durham, North Carolina. For a decade he traveled and performed with the band SNMNMNM.

Q: Can you talk about the new variety show?

A: Gary (Simboli) will open with an original jingle that he did lyrics and orchestration for. Gloria (Lear) is kind of like the Ed McMahon on the Tonight Show to me. She is there to help my transitions run smoothly. Gloria is really funny. The three of us with Gary included have a really good chemistry. We’ll do a little comedy, the three of us, with what’s going on in real life.

We have skits involving the community. I’ve got a hilarious skit that Gary can hardly play the music through because he gets too hysterical. That’s with Jill Albertson, Mary Dunham, Sandra Monacelli McNall, Danny Monacelli, June Schuck and David Sidari.

Later on in the evening Jim Babcock comes out, but you won’t recognize him. He closes my show.

We have a special guest appearance with Marcy Downey, and it’s something that’s on her bucket list. She’s always wanted to do a dance with me, and I’ve always wanted to sing with her. We’re doing a little trade-off and it’s pretty funny.

We’ll have comedy skits with Kyle and Gina (Sidari’s children). I told Mr. Simboli don’t be shy this time and hide behind the piano when you sing your solo. It’s center stage, spotlight on Gary and I want to hear something deep from your soul.

The Reverend Mother kept a crowd in stitches last August at the Cabaret at Studio B. Phyl Contestable is the comedian. She passed out buttons that said, “JESUS LOVES YOU, but I’m his favorite.”

There will be audience participation. If you’re in the audience you don’t know what your job may be. You may be on that stage helping me do something pretty funny. It will be good and I’ll try to feel them out ahead of time so I don’t traumatize them.

We’re going to go back to old-fashioned live commercials and Brown’s Berry Patch is my first business. We’re going to interview each business that presents with us and to see what’s new in their business.

We have a ventriloquist act, a special visitor or a character from the Laugh-In Show. We’ll share some family secrets and take questions from the audience.

A: All in 1 hour, 15 minutes.

Q: It will be a brisk pace, but with enough time to laugh until you can’t control yourself. I want my audience, my community actively engaged in it. I want them to send me videos of their talents. I want to pull in people with different acts and varieties.

My future plan is I would like this to go all year. I feel more than anything it’s time to have a joy in laughter.

(Reservations are required and may be obtained by calling Ticket Team 585-354-2320.)

Sensei says karate teaches confidence, helps overcome fears

Photos by Sue Cook – Sensei George Kiefer encourages students to kick high. Sensei is the title for someone with a 3rd degree black belt.

By Sue Cook, staff reporter

LYNDONVILLE – Sensei George Kiefer began his training in Hilton in 1989. He joined the Hilton karate school at age 19 during his first year of college. He saved his own to learn karate.

His mother questioned where he was going off to, concerned he was getting himself into trouble. Despite living in a small town, there were plenty of easy opportunities to make bad choices. His mother finally dragged the answer out of him. He was sneaking off to karate classes. He was afraid to tell his father who might be angry about the way he was spending his money.

His mother was far from upset and explained that he needed to keep doing what he was doing. She had noticed in the six months since his mysterious disappearances began that he was the best-behaved kid she knew. He never stopped his pursuit of the martial art.

Today, Kiefer passes on his training to students in his dojo or school. He wants students to benefit from his teaching, even after one class. Teachers and parents notice changes in behavior after their kids begin a class with Kiefer. Students also come away with more confidence in their day-to-day lives.

The karate style that Kiefer teaches is called kyokushin, which is a style that incorporates most of the body. Other martial arts tend to focus on one portion of the body and train with mostly kicks or mostly punches. Kiefer’s chosen style is much more like a full-body workout.

Q: Tell me about your life outside of your dojo.

A: I’m a father of four girls – two teenagers, 15 and 16, and two preteens, 10 and 11. They all go to school here. We live in Waterport. I originally come from Hilton in Monroe County. I work for Baxter Healthcare in Medina. I’m a Senior Purchasing Agent.

Kiefer and his students stand in front of Lakeside Karate on South Main Street in Lyndonville.

I think the most important thing I can say is I strive very hard for balance. I have a big family and it’s a lot of responsibility. I love my family, so the dojo, the school, is secondary to my family. We’re only open two nights week because the other nights of the week we’re running kids around. My wife Barbara works, too, so we juggle, juggle, juggle.

Q: Did you start Lakeside Karate?

A: I am the one who started it. My wife and I own the business together.

Q: When did you start the business?

A: In 2004 I started teaching in the Lyndonville Presbyterian Church. There’s not a lot of real estate in Lyndonville. I taught there for a couple years and then at the Crosby-Whipple building, the old gas station (in Lyndonville).

Crosby-Whipple went out of business, so I took that as a sign that I needed to find another place, so I found this place.

Q: What was it like to open a business here in rural Lyndonville?

A: It was interesting. I wasn’t sure how it was going to go, to be honest, but I’ve been involved in martial arts since 1989. Twenty years or so ago we moved to Waterport. I did a self-defense class in school the first couple years I was here. When my kids were grown up and started going to school, I wanted to do something here.

Kiefer (center) warms up with the students.

Q: So it was a conscious choice to open a school in Lyndonville?

A: This was a conscious choice to be in a small community, to give my kids and other kids an opportunity to do something that they don’t have to travel miles and miles to do. I want to be part of this community. I’m not interested in conquering in the world with my karate.

There’s a dedication up on the wall that says a little bit about it. I stopped doing karate for a little while and my wife saw that I was very restless and that I needed to do something other than work. My wife was like “Just do it.” So in my dedication to her, I say she’s the one that gave me the faith in myself to do it.

I also mention my dad in it because he helped out. Most of us would agree our fathers play a big role in who you become and what you do. If there’s anything my father taught me it was perseverance. I was one of four boys and he worked himself to the bone to support us, and my parents stayed married all those years. It was the discipline to see it through that came from him.

And then obviously my instructor. My instructor was at times my biggest friend and at times he was my father. His name was Sensei Jim Grafe (1954-2002). He was kind of a teddy bear kind of guy. He had a special way with kids which was unbelievable. He had a very big heart.

Q: Is your training for your students similar to how you trained?

A: Martial arts is different today than it was even 20 years ago. Our style is a very hard Japanese style. When I trained it was more of the Japanese mentality, which is very militaristic. We didn’t ask questions or raise our hands and we did what we were told. We fought hard, we trained hard. You learned by throwing yourself out there.

When I first got my black belt, I was nasty. I didn’t care if you were five or 55, if you couldn’t hack it then get out. With my instructors’ help and other people’s help they showed me that’s not always the best.

So we have a very different approach. We still train hard, we still fight hard, but we encourage questions and discussion.

Kiefer explains why blocks are performed at 45-degree angles. It is to cause the attack to slide off the arm instead of getting hit in the head.

Q: What is the philosophy of the dojo?

A: (Senpai Ken Anderson, Assistant Instructor) For me, I started karate when it was at the Presbyterian Church with my son. He was seven years old and I figured I should get him into something where he could learn to use his body and get a little discipline. My philosophy was I should take it with him. Seeing and feeling everything within this dojo kept me going.

I started out older than my sensei, but I took a joy to it and saw how much I could ever better myself at the age of 39, so much that my daughter started it a year later.

My body can’t do what the young kids can do, but there is still a chance for me to learn enough and utilize how my body works to defend myself. My goal was I wanted to teach and learn how to give that back to the students.

A: (Kiefer) The main philosophy is that I don’t care if somebody is my student for an hour or nine years, I want them to get something out of it. Karate isn’t for everybody. Everybody finds their talent in something. The goal here is they learn something that they can take with them and help them sometime later in their life.

Q: How many students do you have on average?

A: I probably average 25 students at a time. They come and go.

Q: How young is your youngest student?

A: The youngest I will take is a mature 4-year-old. We have a Tiger Cubs class for 4- to 6-year-olds. That class is geared toward motor-skill development. It’s what the kids need at that age. Balance and coordination, that type of stuff. We mix in some martial arts and sprinkle in things to get them ready to transfer to the other class.

Q: How old is your oldest student?

A: (Ken Anderson raises his hand) I’m 48.

A: (Kiefer) I’ve had older students before when I’ve taught.

Kiefer watches the students kick to ensure correct form.

Q: What are the different classes you teach here?

A: Our main classes are 4- to 6-year old Tiger Cub karate and then our traditional karate classes for 7-years-old to adult. Throughout the year we’ll do a self-defense seminar. I’m a certified trainer for a program called Just Yell Fire, which is young women’s self defense.

Q: Most kids probably want to come in doing crazy ninja stuff on the first day, so what is the first day like for an older child?

A: It’s the same as everybody else. I’m lucky and graced to have other black belts. The beginning base of our classes is all the same. We bow in, we stretch and then we do basic techniques. The second half of class is where we get into specific belt-rank curriculum. We split into groups. It’s important that white belts get a chance to train with upper belts so they know what they need to achieve and aspire to.

A: (Sterling Allis, 19, green-belt student) I remember a little bit from when I was a white belt. The reason why I joined was I was really sick in middle school. I was 40 pounds underweight. I joined with a friend of mine. We walked in and we didn’t know what was going on. Now I’m used to the routine. My parents are pretty strict. My mom is super strict, which I’m fine with. What had scared me was that it was new. I didn’t know if Sensei was scary or not.

But I liked it. It’s lots of fun and I remember really liking it. It was one of the few things that actually got me to sweat. I can remember I could run around the yard, climb trees and be fine. The first day of karate I was sweating my face off.

A: (Kiefer) Every September, we have an open house. We invite anybody that wants to come in to take class. It’s basically an open class. This September is also going to be our 10-year anniversary.

Kiefer guides the students through punches during the warm-up routine.

Q: Does your school participate in tournaments?

A: Yes, we do. We don’t chase them. There’s a couple of local tournaments that our style of karate. Some schools are trophy hunters. I believe tournaments are a learning experience. I want everyone to go to a tournament because where else can you go at a young age and be challenged in front of a gazillion people.

In the big picture of things, it doesn’t really matter. Twenty years from now, no one can remember what you won. It’s all personal. It’s about getting over your fear and going up there and performing. Getting over your fear of performing exudes into every piece of your life.

At some point you have to get a job, or you go to college and have to do a presentation. At some point you’re going to be put on the spot where the only person you can rely on is you. It’s the learning experience that I want them to have.

A: (Senpai Caitlyn Anderson, Assistant Instructor) I don’t think without doing those, I could have done any presentations.

A: (Kiefer) A lot of what we’re about is being able to build some confidence in yourself and the things you do and how to carry that confidence over.

Q: I understand your dojo also performs charity work.

A: We did Kicks For Megan, which was for a young girl that had cancer. We did a thing for Camp Rainbow. We helped a hospital give an ultrasound one year. This past year, Lyndonville had a Christmas tree-decorating event. We did that, but we put a spin on it. We made it a hat-mitten-scarf tree. We had everybody donate that type of stuff and when we were done with it, we donated it to Community Action.

For kick-a-thons, the students get sponsors for how many kicks they do. People can choose to donate a lump sum or they could encourage the student and say a nickel for every kick. It’s a good thing some of them did lump sums. We had some students that were doing hundreds and hundreds of kicks. They would have broken the bank.

Q: What are your future plans for Lakeside Karate?

A: The same as it’s always been. Make sure that people have a place to come, learn the art of karate and learn something about themselves. At the end of the day, if I see the kids walking out smiling and it helps them, then that’s enough for me.

In our other groups with other schools, you consistently hear “Those are Sensei George’s students,” and they say that in a good way, not because they’re goofing off. They have the discipline and the technique.

A: (Caitlyn Anderson) A lot of our students get pulled up front in the middle of testings to demonstrate stuff.

Q: Anything else you want to add?

A: (Kiefer) We don’t just give belts away. They have to work for it. That’s a key principle. You have to work and you have to perform. I think martial arts taught the right way is one of those lasting things that you really have to work at. You make the link between hard work and achievement.

I think too often nowadays in organized activities, kids get a trophy for showing up. Honestly, that doesn’t cut it in the real world. You have to do some hard work and perform.

Kent couple sees Orleans as part of growing wine region

Photos by Tom Rivers – Paul Schwenk is pictured with two employees in an 8-acre vineyard next to Schwenk Wine Cellars on Bills Road in Kent.

Cathy Schwenk manages the wine-tasting room at Schwenk’s. The winery has won many awards since it opened in 1992.

KENT – Paul and Cathy Schwenk opened a winery in Kent in 1992 and added a tasting room at their Bills Road location in 2007.

They opened the business while working full-time in other careers. Mr. Schwenk was the buildings and grounds director for 17 years at Kendall Central School. His wife was a teacher at Albion Central School for 33 years.

Both retired in recent months from those careers. Now they are devoting more time and energy to Schwenk Wine Cellars.

The couple, which has been married for 32 years, is expanding the tasting room at 1456 Bills Road. They are excited about the extension of the Niagara Wine Trail, which will run across Orleans County to near Rochester, connecting Niagara, Orleans and eastern Monroe counties.

Mr. Schwenk’s grandfather Maxmillan Franz Schwenk moved from Austria to Hilton, and was a dairy farmer with a vineyard. He enjoyed making wine.

The family farm burned down in 1963. Maxmillan’s son Andreas Maxmillan Schwenk switched to growing fruit. He taught his son Paul the art of making wine. They would make it in their basement and sell it to collectors.

Paul in 1992 made Schwenk Wine Cellars official. The winery won competitions and Paul and Cathy soon were selling their product to New York City restaurants.

They grow grapes at 8 acres in Kent, 32 acres in Dunkirk and 30 acres in Penn Yann. During the fall harvest season it can be exhausting, crisscrossing to the three sites.

Cathy manages the tasting room and many of the special events. Paul grows the grapes and makes the wine.

Paul, 58, and Cathy, 57, talked about the wine business with Hub editor Tom Rivers during a recent interview at their home and winery.

These vidal grapes hang on the vines next to Schwenk Wine Cellars in Kent.

Q: Why grow grapes rather than some other fruit or dairy?

A (Paul): I’ve been in the business for 45 or 46 years. We were in peaches and cherries, but there are people I know in Niagara County that have that.

Q: Aren’t you kind of a grape pioneer in Orleans County?

A (Cathy): Orleans County isn’t really known for grapes. But grapes work out here. The lake effects it. We have nice warm falls because of the lake. You get the chilly spring with the late frost, which isn’t good. But the longer fall helps out.

Q: My understanding of the wineries in the Finger Lakes is they helped to rejuvenate many of the farms out there. The grapes and wineries have been part of that area’s resurgence.

A (Paul): My grandfather, when I was growing up, was friends with the winemakers in the Finger Lakes. California and Oregon people are buying up the land over there to have more wineries.

Q: They have a lot of wineries in the Finger Lakes – more than a hundred. Do you think you need a lot of them in an area to make an attraction?

A (Paul): Do you need a lot of them? That’s the thing. In my opinion, in New York State we have 532 wineries. That’s a lot of wineries, probably too many.

A (Cathy): Some of them will make it and some of them won’t. It’s about establishing your name and keeping it going. Some of the younger wineries I don’t know if they will make it. If you totally have to depend on the tourists, there are not a lot of tourists in New York State between January and April to May.

Paul Schwenk checks over the vidal grapes that will be pressed into wine. He uses a 1960 Oliver tractor in the orchard.

Q: With our county, we have two wineries open right now. (Leonard Oakes Estate Winery in Medina is the other one and more are in the works.) Could we brand this county as a wine county?

A (Paul): It’s slowly getting there but I bet it’s years and years down the road.

Q: Will the extended wine trail help get tourists here in Orleans County?

A (Cathy): Yes. The Wine Trail will be along 104, but signs from 104 will point people down to Route 18. We have to get signs up on 104 pointing people to where we want them to come down to 18.

This summer we’ve had a lot of tourists. In the past few weeks I’ve had a lot of fishermen. They will come in and say they caught a salmon and want to know what they can serve with it. They’re bringing their wives or they come in and say their wives said not to come home without buying some local wine.

Q: How to you make a connection to the fishermen?

A (Cathy): Sharon Narburgh over at Narby’s, she knows about us and she sends them over. The people at the Black North will send them over to us. It’s a matter of getting your name out to everyone local. We have a huge clientele of locals. Our locals keep us going. They are our major clientele. The tourists are great, but the locals are our major clientele. During the winter and the spring, they don’t want to travel to the Finger Lakes.

Kim Martilotta Muscarella painted this palette with a grape and winery theme as part of the recent Palettes of Orleans art project. It will be displayed in the Schwenk’s expanded wine-tastng room.

Q: What about liquor stores as an outlet for you?

A (Cathy): They’re not a major percentage but we are in many of them.

Q: What is the benefit for you to be in a liquor store?

A (Cathy): More people see your name out there. The liquor stores are open more often than the tasting room. We’re open Wednesday through Sunday right now from noon to 5 until New Year’s. After New Year’s we go on our winter hours which is basically weekends through April or May.

Q: Did opening a wine-tasting room make a big difference for you?

A (Cathy): That is making a big difference. We’re able to fit in more groups. We had a few limos here this summer.

Q: Limos here on Bills Road.

A (Paul): Yes, right down here on Bills Road (laughing). We have a love for this area. The big lake is right down front. There’s Point Breeze, Lyndonville, Kendall. We wanted to stay here because this county is hurting. We need more employment opportunities for people. We gambled and we stayed.

Q: It’s nice in a way that you’re a little a bit of a drive from any of the other attractions because you get people moving about the county. You’re not right at Point Breeze.

A (Cathy): Yes. And also during the summer every Friday I’ve been going to the Genesee County Farmers Market at the Batavia Downs parking lot. That’s another avenue to get the name out there. People have been asking where are you located because they want to get wine after the farmers market closes.

I tell them we’re 30 minutes north of Batavia. Take a drive out. We want people to come out more.

Q: I suppose you have to hustle and market and go after very sale.

A (Cathy): You do. We do a lot of events to get the name out there.

A (Paul): I’m on the radio once in a while on WHAM with Jim Salmon. You try to promote the business.

Q: How many types of wine do you have?

A (Cathy): 21. Everything is grape-based, but we do have an apple (One Eyed Jack) and cherry (Crazy Fox Red).

Q: What is fun about this business?

A (Cathy): The different people you get to meet – Amherst, Akron, Canada, Montana, Maryland. We have people from all over the United States.

A (Paul) A lot of people have cottages along the lake, or they are renting cottages.

A (Cathy) They get wine for while they are here and before they close up their cottage and leave, they come and get wine to take home.

The variety of the people is huge.

Paul and Cathy Schwenk have been married for 32 years. They both recently retired from other full-time jobs and now can devote more time to the wine business.

Q: Has this been a fun adventure for the two of you?

A (Cathy): Yes, as a couple we go places and we visit other wineries.

A (Paul): We’re all over the place for conferences. Wineries like to get together. Last year we were in Richmond. A couple years ago we were in Napa, Oregon and Seattle.

A (Cathy): I like to see the other wineries. I like to see how they handle bus tours, how they handle 40 or 50 people coming off a bus. I like to see how their tasting rooms are set up.

Right now we have an opportunity to change our tasting room. We’re doing an expansion.

Q: How will that help you?

A (Paul): We’ll bebetter able to take a bus tour and do other events.

We want people to know how to smell a glass of red wine and taste the bouquet. We’re looking to do that a couple Saturdays a summer. We want to let people know what to serve with a red wine. We want to help change the mindset.

Q: What do you think will happen in Orleans County with the wine trail expansion?

A (Cathy): I’m hoping it will bring more people from Rochester out here, bring them to the west side. We’ve done Rochester events and there are people who say they don’t travel west outside of Monroe County. We need to get them to come over to Orleans County. If it means get them to Orleans so they can go to Niagara County, fine. At least we’re getting them to Orleans County.

We did a tasting at the New York State Fair on a Tuesday this year. Over 2,000 people that day. Ninety percent of the people had no idea where Orleans County was.

Paul Schwenk says the tempering effects of Lake Ontario, plus good soils, make northern Orleans County good for growing grapes.

Q: This is the cold hard truth.

A: Yes, this is the cold hard truth. We tell them Orleans County is partway between Rochester and Buffalo. We’re by Lake Ontario. We have farm markets, we got wineries. We did a lot of that explanation that day. We handed out a lot of brochures. We decided the next time we would bring a New York State map and say this is where Orleans County is.

Q: Can you piggyback on other local attractions?

A (Cathy): We piggyback it on other attractions. Usually if you say Lake Ontario and Point Breeze people have heard about it. They haven’t necessarily been here but they’ve heard of it.

We mention the farm markets, the quilt trail in Kendall, the cobblestones, and that 18 is the Seaway Trail.

Q: You have to go out and educate.

A (Cathy): Absolutely. Being at the State Fair really brought that home that people don’t come out past Rochester. And Buffalo people don’t come east.

Q: It does feel like we’re a little too far away, however, Brown’s Berry Patch draws a lot of people from outside the county.

A: I use Brown’s Berry Patch when we’re at Batavia. They’ve heard of it and I tell them we’re 3 miles past them down on Route 18. It depends on where we are for what location I’ll try to piggyback on.

Photos by Tom Rivers – Shawn Malark, a Kendall native, started Orleans Pallet in Albion in 2006.

The company survived a massive blaze on Oct. 17.

Firefighters were quickly on scene and contained the fire to the large warehouse.

ALBION – Shawn Malark is a determined man, and a very thankful person. A large warehouse that he owns in Albion was engulfed in flames on Oct. 17, in one of the community’s largest fires ever.

Malark is thankful the fire didn’t spread. He has kept his company, Orleans Pallet, going and he said he will grow the operations in Albion. The company takes broken wooden pallets and rebuilds them.

Malark’s office is in a structure next to the warehouse that was spared from the fire. He pumped water from his office the day after the fire and was quickly back connecting with his customers. He sat down for an interview last Wednesday.

Q: I’m curious about the history of the company. You started this yourself?

A: I did in 2006. We moved in right here in Albion, NY, and started to refurbish the facility. We were doing a little bit each year.

Q: You worked out of more than just the big sandstone building that burned.

A: There were three buildings. The two that are remaining are the one on West Avenue with all of our recycling equipment and then the building connected to the three-story building that had the fire. We have another custom shop/bathroom-break area that was not harmed at all.

Q: The smaller sandstone building, how old is that?

A: 1901. It was the same extension of the three-story building. We had some water damage in the basement. We’ll have to fully gut that because over 3 million gallons of water drained in there from the fire. We had that completely refurbished as storage but it was completely wiped out.

Q: The big building was that mainly for storage?

A: It was. We had pallets and metal racks that housed some of our pallet components. The main heart of the business is in this building and it had very little impact. None of our machinery or fork lifts, and none of our trailers. One of the advantages of our business is the number of trailers that we own. None of that equipment was harmed. They were all backed up to the loading dock by the fire and I don’t know how they weren’t harmed. It melted all of the siding across the street at Lorenzo’s, but our trailers and the doors and seals were positioned in a way that the walls from the building protected it from the fire. We were very fortunate.

Malark is amazed his trailers full of pallets were unharmed from the fire.

Q: How many trailers do you have?

A: We had about 10 trailers out there, including one that we use for heat-treatment of pallets. Dale Brooks (from the Albion DPW) was huge in the recovery of that after the fire so that the demolition team didn’t do further damage to our property. That trailer is about $40,000 to $50,000. We removed it from the dock so that they could do their demo. That was a huge save right there.

That trailer is used in the heat treatment of pallets that will travel overseas. The trailer heats the wood up to 140 degrees. The core of that wood temperature reaches 140 degrees and it has to hold that temperature in its core zones for 30 minutes. That removes the moisture content from the wood and allows the pallet to be shipped overseas with no concern that there has been any larvae infestation.

Q: So this isn’t simply building and rebuilding pallets in this business?

A: There’s a lot going on. We run our transportation business out of her, our freight brokerage and our billing. We have three separate companies out of here. We’re trying to stay as diversified as possible. We have a lot of hard-working people here.

Orleans Pallet employees Andrew Steffen, left, and Robert Morehouse use a saw to break down some pallets that will be rebuilt with fresh pieces.

Q: How many work here?

A: In Albion we have six. One reason we were doing the demolition into the three-story building was to get that ready to receive more pallets.

When we first moved here we had 20 employees. We moved a lot of work to a second operation in Rochester. But we have some key individuals here and we are looking to really ramp up in Albion.

Q: The Rochester site is similar to Albion?

A: Similar but larger. We can handle more pallets at the warehouse there.

Q: How did you get interested in the pallet business?

A: Working at Eastman Kodak and other companies in injection molding and sheet metal manufacturing, I had a lot to do with ordering. I saw the need for pallets in shipping. Everything is on a pallet for the most part. It’s a very manual and aggressive business with the recycling, recovery and the building of the new. There is some automation in it, but a lot of it is manual and physical labor.

We have great customers. It’s a very interesting and challenging business at the same time.

About 150 firefghters battled the fire at the three-story warehouse, which was built in 1901 and was originally the Albion Cold Storage Company.

Q: The old warehouse seemed a good fit for this business. If you hadn’t come here in 2006, I bet the warehouse would have just sat there.

A: The previous owner was going to let the building fall apart. When we came here the docks were the attractive part. You could put 14 trailers to the dock at the same time. That allows us to keep the floor clean and safe. We don’t have to flood the floor with anything we don’t need. We have the option of keeping it in the trailer. It allows us to stay extremely clean. Not all pallet shops are as clean as we are.

Q: Can you talk about the fire? It’s been reported that you and your father (Rod Malark) were working and a spark from a grinder caused the blaze.

A: On Thursday the 17^th I was in the office doing billing and my father was removing some pipe for me. We were trying to expand the use of the three-story building for production and storage. He was removing pipe to allow us to get further into the building with some of the demo we were doing.

He was cutting a hanger that was holding some of the pipes with a grinder, so he could get the pipes down where he could remove them. Maybe he was in there that day for 25 minutes before that happened. When he started to do the grinding, one of the sparks caught either some of the wood shavings that were in the floor as old insulation above him or it got in the wall behind him. He believes it got in the wall behind him. And then it just started to go.

He saw that he had a fire and he started to put water on it. It was not going in the right direction and he came and got me to the second-story floor with him. We got into the area with a couple of extinguishers. We put the second floor fire out. But at that point it had climbed to the third floor. It was about 8 or 9 foot wide, climbing the third story wall. It had also taken about 8 to 10 foot horizontally across the first floor below us.

It happened within minutes. By the time we got out of the second story and on to the ground I called the fire department and they said they had already received 50 phone calls. This is probably in less than 8 to 12 minutes time frame from when my father came to retrieve me out of the office. It just went quick.

The only guys who know what they stopped are the firefighters and the fire chief. If this thing had caught Empire Coating, we would have had a monstrous chemical disaster on our hands with the potential for explosions. The next building down is a grain silo with a grain elevator. That would have caused a huge problem.– Shawn Malark

Q: This is at about 3:45 p.m.?

A: I would say that, and by 4 o’clock the fire department’s people had seen the smoke going.

Q: What did you then do when you knew the fire had spread?

A: We closed doors here. The fire department was shooing us out for safety. We were trying to make any last-minute adjustments that we could to prevent the fire from coming in this building. I think closing those doors saved this building. The fire ripped across the canopy and actually hit a couple pipes. It started to come into the office. Upstairs the smoke damage is pretty bad, but it did not catch the walls.

Once we hit the ground, we talked with the investigators to let them know the condition of the building was, the structure of it and the contents. We let them know we have a 1,000-gallon propane tank in the middle of the yard that is barricaded with some concrete. But that line runs underground and fed the heat-treat trailer.

The biggest concern was the back of the building at Empire Coating. I was aware of it and the town was aware of it. That was the biggest discussion: how do we stop this thing from getting to Empire Coating. That could have been a very tragic situation for community and that business also.

The fire at Orleans Pallet quickly spread through the building and turned into an inferno, threatening the neighborhood.

Q: I wonder why it didn’t spread? That was a monstrous fire.

A: Partly the building (double walls of sandstone), but the firefighters stopped it from going into two adjacent buildings that are connected with nothing but wood. The fire chief (Rocky Sidari) was unbelievable. When he hit the scene he had so many people going in a controlled direction. He definitely had a handle on it.

Rollie Nenni, the police chief, worked together with the fire department. You never saw anybody who wasn’t in cooperation. There were hundreds of firefighters and volunteers here and it seemed to be very seamless even in a very stressful situation with all the chemicals at Empire Coating and the hazardous materials there. That thing could have gotten all of us in a very bad situation. I definitely owe those guys a humungous debt of gratitude.

Q: I was also struck by the lack of panic, especially at the command center. They seemed very focused with what they were doing.

We will improve the property, and we will definitely grow the business.– Shawn Malark

A: These guys were calm and collected. They have the correct mindset to put themselves in the right frame of mind to protect all individuals and the residents. They had everybody shut their doors and windows and stay inside. Once they were on scene, they got residents out of the area and pushed the scene back block after block.

They ran hose to the canal because they almost ran out of water. There were 3 million gallons that I know of that were put on to the fire.

Had Rocky not gotten everyone going at the same time we may not have been that lucky. The buildings definitely would not have been saved.

I was very impressed by everyone. They are volunteer people risking their lives, not only for the saving of this business, but they way they all worked together. It gives you a good outlook on why the community is still a solid entity. The key heart and soul of the community was definitely present at this fire.

Malark and firefighters worried the fire might spread to the neighboring structures, including Empire Coating and a grain facility, putting residents in danger.

Q: People might be surprised to see the business is still functioning here. You seem to have kicked it into a new gear around here.

A: I’ve tried to keep everybody calm. It’s one day at a time. It’s nothing you can conquer in a short period of time. You try not to think about any of the bad. You focus on what you can do. We’ve always been able to accomplish a lot. That’s the mode we went into as a company.

We wanted to protect our employees and protect our customer relationships. That’s the heart and soul of our business – our employees and our customers for me as the owner of this business.

Q: It seems like a lot of your product would have gone up in flames?

A: We did lose an extensive amount of product. But because we have the trailers and the other facilities, we were always able to have an inventory.

We were very fortunate, when the fire took place the majority of our stuff was in trailers. We did lose quite of a bit of pallets and components, but they were things we had duplicates and triplicates of. Not losing any of the trailers was just a blessing.

Malark is thankful two of his three buildings survived the fire thanks to the quick response from firefighters.

Q: Who would have thought with all of them backed up to the building like that.

A: And loaded with wood. They didn’t have 10 pallets on them, they had 500 to 600. Nothing burns hotter than pallet wood. It’s dry. These guys being able to jump in here and not only fight a building fire, but a pallet fire, it’s impressive.

The only guys who know what they stopped are the firefighters and the fire chief. If this thing had caught Empire Coating, we would have had a monstrous chemical disaster on our hands with the potential for explosions. The next building down is a grain silo with a grain elevator. That would have caused a huge problem.

What these guys did, without having any time to prepare for this at 4 o’clock in the afternoon when pretty much everyone is going home, it was very impressive to watch. They stayed in their positions and never jumped from anything.

They set up and got themselves safe and then everyone started to ask the right questions for anything else they needed to know.

Q: This may sound like a dumb question, but is it hard to watch the building come down and all this ruin in front of you?

A: It is hard. We had a 16,000-square-foot building that was structurally sound other than the interior floors on the second and third floor, which we wanted to move out. We had big plans for it. We were going to have a new roof on it and have an impressive interior storage building and additional manufacturing.

We’ll have to hit the drawing board again. It is devastating because we had the building. It will no longer to ever be able to used in the manner that it had been. From the historic aspect, we’ve had so many people over the years stop by and ask what it’s being used for now. They would take pictures.

It was up since 1901, and a lot of residents worked here for the different companies or they purchased things from here or stored things here over the years as the building changed hands. We’ve had a lot of people coming here to give the building one last look. It’s a building they’ve known their entire life.

Q: You will stay here in Albion?

A: Absolutely. We will clean the property up. We will improve the property, and we will definitely grow the business.

23-year-old joins the family business in Albion, Holley

Photos by Tom Rivers – Josh Mitchell is a full-time funeral director. He joined Christopher Mitchell Funeral Home in December.

ALBION – Josh Mitchell has followed his father David and grandfather Rho as a funeral director at Christopher Mitchell Funeral Home in Albion and Holley.

Rho started the business in 1957. David joined him in 1984. In December, Josh became the third generation to join the business as a funeral director.

Josh, 23, grew up in Holley and graduated from the school in 2008. He played soccer and tennis at Holley. Like his father and grandfather, he graduated from the Simmons Institute of Funeral Service in Syracuse.

Josh spent 13 months with the Wright-Bread Funeral Home in Canton, completing his state-required residency. He then passed his state exam to become a licensed funeral director, one of four at Christopher Mitchell.

Mitchell also is a certified celebrant. He can officiate services for people who did not have an affiliation with a church.

“I can personalize it,” he said about those funeral services. “I tell their life story and share special memories. We can do it with music and videos. I try to create a special celebration of life.”

The following interview with Josh Mitchell was conducted Aug. 21 at Christopher Mitchell Funeral Home in Albion.

Question: People may wonder why you wanted to get into the funeral business?

Answer: It really intrigued me and from what my dad told me, helping somebody out really means a lot to them and hopefully you can do the best job that they expect of you.

Question: It seems like it takes special people to work in this business, helping people in their time of grief.

Answer: Some days are easier than others. Everybody grieves in their own way. Whether you knew them or not, whether they had 100 friends or no friends, they are still a person, somebody who had a life.

Question: Has this business changed much over the years?

Answer: More people are being cremated now because of ease and the cost is usually cheaper. And people live everywhere. The time frame for a traditional funeral isn’t always the best. That’s why a lot of people are choosing cremation.

Cremation didn’t come out until the ’60s, but the cremation rate has increased drastically over the last 20 years. It’s about 40 to 50 percent now in the United States.

Question: Do you do cremations here?

Answer: No. In New York State funeral homes cannot have a retort (cremation chamber) unless they were grandfathered in prior to that law. There are few in the state that do that. We use one in Rochester.

Josh Mitchell said there aren’t too many multi-generation, family-owned funeral businesses these days.

Question: I remember Christopher Mitchell doing a big expansion here in Albion maybe 15 years ago. Is that because fewer people are using a chapel or church for funeral services?

Answer: There are a lot of people without a church affiliation. They like to use the funeral home as a neutral location.

Question: Based on your experience at Simmons, how many of your classmates were from families in the funeral business?

Answer: I’d say there were four out of 20. It’s a very small percentage. There aren’t as many family-owned funeral businesses as there used to be. A lot of corporate-owned conglomerates have come in and bought funeral homes. In the smaller towns people seem to like the family-owned business. They can put a face to it. They know my dad because he’s been here a long time.

Question: Did this business appeal to you while growing up and seeing your dad and grandfather doing this?

Answer: I originally wanted to be an engineer. My dad and grandfather didn’t push it on me growing up. I didn’t see my first deceased individual until I went to school at Simmons. That’s when I knew I could do it or not do it.

When I graduated from high school, I knew this was what I wanted to do.

Question: It seems like it might be an unpredictable schedule. You need to be there when people need you.

Answer: If somebody does pass away in the middle of the night, we have to go get them. It’s a job that requires you to act when you’re called upon. We try to get there as soon as possible to get somebody’s loved one and bring them back to the funeral home.

Josh Mitchell is pictured with his father David and grandfather Rho. This photo was taken about a year ago by Bruce Landis and hangs on the wall at Christopher Mitchell Funeral Home in Albion.

Question: What else does a funeral director do?

Answer: We do everything from picking a person up to contacting the family and setting up the arrangements. If they want the service at a church, we’ll contact the clergy. We’ll contact the cemetery. We’ll write an obituary and send it to the papers. Whether it’s dealing with a casket or an urn, we’ll take care of it, and we’ll set up the funeral home if it’s needed for calling hours or a service. If they have life insurance, we can help them get that going.

We see everything from beginning to end.

Question: Do you have any advice for people on how they could make this a little easier.

Answer: You can never really prepare for death, but some people set up pre-need (pre-arrangement) accounts and get their ideas on paper about what they really want. That makes it less of a burden on a family. That gets everyone on the same page and makes it easier on the family.

Question: Is this a difficult job?

Answer: The toughest for me is when someone dies my age or if they are an infant. When it’s somebody my age or somebody I know, it’s eye opening. This job has taught me you never really know when it’s your time. It’s taught me not to take things for granted.

Question: Anything else you want to say?

Answer: It’s good to be back home. I was out of the area for 2 ½ years. It’s nice to see the community supporting me being here. They know me. They can continue to put faith in our business.

David Mitchell says son is off to a good start

(Before I left the interview with Josh Mitchell, I stopped by his father’s office. David Mitchell said his son is doing a great job and has been accepted by the community.)

Question: What makes Josh good at this?

Answer: His heart and his mind are into this. If you get into this thinking you are going to make all kinds of money, you’re going to be out real quick. You have to feel a calling to it.

With Josh, I always asked him, “Are you sure you don’t want to do anything else?” He made the decision. It wasn’t made by me or his grandfather.

People like him. I was at a service here last week and Josh was off. People kept asking me, “Where’s Josh?” That was nice to hear.

Advocate wants to help victims through court process and beyond

Photos by Tom Rivers – Terri Drennan is pictured outside the Orleans County Public Safety Building in Albion. She has worked as the county’s crime victims coordinator the past six years, after working 14 years as a rape crisis counselor.

ALBION – Terri Drennan has spent two decades working with crime victims, including the past six years as crime victims coordinator.

She works full-time and has two part-time advocates who attend town and county courts, and keep victims updated on cases.

Drennan, the former Terri Champeney of Albion, graduated with a psychology degree from Buffalo State College.

Her husband Tom is the chief deputy in the Orleans County Sheriff’s Department. They have three children.

Question: What does a crime victim advocate do?

Answer: We have a lot of different functions. The main function is to provide support if the victim chooses to come to court to observe what is going on, and explain the criminal justice process because it can be very confusing. They’re there to provide information. They can connect people to other services. If it’s domestic violence we can refer them to people who specialize in domestic violence.

We can’t do counseling per se because we’re under the umbrella of the District’s Attorney Office.

An advocate may be doing advocacy with the district attorney. They may see if there is an order of protection in place yet. Maybe they’ve had some items stolen or damaged and want to discuss restitution. We can share that information with the district attorney.

Sometimes they want to drop an order of protection or have it modified. We can help with that.

Question: If victims don’t go to court, do you fill them in on what happened?

Answer: Yes. They don’t have to go and a lot of people choose not to. We can call them and let them know. We can let them know what happened in court and when there’s a return court date.

I want people to look beyond what happens to the perpetrator, for themselves and for their family because no one is ever going to go to jail long enough for some of the things that have happened to people. Sometimes there’s just no equal.

Question: Is does seem confusing, sitting in court with all the motions and other steps.

Answer: People are surprised by the length of time it takes. I think people get used to watching television where a crime is solved and covered in an hour. If they’ve had something damaged or stolen it can sit in the evidence room for months.

Question: Is a crime victims unit a relatively new thing?

Answer: If I remember my history correctly it came here in 1998 under the district attorney’s umbrella. Prior to that Ellen Tuohey was doing some things out of the basement of the courthouse. I’m not sure of the dynamics of that but there was some crime victims’ work going on. Now we’re all grant funded.

Question: If you’re grant funded, does that make this program tenuous?

Answer: Yes.

Question: How do you get your money to run the program?

Answer: It’s federal money that comes in through the state. The New York State Office of Victim Services is our grant holder. That is who we apply to for grant funding.

Question: This seems like a hard job that could you keep you awake at night.

Answer: People don’t usually come into contact with us when they’ve had a great day. It can be very draining, very frustrating, but you meet a lot of amazing people. When people say, ‘Thank you. You were very helpful,’ that makes it all worth it.

Question: I would think a lot of crime victims are heroic, picking up the pieces and continuing on with life.

Answer: Yes. Just getting out of bed some mornings might be all they accomplished, but you know what, they got out of bed. We’ve had homicides, DWI crashes that have resulted in deaths. We’ve lost children. To get out of bed, that’s huge.

Some people have taken that tragedy to try to change some things so the next family doesn’t have to go through that or to raise awareness.

Question: How long are you in contact with people? Do your services tend to end when the case is over?

Answer: That’s probably up to them. Some people we’ll try to connect with and they may want nothing. They’re not interested. That’s fine.

Other people we’ll work with them throughout the entire criminal case. It tends to draw to a close a little after that. If they need additional help, we make counseling referrals and get them connected with other services.

We live in a small community so it’s great to see people afterwards and see how they’re doing.

Question: How many people are you working with in terms of caseloads?

Answer: When a case comes in we try to make contact through a phone call and letters to at least make people aware of our services. Some people it’s very limited. They might just want $100 in restitution for their broken window or an order of protection. There’s probably a few hundred people in that capacity.

People that we have more of a relationship with we probably work with about 100.

Question: Are you helpful to the DA, by connecting with the victims?

Answer: I’d like to think so. They (DA’s Office) may have a file and want to hear from the victim. That doesn’t mean it will play out how the victim wants it to, but the DA wants to know.

Question: You majored in psychology at Buff State. Were you thinking you’d enter the human services field?

Answer: Yes. When I graduated I figured I would save the world, but I figured out pretty quickly I wasn’t going to save the world. You help one person at a time.

Question: Any other comments?

Answer: I want people to look beyond what happens to the perpetrator, for themselves and for their family because no one is ever going to go to jail long enough for some of the things that have happened to people. Sometimes there’s just no equal.

Medina S & L president believes bank has been critical in Main Street renaissance, other local projects

Photos by Tom Rivers – Tim Moriarty has been president of the Medina Savings and Loan the past 17 years.

Medina Savings and Loan has been in business for 125 years. It was the only bank in Orleans County to survive the Great Depression. It has stayed locally owned and locally focused in an era on bank consolidations.

Tim Moriarty, 58, grew up in Medina, and worked for Ernst and Winney in Charlotte, N.C., and banks in Rochester (Security Trust and Rochester Community Savings Bank) before returning to his hometown. He has been president of the Savings and Loan for 17 years.

The bank has 15 employees with most of them working out of the bank’s main office on Maple Ridge Road, next to Tops. In 2006, the Medina S & L opened a second office in the Albion Wal-Mart Supercenter.

Moriarty is active in the community as a member of the Medina Lion’s Club, the Medina Sandstone Society and the Shelridge Country Club. He is a past president of the Orleans County Chamber of Commerce and coached Little League for 11 years.

He talked about the bank and is career during an interview last Wednesday at the S & L.

Question: You mentioned you worked at Security Trust and the Rochester Community Savings Bank. Did we have more banks back in the 1980s?

Answer: Yes. I tell people a little story. I used to bowl in a banker’s league when I was in Rochester. There were 16 teams represented by 12 different banks. Not one of those banks exists today. Rochester Savings, Community Savings, Monroe Savings, Columbia Savings, First Federal Savings, First National Central Trust, Lincoln First, Security Trust – They’re all gone.

‘We don’t loan outside our area. We’re here for projects that make economic sense to help build a better community.’

Question: It seems like there continues to be a buying spree, if you look at First Niagara.

Answer: They’re a little different. First Niagara bought to buy, to get big and not for value. That’s the difference.

Question: How unusual is it to have a local Savings and Loan these days?

Answer: It’s less and less in New York. In the country most of the banks are still small community banks. I’m not sure why New York has been getting hit harder than the other states.

Question: Is the small community bank a better model than the bigger banks?

Answer: I think there is a need for both. You need big banks for large commercial customers. But the problem with the big banks is they have a lot of activities that have nothing to do with banking and that puts them at risk of failing like in 2008 and ’09.

The reason it’s an issue is you have FDIC insurance on their deposits. If they fail it puts a major hurt on that.

If you look at community banks, I can go up and down Main Street and you’d be shocked at the projects we’ve done. Right now we’re helping the United Methodist Church get the old Apple Grove done. I can go all over Medina and see the different projects we’ve done. The bigger banks are not interested. We’re small for them.

The big banks just take the deposits and siphon it out of the community. And then they invest it in Hong Kong and their growth areas like Singapore. That’s where they want to focus their attention. They’re siphoning out the money.

In a community bank we reloan it in the community to help with growth in the community and improving the community. We don’t loan outside our area. We’re here for projects that make economic sense to help build a better community.

Question: I really hadn’t thought about that, that a bank has played a part in Medina Main Street revival the past 10 years. People need to borrow money to make some of these projects happen.

Answer: We’ve done a lot of the projects up and down Main Street.

The Medina Savings and Loan was the lone Orleans County bank to survive the Great Depression.

Question: Has the Albion site in Wal-Mart resulted in projects in the Albion area?

Answer: We don’t seem to get the people coming in there for requests like we’d like to. We’re there to do it, but it’s been a little bit more difficult getting that connection. There hasn’t been as many projects as in Medina.

Question: Why did you open the site in Albion?

Answer: We’re trying to broaden our base. We’ve helped a number of small businesses in Albion and Medina. We’d like to see more loan demand in Albion.

Question: People perceive Orleans as being a struggling county. But you might see it differently, working with some of the innovators.

Answer: Retail Medina has done a lot better than a lot of small towns. I wonder if it’s just far enough from the malls that people will think local first before they go out. I like to think that we’re a part of it. There are projects that I know that got done where people initially went to other bigger banks and we ended up doing them and helped make it a better community.

Question: You were the only bank to survive the Great Depression in Orleans County. Why do you think the Medina Savings and Loan has endured all these years?

Answer: It’s a risk business. You have to manage risk.

Question: Has the banking business got harder during your career?

Answer: Oh, definitely. There are a lot more regulations regarding everything, from lending to taking deposits. We can’t take a double-endorsed check anymore. People get mad at us, but we have regulations. We have to know the customer to make sure you’re not a terrorist or a money launderer.

There are many, many ways they have regulated the business.

The other factor: This current economic environment. Anytime you don’t let market forces determine market prices, you create a bubble. You create a distortion. That’s what’s going on right now with the Fed. You’re creating a bubble.

Question: Is that the low-interest rates?

Answer: They force the rates down with their buying program. They’re not letting them be priced according to the risk and what the market should bear.

‘There are projects that I know that got done where people initially went to other bigger banks and we ended up doing them and helped make it a better community.’

Question: It seems that would make it hard for the banks to make money?

Answer: It is. It’s tough on the smaller banks. We rely on taking in money and making loans, earning a differential, managing the credit risk, and managing the interest rate risk.

A lot of the community banks don’t have all of the big brokerage firms, investment banking firms and those other activities where they generate a lot of fees – the credit card business. Some of the smaller banks have got into insurance. There are thousands of smaller community banks like us that haven’t gotten into insurance. We’ve stuck to core banking.

Question: People may wonder if Medina Savings and Loan has been approached by a bigger bank as part of one of these buying sprees?

Answer: We’re not a stock-owned institution. Our ownership is more closely associated to the concept of a credit union. Someone can’t just come in and buy us up. There’s no stock. It’s really a cross between a credit union and the stock-owned banks. The charter was established originally to spur home ownership and savings. That’s why it’s called savings and loan.

Question: So you’re not going to go buy up other places either?

Answer: Right. It’s always a local focus.

Medina resident is fourth-ranked U.S. woman in pole vault

Photos by Tom Rivers – Janice Keppler competes in Friday’s pole vaulting competition in Lyndonville. She cleared 14 feet, 6 inches, which was good for second place.

Keppler has been able to focus full-time on pole valuting since graduating from the Univeristy of Arkansas two years ago, and has added about 18 inches to her personal best since then.

MEDINA – Janice Keppler was an eighth-grader when she tried pole vault for the first time. Keppler was at track practice in Medina when her coach was looking for runners. He also wanted someone to try the pole vault.

Keppler wanted to avoid a sprint so she gave the vault a try. She is now the fourth-ranked pole vaulter in the country, and one of only eight American women to ever clear 15 feet in a competition.

Keppler, 26, graduated from Medina and was the state champion in the pole vault, clearing 12 feet. She was a star at the University of Arkansas. She graduated as a sociology major two years ago. She continues to train and compete, and raise the bar. Her personal best is now 15 feet, 1 inch.

She lives in Medina and helps her father Phil on the family’s beef farm when she isn’t training and competing.

She talked with the Orleans Hub on Friday after finishing second in a pole vaulting competition in Lyndonville. Keppler’s 14-foot, 6-inch vault was second only to Olympic Gold Medalist Jenn Suhr, who cleared 15 feet, 7 inches. The two train together in Churchville.

Question: Is it harder to stay in shape post-college?

Answer: Actually, I think it’s easier. Now I can focus more on my diet and what I need to get done. I can really hone it on it. I find it easier.

Question: Is pole vaulting your full-time job?

Answer: Yes it is. It takes a lot of training. I tried working before, working in the mornings and training in the afternoon. I found my body was drained.

Janice Keppler waves to the crowd at the White Birch Golf Course when she was introduced on Friday. The vaulters will be back in action at the White Birch on Friday with a competition beginning at 5:30 p.m.

Question: As the fourth-ranked woman, you’re knocking on the door for the top three. Are you thinking Olympics in 2016? (The top three Americans go to the Olympics)

Answer: I’m hoping for it. It’s a ways a way but I’m definitely aspiring for it. I feel like on any given day you can have a chance at it. At the indoor nationals I went in with a PR (personal record) of 4.40 and came out with a 4.60 (15 feet, 1 inch).

Question: How hard is it to add another six inches to the vault?

Answer: It’s a lot of hard work, but it’s not out of reach. It’s very possible. It’s honing in on the stuff you need to fix and getting after it.

Question: You’ve got better since college?

Answer: Oh yes, definitely. I was a 13’6’ jumper in college so I’ve definitely come a long way.

Question: Was it strange to compete on the White Birch Golf Course tonight?

Answer: No (laughing). It’s like jumping at home.

Question: What is fun about pole vaulting?

Answer: Everything. The best is when you clear a bar. I get so amped up. I get such a sense of accomplishment. It’s an amazing feeling, especially on the third attempt. It takes extra concentration on your third attempt to really make it work.

Janice Keppler is one of only eight American women to ever clear 15 feet in the pole vault.

Question: What do you think people wonder about the pole vault?

Answer: People tend to ask about the equipment, the different poles – you can have carbon or fiber-glass poles.

Question: They are 15 feet long?

Answer: Fifteen, or 14’6’ or 14. They’re about eight pounds.

Question: It seems like it would be hard to run with a pole.

Answer: A little bit. You don’t even notice it because it’s right across your body.

Question: What was the connection that started you in this sport?

Answer: I did it to get out of sprinting. The coach said, ‘You can try vaulting or you can go run a 400.’ I said, ‘I think I’ll try pole vaulting.’

Question: You must have been reasonably good at it back then?

Answer: I was tall and could naturally get my way over the bar. I started out jumping maybe 7’6’. (When she graduated four years later, she was jumping 12 feet.)

Former town judge, current county legislator ready to close 45-year run in public service

Photos by Tom Rivers – George Bower is pictured in Holley’s Public Square. He is in town most mornings for breakfast at Sam’s Diner.

HOLLEY – George Bower says he’s been fortunate to live in Holley – as a kid, a young parent and a grandparent who is steady presence at many Holley soccer games and other youth sporting events.

Bower also has been a mainstay in public service for the community, serving as a Murray town justice for 21 years before joining the County Legislature nearly 24 years ago. He won’t be running again, and will retire Dec. 31.

Bower, 76, grew up in the hamlet of Brockville just outside Holley. He married a Hulberton girl, Sandy. They have four children and 11 grandchildren who all live nearby.

He worked at Kodak, starting as a draftsmen and working his way up to head of patent researching, a job that took him to Washington, D.C. monthly for more than 25 years.

The following interview was conducted at Sam’s Diner:

Question: Did you always have an interest in the justice system?

Answer: Especially justice. Having four children and going to all of the events, I saw some of the young people who really weren’t acting as well as they should. They needed a little extra guidance. It worked out and it was really interesting for me for 21 years.

Question: Was being a justice different then? Did you have more latitude because nowadays you hear judges complain about all of these mandatory sentences?

Answer: It was different then. You could sentence to community service, which I did quite often. Students used to get ticked at me because of some of the jobs I created. They didn’t have to take the jobs. They could have gone to jail. They had the choice.

You could counsel young kids. You could take time with them then.

That’s where I got the idea for the welfare-to-work crew (at the county), which is still going on. I had all of these people coming into court and I wanted to do more for them, but I couldn’t. I tried to come up with creative ideas for them where they could work.

At the county I had this in the back of my mind. Many of these people are downtrodden. There is a reason they are and we wanted to get to it. We first had a garden and they could work on it and see something materialize, and take some of the fruits of their labor home. A lot of them got off of welfare.

Question: You don’t see too many county legislators with a background as a town justice. It seems like as a judge you would make a lot of enemies?

Answer: I made way more friends than enemies. I always worked with everybody who came into my court. I took time with them. But it started to get where there wasn’t enough time to work with them because the state started to meddle into what you could do and what you couldn’t do with them. It started to get ridiculous where court was another way for the state to raise money. It became all about money. I wanted to be able to work with people to improve their lifestyle, because they weren’t getting that at home.

We had a lot of bars in the village back then, I think there were six. Every weekend I had to get out of bed to do arraignments for drunk drivers. That gets tiring but you have to do it because it’s all part of being a judge.

Question: Why retire this year from the Legislature?

Answer: My wife and I talked about it. It’s really a family thing. We went to a baseball game last night in Attica. My grandson went 3 for 4, drove in two runs. We miss some of the games, but very few. We really believe in family.

George Bower, right, is retiring from the Orleans County Legislature on Dec. 31. He is pictured at a recent meeting with legislators Don Allport, left, and Ken Rush.

Question: People may just see the Legislature as twice-a-month meetings. But I know there are a lot of committees and other meetings with the job.

Answer: There are a lot of committees. If you’re interested, you got to go to things. There’s a youth recognition awards banquet coming up. I believe I should be there. I have always gone. Holley kids will be there with their families. From the sporting events, I know a lot of people.

If you want to be a good legislator, you have to work.

Question: You’ve always an advocate for the nursing home.

Answer: Redoing the nursing home was a battle I fought because I believed we should have had a better nursing home. We could no longer (about a decade ago) attract our own people because the nursing home was so bad.

That was my first committee, the nursing home, and it was a long battle to get it done. Now we’re in the throes of maybe losing it, which I think would be a mistake, but I’m the only one (on the Legislature).

Question: When they talk about the big deficits, $2 to $4 million a year at the nursing home, it seems speculative.

Answer: It is. We also really promised the people we wouldn’t touch it until January 2015. (The Legislature, in a 6-1 vote in February, voted to transfer the nursing home to the local development corporation that has been tasked with finding a buyer for the 120-bed nursing home.) With that resolution we lost control of it. Now we can pawn it off.

I’m there a lot at the nursing home. I gave tours for about six months, trying to bring back the numbers. A lot of people don’t know it’s out there. We have a rehab center there, as well as the nursing home.

It’s not just the downtrodden in the nursing home. We have some of our top-notch citizens in the nursing home. A lot of people want to know what they can do to keep it county-run. That nursing home touches thousands of people in the community. It’s such a great place right now.

Question: You don’t see too many people these days grow up in a little town and stay there forever like you have.

Answer: It’s about the jobs. You see it in our schools. Our schools are going down because the people of child-bearing age are leaving. I think it’s going to force some of the school districts to merge.

Question: It seems like the American Dream to grow up in a small town, to stay here and be involved.

Answer: I think it’s been wonderful. I’m lucky because my family has stayed here. They have good jobs or they’re in college.

This is a nice place to live. We have nice people here.

Question: How do you think your life would have been different if you didn’t get involved in the community 45 years ago? You wouldn’t be as well known in Sam’s Diner, that’s for sure.

Answer: It’s funny because I come in here most every morning. I know everybody in here. I see county workers in here. It’s been rewarding for me. This is who I am.

Question: I have to think you’re one of the most accessible legislators.

Answer: I play cards once a week with people from Albion. They all go to diners. Around that card table, we’re all older and there’s a vast amount of knowledge. Around that table, you can pick up things. There’s one Democrat. We have a good time. I can mix those things and athletics with politics.

Question: What are some things you’re proud of as a public official?

Answer: I look back at some of the things I’ve accomplished, with the help of others of course, and we’ve accomplished a lot in the county over the years. The public safety building was a battle when we did it because it was an old store (on Route 31 in Albion). People thought the roof would leak. I was chairman of the Public Safety Building when we did it (in the late 1990s). I sat in on every meeting.

It was a battle to get into a new shelter. The work crew, I helped push that. A lot of things have gone on in the last 24 years. We redid the courthouse so it can last another 50 years so it can house what we need.

The nursing home was the biggest battle we had, and now it’s a battle again because we might lose it. People don’t understand, they say we’ll get the same care (under private ownership). But everyone I talk to say there’s no comparison when you compare it to Brockport, Medina or Batavia. There’s not the quality of care.

Our nursing home is clean and there’s almost never, ever a smell. There’s beautiful artwork in the dementia ward. There’s music.

Question: Are you really retiring or do you have other projects in mind?

Answer: I’m going to stay involved in Holley. I like to walk the canal and in Holley we have an old canal bed by the falls. About five years ago the county workers cut down a lot of trees so you could see the bed. Now, I’m working with them and the village of Holley to get down there and clean the 100 feet or whatever it is because the stone is on both sides on the canal bed. I want to bring it back, I really want to do it. We should bring it back and flood it.

‘I love helping people. I love making a difference in somebody’s life.’

Todd Zinkievich, 45, has led the Medina Fire Department since 2003. The department replaced Rural Metro as the primary ambulance provider in western Orleans County in July 2007.

When Zinkievich pitched the plan to the Village Board in 2007, he anticipated running anywhere from 1,500 to 1,700 calls. Immediately, the department exceeded that, pushing 1,800 to 1,900 calls in its first year.

In 2012, the Medina Fire Department handled 2,209 ambulance calls and 311 fire calls for 2,520 total, the most ever for the department.

The department has 13 paid full-time staff, plus about 15 to 18 callmen, and other volunteers.

Zinkievich was interviewed March 11 at the fire hall.

Question: Why do the ambulance numbers keep going up? Are people getting older?

Answer: Yes. We have an aging population. We also have the contract with Medina hospital, transferring their patients from their facility to a higher level of care. Those calls tend to increase roughly the same percentage each year.

Question: So, in terms of the future, this is fairly solid, assuming the reimbursements don’t drop? Maybe that’s the only wild card?

Answer: That would be the wild card in our business. It’s completely beyond our control when the federal government sets the guidelines for Medicaid and Medicare reimbursements. They always tend to go up, too, based on the rate of inflation. But they could make an about-face and bring them down on us.

Question: Could you talk about the call men, how you determine their pay and their role in the department?

Answer: We have about 15 to 18 call firefighters, which are basically volunteers. They get paid a small stipend. It used to be $100 a year flat rate. Now we have a $200-a-year flat rate, and they can make up to $600 with incentives, which includes call response and training. We encourage them to do duty time with us. They come dressed just like us. You can’t tell us apart. They do time with us. They are very valuable assets to us. We’re always looking for good active callmen.

Question: What is the big benefit of having a paid crew?

Answer: In this day and age volunteerism is dwindling. Back when I joined back in the ’80s, you tended to have families where the mother stayed at home and took care of the kids. The father worked and had time in the evening to be able to volunteer at his local fire department. Now you’re finding more two-income families where mom has to work out of the home. They may work opposite shifts. So when the mom is gone, the dad has to watch the kids. He doesn’t have that time to commit. It’s industry-wide. We see it all over.

The benefit of having a paid staff is knowing you will have somebody to drive that fire truck or ambulance and help you in your time of need – not that it doesn’t happen with other departments. The calls are still getting answered.

Question: What is the big challenge in running a modern fire department in Medina?

Answer: The big challenge is manpower. We are right now stretched to the max. I would love to be able to have a staff meeting and tell the guys we’re going to hire four more guys. But I’m realistic about it. In this day and age adding to your local government is not a popular option.

Question: Do you have 24-hour coverage with the paid staff?

Answer: Yes we do. During the day we have a minimum of three and a maximum of five. At night, from 11 p.m. to 7 a.m., we go down to two guys.

Question: Is that tricky to schedule with 13 people?

Answer: Yes it is. Scheduling is the absolute hardest part of this job, making sure sufficient manpower available. We rely heavily on our callmen and our off-duty guys. Sometimes they’re not home long and then come in and jump right back on the ambulance. We have to have a commitment from them, knowing it’s not a 12-hour-a-day job. It’s 24-7.

Question: They do 12-hour shifts?

Answer: Yes they do. They work four 12-hour days and then they get four days off. There are times when we have two or three ambulances on the road and we’re spread thin.

Question: Why do you think you’ve been able to keep the ambulance service profitable? I know other departments, including Batavia, got out of that business because they were losing money.

Answer: Our guys do a lot extra when they do ambulance calls. They get signatures and paperwork that a lot of other agencies don’t get. We forward it right away to our billing company (MedEx in Le Roy) and they can act on that bill right away. That helps increase our collection rate.

Question: What do you like about this job?

Answer: Everything. I love helping people. I love making a difference in somebody’s life. Generally when we’re called somebody is in trouble. They’re either hurt or something is on fire. It’s up to us to get there, mitigate it and offer whatever assistance we can.

Question: You go out on calls?

Answer: Yes. Because we’re such a small department I have to run on a lot of the calls. I do, too, because I’ve always been a firm believer that we should spread the workload amongst all of our employees. When you take one person, myself, out of that equation of 13, you’re taking 7.3 percent of your workforce away from it. These guys are working hard and they’re working hard for us, so I’m going to work hard alongside them. I go on my fair amount of ambulance calls. I may be driving the ambulance or in back as a medic.

Question: You have to keep up with all the training?

Answer: Yes. I’m an intermediate EMT. All of our career guys are required to be at least intermediate EMTs. We encourage them to increase their training up to the paramedic level. It takes 18 months. It’s a big commitment to get someone trained to that level.