By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 7 December 2024 at 8:08 am
Photos by Tom Rivers
CLARENDON – Clarendon held its fourth annual lighted parade on Friday and the caravan included this goat, shown rounding the corner from Route 31A onto Route 237.
These people braved the cold to watch the parade, including a fire truck from the Murray Joint Fire District.
Rebecca Scharping, right, and her mother Jeanette Novak brought a calf and heifer from Clover Hill Acres in Clarendon.
Gavin Mosher wore the Grinch costume and got a ride from Justin McCormack. Gavin is the in the Early Act service club at Holley for students in grades 4-6. McCormack’s son Landon also is in Early Act. Gavin handed out onions instead of candy in his role as the Grinch.
The Holley Interact Club had about 30 junior high and high school students in the parade.
Boy Scouts in Troop 59 carried flags in the parade. James Shaw is holding the American flag high while Logan Lane carries the troop flag.
This girl wears a Santa hat while watching a Clarendon fire truck pass by on 237 in front of Crosby’s.
Girl Scouts had a float decorated with many lights.
The Girl Scouts had fun despite the freezing temperatures.
This float was decorated in a Pokémon theme.
After the parade, people gathered at the Clarendon museum to meet Santa. Here Santa greets Rylie Ierlan, 2, who is joined by her grandmother, Melissa Ierlan, the parade coordinator.
Dustin Reisman, 7, and his sister Harper, 5, of Holley met Santa. Dustin said he would like Legos for Christmas while Harper asked for a Barbie Dream House.
Photo by Tom Rivers: Painted Sky Ranch brought about a dozen horses for Clarendon’s parade on Dec. 8, 2023. Here they are headed down Church Street.
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 3 December 2024 at 2:13 pm
Clarendon and Barre are getting ready to host lighted parades.
Clarendon’s parade will be this Friday starting at 7 at the fire hall on Route 31A. The route then goes through the town’s main intersection, takes a right turn onto Route 237, and then a left on Church Street to the Historical Society.
Santa will then greet people at the museum.
Barre also will be hosting its seventh annual lighted tractor at 5:30 p.m. on Dec. 14. The parade starts on Route 98 at East Barre Road and goes north on 98 to the Barre Town Park.
Albion also is hosting a parade at 6 p.m. on Dec. 14.
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 12 November 2024 at 2:47 pm
Provided photo
HOLLEY – Scouts from Clarendon’s Troop 59 held a “Scouting for Food” drive on Saturday. The Scouts and their leaders canvassed Holley and picked up about 450 items of non-perishable food that was then delivered to the eastern Orleans Community Center in the Public Square at Holley.
Pictured from left include Ken Shaw, James Shaw, Tyler Moore, Scoutmaster Randy Moore, Logan Lane, Ryker Knight and Brandon Knight. Not pictured: Kerry Lane.
Photos by Ginny Kropf: Several seniors attended opening day of a respite program at the Clarendon Historical Society Museum on Thursday. Enjoying lunch are two seniors, Bud and Buelah. Kate Cudzillo, left, and Dana Jessmer (talking with Samantha Koons from the Orleans County Office for the Aging, were on hand for the first day of respite at the Clarendon program. Koons is in charge of the respite program at the OFA in Albion. Enjoying lunch in the rear is Allan Kropf of Medina.
By Ginny Kropf, correspondent Posted 11 October 2024 at 5:22 pm
CLARENDON – The Clarendon Historical Society Museum has taken on a new role as home to a respite program the second and fourth Thursdays of each month.
Opening day was Thursday and several seniors were brought to the program to enjoy lunch, games and camaraderie.
Respite programs became a reality in Orleans County nearly two years ago when Matt Holland, who was then a grant writer hired by United Way of Orleans County, wrote a $290,000 grant in cooperation with Community Action. Holland received input from Nyla Gaylord, also a grant writer and currently director of United Way of Orleans County.
After being funded, the program was slow to get up and running, due to difficulty in finding help to run it. Gaylord, however, was able to get the three-year grant extended a year and Dana Jessmer was hired as project coordinator.
Currently, Kate Cudzillo is coordinator of the Clarendon respite site, while Samantha Koons runs a similar program, funded by the Alzheimer’s Association, at the Albion Nutrifaire site at 16 East Academy St.
(Left) Stephanie Koons helps a senior named Buelah do a word search puzzle on the first day of a respite program at the Clarendon Historical Society Museum. (Right) Kate Cudzilo, right, welcomes Cindy Gregoire and her daughter Cathy to the opening day of a respite program at the Clarendon Historical Society Museum on Thursday. Cindy’s son Tim, a contractor, built the building which houses the respite program.
Cathy Gregoire brought her mother, Cindy, who wanted to get out and meet people.
Several more people came in the afternoon, including Grace Kent, who volunteered to help.
“Everyone had a great time,” Gaylord said. “It was a success and more people from the Clarendon/Holley area are being encouraged to come by with friends and relatives. The word is getting out.”
She said the Holley school district will be sending students to help. Volunteers and guests are always welcome, Gaylord added.
“At the end, a caregiver told me how lonely and isolated she felt and how much the respite benefitted them both,” Gaylord said. “That is exactly why the program is in Clarendon – to provide a setting where both caregivers and their loved ones can get support and re-establish social connections in their community. I think of it as a community living room.”
Nyla Gaylord, left, director of United Way of Orleans County, who helped write the grant which financed the respite program, chats with Cathy and Cindy Gregoire and Samantha Koons at right.
Several other sites originally offered respite, but didn’t pan out. Christ Episcopal Church at 26 South Main St. in Albion and the Clarendon Historical Society will serve as the respite sites. Caregivers are encouraged to take advantage of one or several of these sites to provide much needed respite for themselves and meaningful activity for their loved one.
Another respite site at the Nutrifaire site at 16 East Academy St., Albion, is for loved ones with Alzheimer’s or dementia and is funded by the Alzheimer’s Association. It takes place the first and third Wednesday of the month, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. It includes exercise, crafts, games and a nutritional lunch for the loved one, at no charge, but caregivers must pre-register by Monday of the date they plan to attend by calling Koons at 589-2863.
Respite at the Christ Episcopal Church is the first and third Thursdays of the month, from 1 to 4 p.m. Only the Park Street entrance should be used.
At the Clarendon Historical Society, their respite program is available from 1 to 4 p.m. the second and fourth Thursdays. They are located at 16426 Fourth Section Rd. (Route 31A), Clarendon.
All respite sites are free to Orleans County residents.
Those wishing more information on respite sites or wanting to volunteer should call (585) 209-9151 or (585) 209-3416; or e-mail Caregiversrevitalize@gmail.com.
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 19 September 2024 at 8:39 am
Provided photo
CLARENDON – Melissa Ierlan, the Clarendon historian and code enforcement officer, stands with a fiberglass ox that was delivered to the town on Wednesday.
The town paid for the ox and the delivery charges from Texas, using ARPA federal funds from the American Rescue Plan Act. It will be painted and on display at the town hall as part of Orleans County’s bicentennial in 2025.
The first ox was painted during the Orleans County 4-H Fair in late July by artist Stacey Kirby Steward.
Ierlan said town officials are discussing the theme for the ox. She is leaning towards a Carl Akeley theme in honor of Clarendon’s native son who was a world famous taxidermist and conservationist. He was instrumental in creating the first national park in Africa.
Akeley grew up on Hinds Road in Clarendon, when he started “stuffing” birds and small animals. He made ground-breaking advances in taxidermy. The Akeley Hall of African Mammals includes many of Akeley’s elephants, lions, rhinos and gorillas. They are displayed in New York City at the American Museum of Natural History.
Anyone with other ideas for painting the ox can send Ierlan an email at clarendon_hs@yahoo.com.
Ierlan said oxen were instrumental in helping the pioneers settle in Orleans County. She recalled visiting Ida Cook when she was 106 and she shared how her ancestors came to Orleans County, with only their children, an ox and a cart.
The Holley Cheese Factory was located on East Avenue – “near the Old Podunk Bridge” – as described on the reverse of this photo.
Posted 15 September 2024 at 5:55 pm
By Catherine Cooper, Orleans County Historian
“Illuminating Orleans” – Volume 4, Number 28
HOLLEY/CLARENDON – Mathematical problem: A cow yields 7 gallons of milk daily. It takes about ten pounds or 1.25 gallons of cow’s milk to make a pound of cheese.
How many cows will be needed to supply milk for a cheese factory manufacturing 1,000 pounds of cheese daily?
Though Central New York emerged as the center of cheesemaking in New York state, two small facilities in eastern Orleans manufactured popular cheese in the early 1900s.
In a 1952 article, Ray Tuttle, a columnist with the Holley Standard, traced the cheese-making tradition in Holley back to the descendants of immigrants from Somerset County in southeast England, the “home” of cheddar cheese. George Tuttle, Ray’s grandfather, was one such descendant. Ray wrote that his grandfather, George, made the first local cheddar at his farm on Telegraph Road, north of Holley. About 1897, George began making cheese in Clarendon, on the Fourth Section Road.
The Holley Cheese Factory was established in 1892. Elmer Tuttle, Ray’s father was a cheesemaker there, as was F.W. “Fred” Church who was also the general manager. The facility, which also produced butter, quickly doubled its output but could not keep pace with the demand.
In 1905, the factory produced 114,289 pounds of cheese which sold for an average of 12.03 cents per pound, for a total of $13,757.17.
Ad in the Brockport Republican, May 1906
George H. “Herb” Keople, a Cattaraugus County cheesemaker, was appointed manager of the Holley Cheese Company in 1912. Three years later he built the Clarendon Brand Cheese factory on Hulberton Road.
The Holley plant closed – a newspaper article in 1917 mentioned that seven guardsmen from Tonawanda were headquartered at the “old Holley Cheese Factory.” Their duty was to guard the canal embankment between the two bridges at Holley.
This cheese factory was located on Hulberton Road in Clarendon.
During peak season – May and June – the Clarendon facility produced 1,000 pounds of cheddar cheese daily. Driving a Chevy truck, Herb Keople picked up milk from the local small dairy farmers. He would make about thirty stops, in the Clarendon and Barre areas. He employed several cheesemakers at the plant: brothers Tracy and Eddie Smith and Alfred Davis.
Only whole milk was used and at that time it would have been unpasteurized. Once produced, the cheese was placed on curing shelves – three weeks for a new cheese and up to six months for cheese with a stronger flavor. It was sold in wooden boxes which contained 35 lbs. of cheese. Clarendon cheese was very popular and was shipped throughout the country. By all accounts, it had a distinctive “tang” or “zest” which was attributed to the limestone prevalent in the Clarendon water. Milk is 87% water.
Celebrating the factory’s 25th anniversary in 1940, Mr. Keople noted that Clarendon Brand Cheese was one of the few remaining independently operated cheese factories in New York State. However, it could not compete with market forces. Larger cheese manufacturers offered to pay the farmer more per gallon, so Clarendon Brand Cheese lost its raw material and closed in 1944.
Democrat & Chronicle advertisement, 1943.
Answer to question at top: The milk yield from 180 cows would be needed to produce 1,000 pounds of cheese.
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 20 January 2024 at 6:08 pm
CLARENDON – Three months after he allegedly entered a Crosby’s in Clarendon with a gun and took money out of a register, a Clarendon man has been charged with armed robbery.
Henry W. Horton, 31, of Clarendon was charged on Jan. 17 by State Police, which were assisted by other law enforcement agencies. In addition to robbery in the second degree, Horton has been charged with criminal use of a firearm in 2nd degree, menacing in the 2nd and petit larceny.
Horton also is a suspect in multiple robberies in the Monroe County area. On Oct. 17, state troopers responded to Crosby’s on Holley Byron Road for an armed robbery. Investigation determined that an unidentified suspect, later identified as Horton, entered Crosby’s with a firearm and demanded money. Horton took cash out of the register and a few packs of Newport cigarettes, State Police said in a news release.
Utilizing multiple investigative resources and working with Monroe County Sheriff’s Office multiple warrants were issued for the arrest and search of Horton. The State Police Special Operations Response Team did a search and arrested Horton at a residence in Albion. He was transported to the State Police barracks in Albion for processing and arraigned at the Orleans County Jail, where he is held on $50,000 cash or $100,000 bond.
The Bureau of Criminal Investigation were assisted by the State Police Special Operations Response Team, Monroe County Sheriff’s Office, Gates Police Department, Albion Police Department, Medina Police Department, Orleans County District Attorney’s Office and Monroe County District Attorney Office.
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 9 December 2023 at 7:53 am
Photos by Tom Rivers
CLARENDON – Michael Klatt drives a 1947 Ford 2N tractor and pulls a small trailer with his three children and his mother, Susan Colby, who is the Clarendon town clerk.
They were in Clarendon’s third annual lighted parade on Friday night. The route started at the fire hall on 31A, went through the town’s main intersection, and took a right turn onto Route 237, and then a left on Church Street to the Historical Society.
There will be a lighted tractor parade in Barre today at 5:30, starting on Route 98 at East Barre Road and going north on 98 to the Barre Town Park.
Albion has a lighted parade at 6:30 p.m. starting at Dubby’s Tailgate on Platt Street. The route for “Santa’s Hometown Parade” then goes on East Avenue, turns right on Main Street, until another right on Bank Street, and one more right on Platt Street and ends at Dubby’s.
Painted Sky Ranch brought about a dozen horses for the parade. Here they are headed down Church Street.
These Girl Scouts were in the parade and also promoting their upcoming cookie sale.
These scouts led off the parade.
The Grinch greeted people along the route and gave them an onion instead of candy.
The Cub Scout Pack 3062 enjoyed the parade in warm temps of about 50 degrees.
Clarendon Town Supervisor Richard Moy and his wife Sandy rode in the parade on an RTV. Moy said he is thrilled to see turnout grow for the event. The Moys gave away candy bars to kids and some adults along the route.
Sheriff Chris Bourke participated in the parade.
A Clarendon fire truck was decked out in lights for the procession.
After the parade people gathered at the Clarendon Historical Society to meet Santa and have hot chocolate.
Santa meets with Adam Pahman of Clarendon. Adam’s family also was in the parade with a horse from Showdown’s Ranch.
Raymond Kingdollar, 7, of Clarendon whispers his Christmas wish to Santa: “hunting stuff.”
Audrey Penna, 7 months, meets Santa for the first time.
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 27 November 2023 at 3:01 pm
Gov. Kathy Hochul announced $100 million in road improvement projects in counties throughout the state, including a $1.6 million repaving of about 8 miles of Route 31A in Orleans County from Route 98 to Hulberton Road in Clarendon.
The $100 million statewide incudes 66 repaving projects, totaling almost 568 lane miles of pavement.
“From a devastating blizzard to historic flooding, we are living in a time of record-breaking weather events which have left many roads across New York State in need of repair and rejuvenation,” Hochul said in a news release this afternoon. “This $100 million will lengthen the lifespan of dozens of roads across the State, making them more resilient in the face of future extreme weather conditions.”
The current $32.9 billion State Department of Transportation five-year capital plan, inclusive of federal formula funds from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, provides historic funding for road and bridge repair and modernization, and this critical infrastructure funding will help restore hundreds of lane miles of highway impacted by extreme weather, Hochul said.
In Genesee County, the funding announced today includes $2.2 million to resurface Route 33 from the City of Batavia to the Village of Corfu in the towns of Batavia and Pembroke.
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 21 June 2023 at 11:21 am
Photos courtesy of Melissa Ierlan
CLARENDON – Vern Fonda, an environmental conservation police officer, holds a Great Horned Owl that was injured on Friday. The owl was in a quarry in Clarendon owned by Heidelberg Materials, Aggregates and Concrete (the former Hanson Aggregates site).
Quarry workers called the Department of Environmental Conservation to report there was an injured owl in quarry.
The owl was skittish of Fonda and quarry workers and was hiding in a crevice of the quarry. Fonda tossed a T-shirt at the owl, and the bird then clutched that shirt with its talons. Fonda picked the owl up using leather gloves. He put the bird in a cardboard box with ventilation.
The owl was docile once in the dark cardboard box. The Great Horned Owls are nocturnal. This owl was probably disoriented from being out in the bright sunshine, Fonda said.
He then took the owl to Robert Humbert, a wildlife rehabilitator in Wolcottsville.
Fonda speculated the owl was hunting for mice and likely flew into a stone wall, injuring a wing. Or it may have hit its head and was concussed.
Fonda met the quarry workers from the South Holley Road entrance to the quarry. Fonda said he expects the owl will be released by the wildlife rehabilitator after regaining strength. The rehabilitator has enclosures and will feed the owl while it recovers, Fonda said.
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 24 May 2023 at 2:40 pm
CLARENDON – The Town of Clarendon Highway Department has been awarded a full work zone package through the NYS Local Technical Assistance Program Center – Cornell Local Road Program.
Town Highway Superintendent Tracy Chalker applied for the work zone safety equipment which is funded by a grant through the Governor’s Traffic Safety Committee. The safety equipment includes cones, safety vests, work zone signs, and stop-slow paddles for setting up a proper work zone.
“We know that many agencies have difficulty getting work zone equipment, especially when it’s stolen or damaged due to circumstances beyond their control,” said David Orr, director of the NYS LTAP – Cornell Local Roads Program. “Good work zone signs protect the workers, improve communication with the public, and make the work more efficient by allowing it to be done faster.”
The program is awarding 28 of the work zone packages that are valued at $1,900 each.
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 6 May 2023 at 1:59 pm
Photos by Tom Rivers
CLARENDON – A truck driver from North Carolina sustained minor injuries after going off Route 31A and hitting a tree.
The incident happened at about 12:20 p.m. The driver was transported by Monroe Ambulance to Strong Memorial Hospital.
Law enforcement believes the driver had a medical condition that resulted in the accident, said Lt. Steve Fox of the Orleans County Sheriff’s office.
The tractor-trailer is owned by Dependable Freight Lines of Sacramento, Calif.
The tree may have prevented the vehicle from hitting a house.
The section of Route 31A between South Manning Road and Fancher Road is closed while law enforcement waits for a heavy wrecker to arrive and remove the tractor-trailer.
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 29 December 2022 at 4:54 pm
Photos courtesy of Marc Major: Dalton Major trains during a recruit academy for the City of Batavia. He started full-time as a career firefighter with Batavia in July.
CLARENDON – Dalton Major, 23, is living his dream as a full-time firefighter. In July he started with the City of Batavia Fire Department.
He has responded to fires, emergency medical calls, car accidents and even ducklings trapped in the sewer. During the blizzard, he helped organize supplies that were delivered to people in need.
“There is no routine call,” Major said. “You have to be ready for everything.”
Major practically grew up in the Clarendon fire hall, following his dad Marc to calls. As a young boy, Dalton would wait at the fire hall in a meeting room with other children of firefighters. That room had toys, games and a TV.
As he got older, Dalton wanted to be part of the trainings.
“I just loved to be up there,” Dalton said.
Dalton’s mother Joanne also was an EMT with Clarendon from 2007 to 2014. Marc is now the fire chief of the volunteer fire company.
In recent years Dalton has joined his father on EMS, fire and other emergency calls. Dalton is a lieutenant with the Clarendon Volunteer Fire Company.
This summer he fulfilled a longtime goal of being hired to work as a firefighter when he joined the City of Batavia Fire Department.
Dalton said the Batavia department, staffed with professionals in a small city, is a perfect spot for him.
“It’s the best fit for me,” he said. “That place is really like a family.”
Dalton in the past decade has steadily been working towards his dream of being a professional firefighter.
Dalton was part of a First Responders Youth Program that gave kids in the Holley school district some exposure to firefighting. That group still meets Monday evenings at Clarendon and is run by Bob Freida and other firefighters. Marc Major, Pete Hendrickson and Joe Morlino also served as advisors in the program.
Dalton speaks at age 14 in Montour Falls for a County Coordinators Conference. Dalton shared about the First Responders Youth Program in Holley, Clarendon and Fancher-Hulberton-Murray.
It was intended to introduce kids to firefighting with the hope some of them would join a volunteer or career fire department as adults.
When Dalton was 14 he spoke at a state-wide County Coordinators Conference in Montour Falls. He talked about the benefits of the First Responders Youth Program in Holley, Clarendon and Fancher-Hulberton-Murray. The program for grades 7 to 12 is backed by the Holley Central School District and is an official school activity.
Clarendon Fire Chief Marc Major and his son Dalton Major celebrate Dalton’s graduation from the state fire academy.
The students gain some hands-on learning, but aren’t allowed to go to a live fire. They instead become familiar with fire trucks, equipment and training.
Some of the students in the youth group are local volunteer firefighters, including Zach Dann and Nate Smith with the Murray Joint Fire District. Others have gone into public service professions including Cassie Dean who is a security dispatcher at the Rochester airport, Delilah Doerr who is a home health aide, and Mike Snell, a member of the military who is par tof a crash rescue team.
At Holley, Dalton played soccer and basketball while being an active member of the youth program that met at the Clarendon fire hall.
After he graduated form Holley, Dalton then went to Onondaga Community College to completed his degree in fire protection safety and technology. He earned certifications in Firefghter 1, Firefighter 2, haz-mat awareness and haz-mat operations. He also has his national certifications to be a fire officer and fire instructor.
Dalton also was able to bunk in the Liverpool Fire Department fire house, staying there for two years in exchange for responding to calls.
“It’s a big city department,” Major said. “I got very lucky with Liverpool. I gained a lot of experience and met some really good people.”
Dalton graduated from Onondaga in May 2020 the height of the Covid pandemic. He worked about 10 months with Monroe Ambulance as an EMT, while also working part-time for an electrician in Brockport. He then worked as a utility worker for RG & E.
But he didn’t want to give up on the dream of a full-time job as firefighter. The firefighter Civil Service Exam was offered in Batavia. Dalton aced the test and then went to the state fire training academy in Montour Falls for 15 weeks, graduating in July.
He is grateful for a career where he said he can make a difference for many in the community, sometimes it’s a matter of life and death, other times it’s providing a listening ear and some comfort.
“It’s the best job ever,” he said. “You’re going to make someone’s bad day better. The main reason the fire department was created was to make things better for other people.”
Major said no fire or EMS call is shrugged off. If there is a call for a fire alarm, there could be a fire. An EMS call, even if it seems minor, is a very big issue for the person in pain.
“We treat everything as an emergency,” he said. “You have to be ready for everything.”
Dalton Major lived at the Liverpool Fire Department near Syracuse for about two years as part of a bunk-in program while a student at Onondaga Community College.
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 17 December 2022 at 6:48 pm
Photos by Tom Rivers
CLARENDON – Firefighters responded to a fire at 16714 Hinds Rd. this evening after report of a structure fire. The owner of the property knocked down a barn this summer and was attempting a controlled burn, firefighters said.
But the fire got bigger than expected and firefighters were called to keep it from spreading to any of the nearby structures.
Clarendon and Murray firefighters were dispatched to the scene at 5:11 p.m. They used the Holley ladder truck to direct water down on the fire.
“Nothing of value was damaged,” said Bob Freida, president of the Clarendon Fire Company.
HOLLEY/CLARENDON – Mathematical problem: A cow yields 7 gallons of milk daily. It takes about ten pounds or 1.25 gallons of cow’s milk to make a pound of cheese.
