ALBION – Citizens’ Climate Lobby will host a 6 p.m. meeting in Albion on Wednesday, Nov. 5, at Hoag Library in Albion.
The meeting is open to the public. Attendees will discuss how they feel about climate change.
We will discuss climate change, causes and effects of climate change, actions people can take to address climate change by advancing our policy agenda in the Congress and personal actions, too.
We welcome anyone who is serious about solving climate change as a volunteer. We work with members of Congress across the political spectrum to find common ground on climate change action. For more information contact robertdotjohnson@rochester.rr.com.
Citizens’ Climate Lobby is a national nonprofit organization with local chapters across the country. The group has been the primary catalyst for the energy Innovation and Carbon Dividend Act. To learn more about our work, visit citizensclimatelobby.org.
ALBION – Orleans County Legislature Chairman Lynne Johnson today announced the county has launched E-Notify, a way for county residents to be notified when new information in certain areas of county government is uploaded to the county website.
Residents need to sign up for the free service and can opt to receive the notification via email, text or both.
“We are continually looking for ways to make county government more accessible to our residents and we believe using E-Notify to proactively release information to those who wish to be alerted will greatly enhance our outreach efforts,” said Johnson. “So if you are interested in new county job postings or when DPW lists a new bid opportunity or want our latest press releases, you can choose those options.”
Right now, E-Notify offers seven different areas of county government where a person can receive notifications and Johnson said the county is looking to add others based on the areas of the website that seem to garner the most interest. These areas include emergency alerts, elections information, DPW bids and results and job postings among others.
Photo courtesy of Robert Batt: The Trolley Building at the Orleans County 4-H Fairgrounds will get a big upgrade through a grant from the Ralph C. Wilson, Jr. Foundation.
Press Release, Orleans County Cornell Cooperative Extension
KNOWLESVILLE – Orleans County Cornell Cooperative Extension is pleased to announce it has received a $250,000 grant from the Ralph C. Wilson, Jr. Foundation to fund significant improvements to the Trolley Building at the Orleans County 4-H Fairgrounds and launch a new community collaboration program aimed at strengthening connections across the county.
The Trolley Building, a key four-season facility on the fairgrounds originally constructed in 1966, will undergo essential upgrades, including comprehensive bathroom renovations, furnace improvements, and the replacement of existing flooring.
In tandem with the physical upgrades, the grant will facilitate a new community collaboration project centered around a “Collaboration Café.” This initiative will feature monthly speakers addressing topics relevant to county needs, enhancing and adding to already existing vital platforms for local non-profit organizations to network, learn, and discuss ideas.
The goal is to foster further teamwork and advance innovative solutions stemming from these presentations and discussions.
“We are incredibly grateful to the Ralph C. Wilson, Jr. Foundation for this generous support,” said Robert Batt, executive director of Orleans CCE. “These improvements will not only modernize a cherished community asset but also provide a crucial gathering space for non-profits to work together more effectively for the public good of Orleans County.”
To further support local community efforts, Orleans County non-profits actively involved in county-wide networking efforts (such as the Capacity Café, Human Service Council, or monthly non-profit Hub call) will be granted no-cost use of the Trolley Building and the Education Center through 2029 for meetings, classes, and other events that serve the public good. Eligible organizations must meet standard contract and insurance requirements.
This opportunity allows CCE Orleans to further commitment to creating a stronger and healthier community through learning initiatives that build skills in everything from nutrition to farming & gardening to youth development to digital literacy.
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 14 October 2025 at 4:02 pm
Photos by Tom Rivers
WATERPORT – An angler uses a net to help a friend bring in a Chinook salmon this morning at the Oak Orchard River.
The fish was caught by St. Mary’s Archers Club, which lets people park for $10 and gives them access to the river.
The club opens its gate at 5 a.m. every morning for about a month up until Veterans’ Day on Nov. 11. The Archers Club has coffee, doughnuts and bagels ready in the morning, and then serves hamburgers and hot dogs for lunch.
This man is happy to have landed a Chinook salmon. He released it back into the Oak Orchard.
Fishing is the county’s top tourism attraction, generating about $28 million in economic activity in Orleans, according to a report from the state DEC based on 2017 data.
There have been visiting anglers so far from Hawaii, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Massachusetts, Vermont, New Jersey, Virginia and Michigan. They make the trek for the chance to catch a big brown trout of Chinook salmon.
David Mangold of Cumberland, Maryland holds a small brown trout he caught. He let the fish go. He caught a Chinook salmon, too.
Mangold has been coming to the Oak Orchard the second week of October the past 10 years.
“It’s always a good time,” he said.
Howard Palmer, a member of the Archers Club, is up by 4 a.m. every day to go open the gate at the Archers Club, get the coffee pot brewing and to start a fire.
He has been on early morning duty the past five years or so and he said he’s never missed a day or been late.
Some of the fishermen are ready at 5. They like to claim their spot in the river. They can’t start fishing legally until a half hour before sunrise, or about 6:45 a.m.
Palmer, 80, said the Archers Club can accommodate about 80 parked vehicles. The fishermen like to be spread out. They say it’s not nearly as crowded or hectic as the salmon River up in Pulaski and Altmar.
“I’ve never met a bad fisherman,” Palmer said. “They’re interesting people.”
Tom O’Hearn, president of the Archers Club, cooks hot dogs and hamburgers today. He has a great view of the river from the grill.
O’Hearn has been the club’s president the past 10 years. The parking fees and revenue from breakfast and lunch help maintain the property. The Archers Club has upgraded the cooking area in recent years and extended the pavilion.
The anglers enjoy the great outdoors. It’s an ideal time to be out with colorful fall foliage and the changing of the seasons.
By Ginny Kropf, correspondent Posted 14 October 2025 at 12:26 pm
Photos courtesy of Scott Robinson: Tables are all set up at White Birch Golf Course in Lyndonville for last year’s Treasure Island fundraiser by Orleans Community Health Foundation. This year’s event is scheduled Nov. 8.
LYNDONVILLE – Plans are well underway for the 31st annual Treasure Island fundraiser sponsored by Orleans Community Health Foundation.
The event, scheduled Nov. 8 at White Birch Golf Course, benefits Orleans Community Health, and promises to be an evening filled with excitement, prizes and celebration – all in support of local health services, said Scott Robinson, director of marketing.
This year’s gala will honor several Orleans Community Health Primary Care Team members as honorary chairs. They are Vinay Aggarwal, M.D.; Syed Raza, M.D.; Leah Brenner, CPNP; Pamela Eaton, A-NP; Elizabeth Gurnsey, FNP; Cheryl Kast, PA-C; Stephanie Murphy, FNP-C; and Michelle Smith, FNP-BC.
Baskets including this one with lottery tickets are already being donated for this year’s Treasure Island.
These exceptional providers represent the heart of healthcare in Orleans County – delivering quality, compassionate care and keeping patients close to home, Robinson said.
Guests will enjoy a buffet dinner, open bar, raffles, entertainment and live and silent auctions featuring more than 100 incredible items, according to Robinson. This year’s auction lineup includes a weeklong stay in Myrtle Beach, a four-day trip to Cape Cod, Buffalo Bills tickets and countless gift certificates, experiences and local treasures.
And that’s not all. This year’s Treasure Island is brimming with exciting chances to win: a Pirate’s Pillage Raffle in which the winner gets to choose any item from the live auction lineup; Lucky Cork, in which just $20 allows the guest to pick a random cork to reveal a surprise bottle of wine or liquor (no one goes home empty handed); and a Reserve Raffle in which the guest has a shot at winning $500 in cash.
“We’re excited to invite the community back for another unforgettable Treasure Island,” said Megan Johnson, executive director of Orleans Community Health Foundation. “It’s a night of fun, laughter and generosity – all in the spirit of supporting essential, local health services. Every ticket purchased and every auction bid helps us continue providing quality care close to home for our patients, families and community.”
This year’s event is presented by Seaway Insurance Associates, with additional support from generous local sponsors, donors and volunteers, who make this tradition possible, Johnson said.
“Join us for an evening of adventure, community and giving – and help support the future of health services in Orleans County,” Johnson urged.
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 14 October 2025 at 8:42 am
Photos by Tom Rivers
HOLLEY – A house at 21 Orchard St. was badly damaged by fire on Monday evening in Holley, with even extensive damage when the fire rekindled around 5 a.m. today.
Firefighters are shown at the scene around 7:30 this morning.
Four people who live at the house were able to safely get out on Monday evening, but one person was taken by Mercy Flight EMS to a hospital as a precaution for smoke inhalation.
The fire started in the bedroom in the northeast corner, said Rick Cary, fire chief for the Murray Joint Fire District.
The fire rekindled likely from heat trapped in insulation in the attic, Cary said. Neighbors said there were flames shooting from the roof after the fire rekindled.
Cary said firefighters left the scene at 11 p.m. only to return at 5 a.m. Murray firefighters also responded to two EMS calls, one at midnight and another around 2 a.m.
Jerry Bentley, a deputy coordinator for the Orleans County Emergency Management Office, climbs up a ladder to see the damage at the house.
Fire investigators with the county are trying to determine the cause of the fire.
Murray firefighters were assisted at the scene this morning by Clarendon, Brockport, Barre, Kendall, Hamlin, Shelby and Ridgeway.
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 13 October 2025 at 4:30 pm
Photos courtesy of Tim Archer
ALBION – A group of Albion Middle School enrichment students recently joined Craig Lane, the Orleans County DPW Commissioner, at the cemetery for the Orleans County Alms House.
Lane is also a member of the Holley Rotary Club which donated a new flag pole for the cemetery. The Alms House was a place for the poor, indigent and infirmed from 1833 to 1960. It is located at 14064 W. County House Rd., behind the Emergency Management buildings.
The cemetery contains the graves of about 250 people, and many of the sites are marked by simple numbers or have no marker at all. The site was reclaimed and restored beginning in 2010 through projects led by Albion Middle School students and the county.
Lane is shown with student Elizabeth Colmenaro, Oliver Beyrle, Elliot Pettit, Colton Moreland and Maelynn Taylor.
The DPW installed the new flag pole which replaced one that was worn, said Tim Archer, who assists with the enrichment program and spearheaded several of the projects at the Alms House Cemetery.
Students look over some of the gravesites at the cemetery which is visible from Route 31A near Keeler Construction.
Archer was working as a service learning teacher at Albion in 2010 when his seventh-grade students became interested in the site. Bill Lattin, the county historian at the time, was speaking in Archer’s class about how there used to be the Alms or “Poor House” on County House Road from 1833 to 1960. The Alms House closed in 1960 when the county nursing home opened on Route 31 in Albion.
The Alms House was torn down and now the site is the Orleans County Emergency Management Office with a fire training tower.
Maelynn Taylor and Elizabeth Colmenaro visit the gravesite for Daniel Walterhouse, a Civil War soldier buried at the cemetery.
Walterhouse lived at the Orleans County Alms House or Poor House for about 15 years until his death in 1910.
The new headstone was unveiled during a ceremony at the cemetery on May 18, 2025. Two Albion eight-graders – Kendall Peruzzini and Mary McCormick – secured the 230-pound Civil War era headstone from the Veterans Affairs office in Washington, DC. The stone was installed by the DPW.
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 13 October 2025 at 11:00 am
ALBION – Briana Jepson sent in these photos Saturday of a bald eagle in a cornfield along Route 31 in Albion. The bald eagle is feasting on a dead animal.
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 13 October 2025 at 10:37 am
Gas prices decreased an average of 5 cents per gallon of regular unleaded nationally in the past week, and are down an average of 2 cents per gallons state-wide, according to AAA.
The national average price for a gallon of gasoline is $3.08 while the average price in New York State is $3.16, AAA said today.
“According to the Energy Information Administration, demand for gasoline has fallen to a four-month low, contributing to the continued decline in pump prices,” AAA said. “With the third quarter of 2025 ending in higher gasoline inventories and the seasonal transition from summer-grade to winter-grade fuel, consumers are likely to see even lower prices at the pump in the coming weeks.”
Here are the average prices today for regular unleaded in WNY counties:
Photos from Orleans County Department of History Collection – “Transportation Options”
By Catherine Cooper, Orleans County Historian
“Illuminating Orleans” – Volume 5, No. 36
The photo at top shows a lady, wearing the hat and ankle-length skirt of the era, walking along a path. Powerline poles, adorned with glass insulators, line the route.
An automobile approaches. Spooked by this noisy charging machine, the horses have to be led by their drivers. This photograph perfectly captures the old and the new, that brief time when the pivot was tilting from the horse-drawn era to the age of electric power and automobiles.
Road conditions such as those photographed above and directly below led to the formation of the Good Roads Movement in the 1880s. Rural and suburban roads were mostly dirt: muddy and soft when it rained, dusty when dry.
The campaign to improve the roads was initiated by bicyclists who were enjoying the freedom of the roads for the first time. The advent of the automobile further highlighted the problem of muddy roads, as rutted roads damaged vehicles.
“Stuck in the Mud” Burrows Collection, Orleans County Dept. of History Collection
The Good Roads Movement was not without controversy. Who would be responsible for the cost of improving roads? In New York State, some people argued that infrastructure investment had focused too much on the canal and the railroads to the detriment of rural roads. Others argued that the canal and the railroads were far more efficient in transporting goods, so why bother with investing in roads?
Much of the debate focused on whether the condition of the roads impacted farmers. Proponents argued that farmers were socially isolated and hampered in getting access to markets.
Farmers resented the imposition of an extra tax. They also felt that the tax would be used to improve roads other than the roads they needed. This debate was aired in the newspapers right through the 1920s. The Lyndonville Enterprise, for example, ran regular columns of syndicated posts on Good Roads.
In New York State, the issue of payment for road improvements was first addressed by the Higbie-Armstrong* Good Roads Act of 1898 which established cost-sharing between municipalities, counties and the state for the construction of main roads.
The Federal Aid Road Act of 1916 provided matching federal funds for road paving conducted by the states and in 1921, the Federal Aid Highway Act provided funding for paving up to 7% of roads in each state.
Lynn & Bea Burrows on a happier motoring outing. (Burrows Collection)
*Senator William W. Armstrong, who co-sponsored the 1898 Good Roads legislation, spent his early years in Albion. Educated locally, he became a lawyer and was clerk of the Orleans County Board of Supervisors in 1886 and 1887. He later moved to Rochester where he was elected State Senator from 1899-1908. He died in 1944 and is buried in Mount Albion Cemetery.
By Ginny Kropf, correspondent Posted 12 October 2025 at 7:33 pm
Photo courtesy of Scott Robinson: This photograph of a maple tree in fall colors is the kind of picture Medina Area Partnership is looking for in its new photo contest focusing on the season.
MEDINA – Medina Area Partnership has announced a new photo contest, to begin Monday and focusing on the fall season in Medina.
Scott Robinson, past president of MAP and a member of the Marketing Committee, said they developed the photo contest over the past few months as a way to highlight Medina throughout the year. A new contest will be announced each season.
“With so many community members sharing beautiful photos on Facebook, we wanted to showcase Medina through their eyes,” Robinson said. “The entire committee worked on the details and the board of directors gave their blessing and support to run with the idea.”
This week, MAP’s Facebook page will post a couple of photos showcasing Medina in its fall glory. To participate in the contest, entrants just have to comment with a photo in the thread under the original photo. By posting the photo, they agree to allow MAP to use the photo to showcase Medina, Robinson said.
The contest will run begin on Monday and run until Nov. 7, with winners announced on Nov. 10. Prizes will be awarded by the three major sponsors as follows: Hart House – $50 for Hart House Hotel, Factory Expresso, Newell Lounge or Shirt Factory; $25 for Rosenkrans Pharmacy; and $25 to Creekside Floral and Gift Shop.
As long as there is strong participation, the winter challenge will kick off the week of Thanksgiving to incorporate Olde Tyme Christmas, Small Business Saturday and all of the initial holiday festivities.
“Our plan is to continue this contest each season, helping to keep Medina’s community spirit front and center,” Robinson said.
The photo at top shows a lady, wearing the hat and ankle-length skirt of the era, walking along a path. Powerline poles, adorned with glass insulators, line the route.
