Cobblestone Society honors volunteers and contributors during annual meeting

Photos by Tom Rivers: The Cobblestone Society and Museum presented their annual awards on Saturday. Pictured from left include Joyce Chizick and Shirley Bright Neeper, volunteers of the year; Jim Bonafini, alumnus of the board award; and Ruth Allis of the Medina Garden Gals, community partner of the year award. Brian Daddis, a mason from Brian Daddis Heritage Masonry, was unable to attend to receive the Business Partner of the Year Award.

CHILDS – The annual meeting of the Cobblestone Society took place Saturday at the Gaines Carlton Community Church on Ridge Road.

The afternoon began with a turkey dinner prepared by the ladies of the church, under the leadership of Diane Furness.

The Rev. Susan Boring, pastor of the Eagle Harbor Methodist Church, gave the invocation, followed with a toast by Bill Lattin in honor of the museum’s founders and other supporters over the years.

Cobblestone Society president Matt Holland presided at the membership meeting, at which minutes of the 2023 annual meeting were approved, treasurer’s report was read by vice president of finance Dick Remley and election of officers took place.

Remley reported 126 pledges have been received toward the capital campaign of $750,000 for the new Visitors Center. The campaign is at 111 percent of the goal, but Remley said more will be needed to complete the project.

Bill Lattin, a retired museum director, leads a toast in honor of the people who founded the museum and those who have contributed to the organization during its 60-plus years.

The slate of elected officers includes Matt Holland, president; Richard Remley, executive vice president; Christine Sartwell, vice president of development; Mary Zangerle, secretary; Maarit Vaga, treasurer; Chris Capurso, corresponding secretary; and Gail Johnson, membership secretary.

Trustees elected for terms ending Dec. 31, 2027 include Sylvia Goodstine, Camilla VanderLinden, Bill Lattin and Brenda Radzinski. Fred Miller was elected for a term ending Dec. 31, 2026.

Awards were presented to several individuals for their various contributions to the Cobblestone Museum.

First was a Community Partner Award presented by Christine Sartwell to Ruth Allis on behalf of the Medina Garden Gals. These women spent hours planting and weeding the garden outside the Ward House, which they also designed more than 20 years ago. The garden was age-appropriate for the time period of the Ward House, Sartwell said.

Mason Brian Daddis from Brian Daddis Heritage Masonry was unable to attend to receive the Business Partner of the Year Award from Russ Bosch for all the work he did on the cobblestone buildings. He did extensive work on all three of the Museum’s National Historic Landmark buildings.

Matt Holland, the board president, presides over the annual meeting which was held at the Gaines Carlton Community Church on Route 104.

An Alumni Board Award was presented by Grace Denniston to Jim Bonafini, who has made signs for the Cobblestone Society, and since retiring is training to be a blacksmith. He did a demonstration recently for 70 school children. He is also training to be a docent and helps at many events, from directing traffic to set up and tear down.

Assistant director Sue Bonafini presented the final award of the afternoon – the Volunteer of the Year award. This year’s award went to two very dedicated women, Shirley Bright-Neeper and Joyce Chizick. For several years these ladies have planned a garden party soiree, making all the arrangements for entertainment and refreshments. Chizick was commended for creating an elegant selection of finger foods.

Bonafini called them the “dynamic duo,” who planned and coordinated the very first solstice garden party at the Kirby home in Albion. These have since become important fundraisers for the Cobblestone Society.

The afternoon program concluded with a presentation by Ryan Duffy, executive director of the Holland land Office Museum in Batavia, who gave a video presentation of “Joseph Ellicott’s Ghost.”

Ryan Duffy, executive director of the Holland Land Office Museum, shared about Joseph Ellicott, director of the Holland Land Office and the Batavia site’s role in Western New York.

Duffy explained how Ellicott was responsible for Western New York developing from one county to eight counties between 1806 and 1841. He said the infrastructure we use today is credited back to the 1800’s and the Holland Land Company.

Because of Joseph Ellicott’s layout, Buffalo has Ellicott Square, and Batavia, founded in 1881, has Ellicott Street. Both cities have many names which reflect Ellicott’s influence.

Duffy also said Ellicott is responsible to deciding a “foot” should be 12 inches.

“Many things he did are connected to the Holland Land Office,” Duffy said.

He invited the audience to visit the Holland Land Office Museum on Main Street in Batavia and see some of the incredible exhibits they have, including a wedding exhibit focusing on the 1830s to 1970s and an exhibit of buildings by noted artist, the late Don Carmichael. Many of the buildings are no longer in existence, Duffy said.

His presentation concluded by taking questions from the audience, such as “Who owned the Holland Land Company” and “What was the size and cost of a lot purchased from the company.”

He answered, “Dutch bankers owned the Holland Land Company and an average lot was 120 acres and the average cost was $2.50 an acre.”