Cobblestone Society & Museum honors key supporters for 2025
Construction to start in spring on new visitor center
Photos by Tom Rivers: The Cobblestone Society held its annual meeting on Nov. 1 and presented awards including, from left: Jeannette Riley representing the Riley family received the Donna Rodden Hospitality Award; Chris Capurso was named Volunteer of the Year; and Marie Bell, owner of Country Treasures Quilt Shop in Brockport, received the Business Partner of the Year award.
GAINES – The Cobblestone Society & Museum held its annual meeting on Nov. 1 and honored several key supporters of the Cobblestone Museum. The attendees also heard about an effort to save the last remaining cobblestone house in Rochester.
Museum President Matt Holland announced the organization expects to break ground on a new visitor center this spring. The museum has $1.6 million in place for the project. That includes a $716,000 state grant for the visitor’s center at the corner of routes 98 and 104 in Gaines. The new Thompson-Kast Visitors Center will go next to a brick house from 1830.
The Cobblestone Society formed in 1960 initially to save the Cobblestone Church from 1834 and the then the cobblestone schoolhouse down the road on Route 104. The school was built in 1849. The museum has grown to about 15 structures.
This rendering shows the new Thompson-Kast Visitors Center for the Cobblestone Museum, left, which would be next to a historic brick home from the 1830s.
The Cobblestone Museum & Society held the annual meeting at the Gaines Carlton Community Church and presented awards for people who have made significant contributions to the organziation.
Business Partner of the Year – Marie Bell, owner of Country Treasures Quilt Shop in Brockport, was named Business Partner of the Year. Since 2016 she has extended financial support toward programming connected to quilts, whether live or virtual events. In 2025 she was the exclusive sponsor of a virtual program featuring a remarkable textile held by the Kentucky Historical Society, the Elizabeth Roseberry Mitchell Graveyard Quilt, c. 1843, said Sue Bonafini, the museum’s assistant director.
Provided photo: Pat’s Auto Repair of Albion owned by Patrick & Marissa Olles received the Community Partner Award for sponsoring several events at the Cobblestone Museum.
Donna Rodden Hospitality Award – The Riley family of Albion graciously allowed members and friends of the Society to visit their magnificent gardens on the north bank of the Erie Canal for our midsummer celebration in July.
“They received the Donna Rodden Hospitality Award, which recognizes the hosting of events on behalf of the museum,” Bonafini said. “This special event has become an ideal fundraiser for the Museum, and we greatly appreciate the family’s efforts to prepare and share their beautiful location with all of us.”
Community Partner Award – Patrick & Marissa Olles, owners of Pat’s Auto Repair of Albion, received the Community Partner Award. Museum members at the Bronze Membership level, the Olles have sponsored several events when funding was needed, including sponsorship of two virtual programs during the 2025 off-season, and they were the exclusive sponsor of last year’s Solar Eclipse celebration in April.
“They have provided more than one gift basket for our events,” Bonafini said. “They’ve donated some merchandise with their company logo for our use, and they went home with more than one item from our Membership Dinner auction this past May, which equates to additional financial support for our organization.”
Volunteer of the Year – Chris Capurso was named Volunteer of the Year. She is a trustee of the Cobblestone Society and a volunteer since 2021. Capurso has demonstrated a willingness to take on a variety of roles to assist staff with daily operations, special events or other projects. She also recently became a docent and is now sharing the history of the museum buildings with the public. This past season she tackled several special activities, including the sorting of 110 boxes of donated books for our Used Books building.
Tim Keller and his wife Debbi shared about a community effort to prevent the last cobblestone house in Rochester from being demolished to make way for a dollar store.
The Lockwood-Alhart Cobblestone House & Retail Plaza is at 1090 Culver Rd. After the community rallied to save the building from 1835, the owner opted to donate it to Rochester Land Bank Corporation. The Kellers and community members are now optimistic the site will be a satellite city office for people to meet with city staff.
Don Alhart, a legendary Rochester television broadcaster, shared about his family’s connection to the house. The Alhart family owned it until 1988.
“Losing a structure like the Lockwood-Alhart House for a dollar store, that’s quite a slap in the face to the residents of the City of Rochester,” Alhart said.
