Photos and information courtesy of Holley Central School
HOLLEY – The Holley Central School Class of 1986 recently marked a major milestone by celebrating their 40th class reunion during the district’s homecoming weekend on October 2-3.
The weekend kicked off with classmates gathering to watch the annual homecoming parade. Afterward, the group headed to the Woodlands soccer stadium for the alumni soccer game. Two members of the Class of ’86, Walter Bennage and Peter Lehning, suited up to play and were honored with team captain status for the game.
Following the game, 29 classmates and spouses gathered at the Holley firemen’s field to reminisce and catch up. The reunion drew attendees from across the country, with several classmates traveling from as far as California, Texas and Illinois to celebrate.
On Saturday, the festivities continued with breakfast at Sam’s Diner. This was followed by a guided tour of both the elementary and Jr./Sr. high school buildings, led by Holley School District Superintendent Karri Schiavone.
The tour held special significance for the attendees. The Class of 1986 was among the very first groups of students to occupy the current high school when it opened in the late 1970s. At the time, the building featured a trendy “open classroom” concept. The alumni found it fascinating to see how the physical spaces had evolved and noted the remarkable modern upgrades completed over the last 40 years.
A major highlight of the landmark weekend was a philanthropic effort by the self-proclaimed “Generation X” class. Both weekend attendees and classmates who could not make the trip combined forces to collect donations. In honor of their graduation year, they raised $1,986, which will be awarded as a scholarship to a deserving Holley graduating senior.
Press Release, Community Action of Orleans & Genesee
Provided photo: Don Sloper, president of ABATE in Orleans County, presents a check to Renee Hungerford, Executive Director/CEO of Community Action of Orleans & Genesee.
ALBION – Community Action of Orleans & Genesee thanks the members of ABATE of New York, Orleans Chapter, for donating $700, toys and books to support local children and families through the agency’s annual Holiday Toy Drive.
At ABATE’s October 18 meeting, members presented Community Action with $700 after voting to increase the $630 they had originally collected. Members also collected donations of an assortment of toys and books to help brighten the holidays for local children and families.
The donations will support Community Action’s annual Holiday Toy Drive, which helps provide gifts to children during the holiday season.
“On behalf of Community Action and the families we serve, I extend our heartfelt thanks to every member of ABATE and donors for this generous support,” said Renee Hungerford, Executive Director/CEO of Community Action of Orleans & Genesee. “By voting to increase their contribution, ABATE members demonstrated the caring spirit they bring to our community. We are deeply grateful to Don Sloper, the entire organization, and every donor whose generosity will help make the holidays brighter for local children and families facing difficult circumstances this season.”
Support from local businesses, organizations, and community members makes Community Action’s Holiday Toy Drive possible and helps ensure that children throughout the community can experience the joy and excitement of the holiday season.
Community Action of Orleans & Genesee sincerely thanks ABATE for its continued commitment to helping neighbors in need and for making this year’s Holiday Toy Drive brighter for local children and families.
About Community Action of Orleans & Genesee
Community Action of Orleans & Genesee is dedicated to helping individuals and families achieve greater economic security and improve their quality of life through programs and services that address poverty, housing stability, early childhood education, nutrition, transportation, energy assistance, and other community needs.
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 19 October 2026 at 10:23 am
File photo by Tom Rivers: This photo from May shows the entrance of Veterans Drive being barricaded to prevent traffic from going through.
HOLLEY – Mayor Mark Bower said it will be costly to replace the culvert on Veterans Drive but he wants to start the process of getting a new small bridge eventually in place.
The culvert was badly damaged by a powerful storm on April 1 with flooding. The road and culvert are both crumbling.
The entrance has been blocked off to traffic. Bower doesn’t want to see the entrance stay closed long-term, saying that it hurts the VFW Post, a tannery business and the companies in the Holley Business Park.
Wendel, an engineering firm, has offered to do a preliminary engineering assessment for free for replacing the culvert. Bower said a new culvert and road repairs could be around $850,000. Wendel will be able to provide more specific numbers.
Holley could then pursue grant funding for the project.
This is a selection of burial permits from 1880 to 1910 for East Carlton/Kent Cemetery.
By Catherine Cooper, Orleans County Historian
“Illuminating Orleans” – Volume 6, No. 28
EAST CARLTON – From “Acute melancholia” to “Whooping cough”, the burial permits for the East Carlton/Kent Cemetery contained in the leather pouch referenced in V6 No.27 provide an insight into causes of death in East Carlton from the 1880s to 1910.
The following is a list of the conditions cited on 120 permits. Each entry represents one case, unless otherwise noted:
Acute melancholia
Alcoholia (sic)
Anasarca
Apoplexy (6 cases)
Asphyxia (1 yr. old)
Blood poisoning
Brain abscess
Bright’s disease (4 cases)
Cancer, breast
Cancer, cervical
Cancer, stomach
Cancer, uterine
Cardiac dropsy
Cerebral hyperemia
Cholera, infantile (3 cases)
Chronic fibroid phthisis
Cirrhosis of the liver
Consumption (7 cases)
Convulsions
Cystitis
Degeneration of spinal cord
Diphtheria (3 cases, aged 2,3 and 8)
Dropsy
Drowning, while bathing in Marsh Creek
Dysentery
Dysentery, bloody
Dysentery, systemic
Fibrosis
Fracture of back and neck – (9-year-old boy, struck by a railroad train)
Gangrene, senile
General debility
Heart disease (5 cases)
Heart failure (5 cases)
Hemorrhage (infant. 2 days old)
Hemorrhage & peritonitis
Hemorrhage in childbirth – (mother aged 16)
Inflammation of bowels
Influenza (2 cases)
Intestinal obstruction (2 cases)
Liver abscess
Locomotor ataxia
Lupus
Murder (Emma Hunt, V6, No.27)
Natural causes (2 cases)
Nephritis (2 cases)
Non-closure of foramen ovale – (infant)
Old age, (6 cases)
Overdose
Paralysis (7 cases)
Peritonitis (2 cases)
Phthisis
Phthisis pneumonialis (sic) (2 cases)
Pneumonia (3 cases)
Pneumonia, broncho
Pneumonia, double
Pneumonia exhaustion
Pulmonary consumption (3 cases)
Pulmonary edema
Pulmonary tuberculosis (2 cases)
Rheumatic e….itis (sic)
Rheumatism (2 cases)
Senile disability
Tic doloreaux
Tuberculosis (3 cases)
Typhoid fever (4 cases)
Valvular (mitral) disease of the heart (2 cases)
Whooping cough and pneumonia – (infant, 1.5 months)
Some of the terms used may be unfamiliar. Apoplexy is now referred to as a stroke. Phthisis is a wasting disease. Tuberculosis is listed under a variety of terms: consumption, tuberculosis, pulmonary consumption, and pulmonary tuberculosis.
According to the Center for Disease Control/ Census Bureau Mortality Statistics, the leading causes of death for 1880 – 1910 were infectious and communicable diseases: tuberculosis, pneumonia, influenza, and intestinal infections. The Carlton statistics reflect this:
CDC Leading causes of death from 1880-1910 (Carlton Statistics)
Pneumonia & influenza (12 cases)
Tuberculosis (14 cases)
Enteritis & dysentery (7 cases)
Diphtheria (3 cases)
Typhoid fever (4 cases)
Heart disease (10 cases)
Deaths caused by communicable diseases have since declined. Heart disease and cancer are now the two leading causes of death.
Most of the burial permits also list the undertakers. At that time, furniture stores also operated as undertakers since they had the ability to supply coffins on demand.
Albion firms were: B.C. Mathes, 79 Main St.; Onderdonk & Reed, 66-68 Main St.; Reynolds & Flintham, 113 Main St.; Nelson A. Stevens operated in Kendall; and Keys & Millard and Harry E. Turner were located in Holley, on the Public Square.
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 18 October 2026 at 3:27 pm
Photos by Tom Rivers: The Medina Marching Band performed during halftime of the Orleans County Rivals football game on Friday night at Vets Park and culminated the show with a large patriotic banner. The merged Albion-Medina football team won its game, 56-6, against Amherst. The marching band performed its show, “We The People.”
Information courtesy of Medina Band Boosters
The Medina Mustang Marching Band traveled to Webster on Saturday for their fifth competition this season. It was a chilly night but a huge crowd turned out for 11 bands in competition in various classes.
Medina is in class in SS2 and finished in 1st place with a score of 81.45 followed by Le Roy in 2nd with 80.55 and Horseheads in 3rd with 78.15.
LS2 class had three competitors and Greece took 1st with 84.60, Lancaster 2nd wih 83.35 & Orchard Park in 3rd with 81.82.
East Irondequoit was the only competitor in SS1 & Webster the only National band.
Pioneer was the only SS3 band with 70.05. LS3 included Hilton in 1st with 72.75 and Rochester in 2nd with 70.30.
Medina’s next competition is Oct. 24th in Greece followed by the NYSFBC championships on Sunday, Nov. 1st in Syracuse.
The Medina band performs during Friday’s halftime show at Vets Park and its show celebrated the nation’s 250th anniversary with the music of Aaron Copeland.
The band consists of 90 students and is directed by Kyla Leno-Denise and Andrea Busch. The band is performing in new uniforms this year.
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 18 October 2026 at 1:35 pm
Photos by Tom Rivers
GAINES – Connor Miller, right, and George Borrelli, left, both did blacksmith demonstrations on Saturday at Vagg’s Blacksmith Shop at the Cobblestone Museum.
They were among several skilled artisans showcasing trades that were popular and critical to the community in the 1800s.
This blacksmith shop was built in 1922 after a fire in 1921 destroyed the original blacksmith shop from 1842. Joseph Vagg operated the shop until 1956.
Harold Clark of Rochester was inside the blacksmith shop on a chilly day doing chair caning. Clark has been a chair caner for about 35 years. He was featured at the Cobblestone Museum on Saturday for the fourth time during the annual open house in the fall.
“I enjoy the geometric pattern and watching it develop,” he said. “I enjoy restoring old furniture and keeping it in use.”
Georgia Thomas was outside Farmer’s Hall doing butter churning demonstrations. The process took about 20 to 25 minutes to turn heavy cream into butter.
“You shake it until your arms fall off,” Thomas said about the butter churning process.
Farmer’s Hall was originally constructed in 1855 in Kendall as a church. He later became the Kendall Town Hall. In 1978, the building was given to the Cobblestone Museum. The structure was deconstructed and then rebuilt on the museum grounds. It now serves as an exhibition hall for 19th and early 20th century farming implements.
Tom Zangerle makes an oil painting of the five-seat outhouse next to Farmer’s Hall. This Greek Revival outhouse originally was at a farm in Ridgeway on Culvert Road. That cobblestone farm was owned by Roy Goheen, who was the grandfather of Tom’s wife, Mary Zangerle.
The museum complex was open for tours on Saturday, including a display of more than 200 Victorian mourning art objects compiled by retired museum director Bill Lattin. This exhibit in the museum’s upper gallery takes a look at the various objects found in American art pertaining to death and loss.
Lattin said he first became interested in mourning art when he was in college during the mid-1960s. A college professor who taught photography had a collection of antique post mortem pictures from the 19th century and Lattin found them fascinating.
The first piece he purchased was a death mask of Dr. Roswell Park, who was the attending physician when President William McKinley was assassinated. An antique dealer in Brockport sold it to Lattin for $5.
The Victorians tried to make death a beautiful thing, as portrayed by the flowers and ornate decorations of many of the items, Lattin said.
Many in his collection are one-of-a-kind memorials made by hand. Others include manufactured knick-knacks and many memorial prints, as well as art made from hair in shadowboxes. One shadowbox holds a stuffed dove, crucifix and wax flowers.
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 18 October 2026 at 8:28 am
Photos by Tom Rivers
KNOWLESVILLE – A woman dressed in Steampunk outfit pops smoke bubbles during a concert by Celtic Cross. The band performed on the stage at the Orleans County 4-H Fairgrounds during the Shakesbeer Steampunk Festival.
The Genesee-Orleans Regional Arts Council planned the festival that celebrates the inventive, retro-futuristic world of steampunk, which imagines a past that never happened and a future that never was. Steampunk blends 19th-century Victorian society with retro-futuristic, steam-powered technology.
Tom Keefer, left, and Michael Miskuly of Celtic Cross dressed in steampunk outfits for their concert.
Michael Miskuly performed with an electric violin and took the music close to the crowd.
Nathan Miller of Fairport was one of the vendors for the festival. He creates steampunk weaponry using a 3-D printer and paint. Many of these items are like Nerf guns that he sells for $30 to $35. They are quite popular, he said. He also sells steampunk-themed journals.
Jackie Swaby, the educator director and gallery curator for GO Art!, served as tea master during a tea dueling competition featuring sisters, Indigo and Pretty. Jodi Fisher, program director and Statewide Community Retreat coordinator for GO Art!, judged the contest. “Frederick the Fool” in back right was an entertainer during the festival.
With tea dueling, the competitors need to dunk biscuits in a hot tea. Swaby made the concoction which was a blend of her own organic tea.
There was an artisan market featuring handmade goods and steampunk-inspired creations.
The festival also had beer-tastings, a costume contest, interactive activities and food vendors.
Photo by Darren McGee/Office of the Governor – Gov. Kathy Hochul signs legislation today quadrupling New York State Tax Credit for Volunteer Firefighters and Ambulance workers. She also presented a check for $1 million to Hempstead Fire Department for new radios.
Governor Kathy Hochul signed legislation to quadruple New York State’s personal income tax credit for eligible volunteer firefighters and ambulance workers, providing financial relief to first responders who dedicate their time to protecting communities across the state.
“Keeping New York safe and affordable is my highest priority. Today, I’m proud to sign into law a bill that recognizes the sacrifices that all volunteer firefighters and ambulance workers make,” Governor Hochul said. “These brave New Yorkers put their lives on the line to protect their neighbors, often sacrificing time with their families and loved ones. This tax credit puts more money back in their pockets and shows our appreciation for the lifesaving services they provide every day.”
A.6790-A/S.6233-A increases the annual personal income tax credit from $200 to $800 for individuals and from $400 to $1,600 for married couples. The increased credit will apply beginning in tax year 2027, allowing eligible New Yorkers to claim the benefit when filing their taxes in 2028. Under the new law, eligible volunteer firefighters and ambulance workers may claim either the increased state income tax credit or a qualifying local property tax exemption.
This legislation furthers the Governor’s ongoing commitment to New York’s volunteer first responders as they strengthen their recruitment and retention efforts. The Governor has previously signed legislation allowing local governments to offer volunteer firefighters and ambulance workers a property tax exemption of up to 10 percent, established a first-in-the-state training stipend program that has supported more than 5,500 firefighters completing foundational training, authorized volunteer departments to bill insurance providers for emergency medical services, and invested in the Volunteer Fire Infrastructure & Response Equipment (V-FIRE) grant program to help departments upgrade facilities and purchase critical firefighting equipment.
Division of Homeland Security and Emergency Services Commissioner Terry O’Leary said, “In addition to protecting their neighbors, New York’s volunteer fire departments are often a part of the fabric of their communities. Whether through the creation of the V-FIRE grant or the Volunteer Firefighter Training Stipend, Governor Hochul has continuously been a strong supporter of New York’s volunteer fire service and the expansion of this tax credit further demonstrates that commitment.”
Firefighters Association of the State of New York President Donald Farrell said, “Volunteer firefighters across New York show up at 3 a.m. without asking why. They leave their families, their jobs and their beds to answer the call, and they do it for free. Governor Hochul showed up for them. She listened to volunteers from every corner of this state, she understood what they were up against, and she made this tax credit a priority.”
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 17 October 2026 at 8:43 pm
Photos by Tom Rivers
ALBION – Betty Garcia Mathewson of Albion speaks during a protest today on Main Street in Albion focused on many local people being detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
The protest also was timed by nationwide “No Kings” rallies speaking out against executive overreach by President Donald Trump and an erosion of democratic principles and rights in the country.
Mathewson has long been an advocate for farmworkers. She said many of those workers in Orleans County recently have been detained by ICE.
“This is not the America I grew up in,” Mathewson told a crowd of about 30 people carrying signs. “All people deserve due process.”
Mathewson said the ICE arrests are disrupting families and dividing the country, falsely blaming immigrants for economic hardships.
“The people they are taking have been our neighbors for years,” she said.
Some of the protestors had signs against “No Kings” to highlight opposition to Trump’s authoritarian tendencies and expansion of executive powers.
Gary Kent holds a sign, “Democracy Dies In Silence.”
Many of the “No Kings” rallies urged people to use early voting in the upcoming midterm elections and try to empower a new Congress to rein in the president’s powers.
Trump has expanded ICE in his second term, with ICE officers more than doubling from about 10,000 when Trump’s second term started in January 2025 to over 22,000 now. The daily ICE detention population is up from about 40,000 at the start of Trump’s second term to about 70,000 people now.
The “One Big Beautiful Bill Act” signed in July 2025 infused tens of billions of dollars into immigration enforcement, authorizing an additional $45 billion specifically for detention through 2029.
Librada Paz of Brockport has been outspoken for many years about labor rights for farmworkers. In 2012, she received the Robert & Ethel Kennedy Human Rights Award for her work to improve the lives and working conditions of farmworkers.
Paz said ICE has stepped up raids in Albion and the surrounding communities in the past two months. She said people are being picked up by ICE at the laundromat, while waiting at farm fields, and at their housing in the community.
She said they are often held at the federal detention facility in Batavia before being transfer much farther away, where it becomes more difficult to fight their cases legally because they are away from a support system.
“The citizens of Albion may not realize that a lot of people are being taken,” Paz said.
Betty Garcia Mathewson and her daughter Sienna stand near the intersection of Main Street and East Park Street to show their support for immigrants.
Garcia Mathewson said the country has long failed to update its immigration policies putting many people in vulnerable position even if they have no criminal record and years of contributing to the community.
She said many families are mixed with one spouse having legal standing to be in the country while others were kept out of the legal system.
“We are here telling the immigrants that there are people who care and are pissed off they are doing this to you,” she said about the ICE enforcement actions.
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 17 October 2026 at 9:09 am
Photo by Tom Rivers: The Holley Police station is located at 8 Thomas St. The department has been in Holley since 1930.
HOLLEY – The Village Board won’t be voting anytime soon to dissolve the police department or put the issue to a public vote.
Instead, the Village Board will look to reduce spending in the department in the village budget, with dissolution a possible focus the following year, said Holley Mayor Mark Bower.
The mayor said he values the police department but also is aware of a high tax burden for village residents. He praised the Holley Police Department for its quick response on Tuesday when a man who was allegedly highly intoxicated fired multiple gun shots from a Geddes Street address. That man was taken into custody without anyone being harmed.
The Village Board said the police budget accounts for over $500,000 to village taxpayers each year. That is precisely $523,973 of the village’s $2,165,925 budget in 2026-27.
Mayor Bower said the board is determined to try to bring down the tax burden in the village. Residents and some of the larger businesses in Holley tell him the taxes are too high in the village.
The Holley PD has a chief, two full-time officers and six part-timers. There are officers on duty nearly 24-7. There are currently two night shifts not filled each week.
Bower said the village will look to make some reductions to bring down costs but won’t be looking at dissolving the department this budget cycle or in the 2027-28 fiscal year.
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 17 October 2026 at 8:38 am
Photos by Tom Rivers: Mount Albion Cemetery feels like a kaleidoscope of colors. The leaves were green, orange, yellow and red on Friday with many leaves coming down. The cemetery is officially accredited as an arboretum by ArbNet and The Morton Arboretum.
Much of New York State will be in peak fall foliage colors this week, according to I Love NY, while it’s closer to midpoint peak in Orleans County.
“Bright, beautiful foliage continues to spread across New York State with peak colors anticipated throughout the Catskills this weekend, as well as in many parts of the Adirondacks and Central New York regions,” I Love NY stated on Wednesday during its weekly fall foliage update.
This weekly map from I Love NY expects peak fall foliage around most of the New York State.
It will be near peak in parts of the Greater Niagara region but most of the local area still has a lot of green leaves, the tourism promotion organization said.
There is a local volunteer observer who reported: “65% change at the Cobblestone Museum in Albion with bright and radiant amber, auburn and ruby leaves.”
Mount Albion has over 1,100 trees representing roughly 65 different species including sugar maples, oaks, beech, basswood, hemlock, dogwood, pine, cedar and chestnut.
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 16 October 2026 at 4:48 pm
Photos courtesy of Tim Archer, Albion Interact Club advisor
ROCHESTER – Albion students in the Interact Club spent part of Thursday volunteering at Foodlink in Rochester, sorting and packing 11,500 pounds of food, which will eventually serve over 9,500 needy families in the western New York region.
The students include Kinzie Healy, Annabella Dusharm, Allisyn McQuay, Sutton Sanders, Luci Borello, Izabella Kingdollar, William Fisher and Skye Austin.
Upon returning to Albion, they visited Faith Smith and the Orleans Koinonia Kitchen in Albion, which receives food items from Foodlink for the OK Kitchen’s weekly dinner for local families. The kitchen is located at Harvest Christian Fellowship at 560 East Ave.
The Orleans Koinonia Kitchen is one of hundreds of community partners Foodlink works alongside to address food insecurity.
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 16 October 2026 at 4:25 pm
Photos by Tom Rivers
ALBION – A boater enjoys the view on top of a boat on Sept. 28 in Albion near the guard gate just east of the Gaines Basin Road canal bridge.
The boating season came to an end on Wednesday on the 201st anniversary on the canal’s opening in 1825. This was the 202nd season the canal was open to boaters. The Canal Corp. anticipates the 203rd season will open in May.
Albion physical education teacher Bridgette Varin led a group of students in using kayaks on the canal on Sept. 28. The students also took the kayaks to Lake Alice.
These Albion students go kayaking in the canal in Albion on Sept. 28. About a dozen students were able to go kayaking that day.
EAST CARLTON – From “Acute melancholia” to “Whooping cough”, the burial permits for the East Carlton/Kent Cemetery contained in the leather pouch referenced in V6 No.27 provide an insight into causes of death in East Carlton from the 1880s to 1910.
