"Epochs in Orleans" Timeline Festival Returns to Medina

GCC Participating in the Second Annual Orleans County Heritage Festival

Batavia, NY (08/10/2017) — Time travel may not exist yet, but visitors to the Genesee Community College Medina Campus Center on Saturday and Sunday, September 16-17, 2017 may feel like they are moving through time.

"Epochs in Orleans," sponsored by the College's History Club, will return to GCC in Medina next month for a second year providing a timeline festival to not only entice but enchant visitors with an array of historical figures, helping celebrate the Medina Campus Center's Tenth Anniversary with educational spirit. Guests will meet Edgar Allen Poe, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Abraham Lincoln, reenactors from American wars from the French and Indian War down to World War II and much more! All events are FREE and open to the public.

Making a special appearance at Epochs this year will be Dave Ruch in concert. A teaching artist and gifted musician, Ruch will perform a program entitled, "The War of 1812: Songs and Stories from New York and Beyond" on Saturday, Sept. 16 at 1 p.m. Ruch is a public scholar with the New York Council for the Humanities, and travels extensively to share his specialty in historical and traditional music. From Erie Canal songs to Adirondack ballads, Native American chants to Great Lake ditties-he delights audiences of all ages and embraces much of New York's forgotten music that was born in farms, battlefields and lumber camps through the millennium.

This year's festival is especially meaningful as the GCC Medina Campus Center's celebrates its Tenth Anniversary. "I can't think of a better way to recognize the anniversary of our Medina Campus Center than at a festival which commemorates American history and provides such a variety of opportunity for all age groups," Jim Simon, associate dean of GCC's Orleans County campuses said. A special, cake-cutting ceremony will be held one hour before the David Ruch concert on Saturday, Sept. 16 at 12 p.m. to observe the occasion.

Both the Medina and Albion Campus Centers are participating in the Second Annual Orleans County Heritage Festival, which runs Friday, Sept. 8 through Sunday, Sept. 17, 2017. Like last year, there will be an array of fun and exciting events and opportunities to spotlight and celebrate historical people, places and spaces that abound in Orleans County. In addition to the "Epochs in Orleans" timeline festival at the Medina Campus Center, GCC's Albion Campus Center is offering the first of a two-part Genealogy Workshop (Part I: Saturday, Sept. 9, 9 a.m. - 5 p.m. in Albion; Part II: Sat., Sept. 16, 9 a.m. - 5 p.m. in Medina). Members of the Orleans County Genealogical Society will be available to assist individuals with their own genealogical research. Additionally, on Saturday, Sept. 9 from 9 a.m. - 2 p.m., the Albion Campus Center is offering a program entitled, "Ancestors, Legends and Lore" that exams Victorian spiritualism including a review of an 18th Century parlor séance.

The overall Orleans County Heritage Festival offers the occasion to highlight other important anniversaries including the 100th anniversary of New York State granting women the right to vote, and the 100th anniversary of America's entry into World War I. Sunday, Sept. 17 is Constitution Day, marking the 230th anniversary of the drafting of the U.S. Constitution. Each of these anniversaries will be recognized with special programs over the course of the weekend.

For the full Orleans County Heritage Festival calendar of events, including those events happening at Genesee Community College's campus centers, go to: https://orleansnyheritage.wordpress.com/ or visit the Facebook page at: https://www.facebook.com/OrleansCountyNYHeritageFestival/.

For further information regarding the events happening at Genesee Community College, contact Derek Maxfield, GCC associate professor at ddmaxfield@genesee.edu, or Jim Simon at jsimon@genesee.edu.

The Medina Campus Center is located at 11470 Maple Ridge Road, Medina. 585-798-1688.

The Albion Campus Center is located at 456 West Avenue, Albion. 585-589-4936.

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Editor's Note:

For photographs of the Epoch Timeline:

http://marketing.genesee.edu/images/EpochTimeline.jpg

http://marketing.genesee.edu/images/Drummer.jpg

http://marketing.genesee.edu/images/War of 1812.jpg

http://marketing.genesee.edu/images/Revolutionary War.jpg

For a photograph of Dave Ruch: