Photos by Tom Rivers

HOLLEY – Andrew Radillo, one of the owners of Redwood Trades at 21 Public Square, is pictured at the counter where he sells sports cards, Pokémon cards and Magic: The Gathering.

Radillo, 30, is from California. He moved with his mother and wife to Holley in April to be near other family members. He had been selling cards online and expanded the venture to coffee as part of the new Redwood Trades store in Holley. Redwood Trades also hosts many games and customers are welcome to come inside and play Risk, euchre and other games.

Redwood Trades has a wide selection of coffee, cappuccino, espresso, lattes and cold brews. Pictured from left include Natalie Radillo (Andrew Radillo’s wife), Sharon Radillo (Andrew Radillo’s mother) and Jeanell Aldrich.

Sharon Radillo said the family is grateful for the support from the Holley community in the new venture.

The business is named Redwood Trades because the Radillos are from Willits, Calif, which is known as “The Gateway to the Redwoods.”

The Radillos would visit family in Holley, including cousins Jim and Lisa Hendry. The Radillos have embraced the small town in Orleans County.

“Things have just worked out,” Sharon Radillo said. “This community has gotten behind and backed us.”

The inside has new floors, electric, doors and decorating. The Radillos have long been fans of the Raiders in the NFL, which played in Oakland and Los Angeles before moving to Las Vegas. Redwood Trades has Raiders logos and merchandise. Andrew Radillo said Buffalo Bills merch is coming, but he will remain a big Raiders fan.

“I plan on getting more Bills stuff but I can’t leave where my heart is,” he said.

The family was joined in a ribbon cutting by David Gage (left) who is president of the Orleans County Chamber of Commerce and owner of the Red, White and Moo ice cream business that is also in the Public Square. Others in the ribbon cutting include Holley Mayor Mark Bower (second from right) and Village Trustee John Morriss (right).

“It’s awesome for our little village,” Gagne said about the new addition to the community. “We thank you for taking a chance on our Square.”

Mayor Bower said his grandmother, Delia Pera and his uncle Don, ran the Holley Coffee Shop at the exact location from the 1950s to the mid-1970s. He thanked the Radillos for bringing the business to Holley.

Bower said another new business, Holley Donuts, is expected to open in about month. Dan and Monica Seeler are working on that endeavor at the corner of Thomas Street and Route 31.

Friends, family and customers gather for a group photo outside Redwood Trades for the business’s grand opening today.

The business is open Monday through Saturday from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m.

Provided photos

HOLLEY – The Village of Holley last Friday recognized a group of senior citizens 90 and older for their many years of dedication.

The residents were first recognized in the Public Square near the Salisbury Fountain before moving to an indoor reception at the Community Free Library.

Residents recognized include Dorothy Barringer, Rhoda Broekhuizen, Roy Bubb, Virginia DeFilipps, Rose Gifaldi, Louise Lusk, Arlene Mawn, Lorraine Pera, Jane Petta, Edna Ruggeri, Pauline Stazie and Norman Wheeler. Clark Knapp also was recognized posthumously.

The top photo shows from left: Dorothy Barringer, Jane Petta, Louise Lusk, Arlene Mawn, Pauline Stazie and Norman Wheeler (pictured with two of his daughters).

Pauline Stazie, one of the honorees, is pictured with Mayor Mark Bower, one of her former kindergarten students. The village presented the honorees with a village pin and Bower read a proclamation, praising their long commitments to Holley.

Honoree Arlene Mawn enjoys the reception at the library.

Jane Petta, left, and Louise Lusk were both honored by the village.

Lorraine Pera, right, is joined by her sister-in-law, Ingrid Lestorti.

Photos by Tom Rivers

HULBERTON – Volunteers serve up Italian food at the 46^th St. Rocco’s Festival today in Hulberton.

A huge crowd didn’t let rain keep them away from the festival in the early afternoon. Many people were lined up at 11, an hour before the festival started.

The popular event served up a variety of Italian food, including a spaghetti dinner, eggplant parmesan, meatball sandwiches, pasta fagioli, pizza and shells.

Tina Burrage shows off a St. Rocco’s shirt. There were also St. Rocco’s hats, Koozies and sun catchers.

The event is a fundraiser benefitting St. Mary’s Roman Catholic Church in Holley. The parish also includes St. Mark’s Church in Kendall.

There were 29 teams competing in a bocce tournament, with teams from the Holley area, Lockport and Rochester. The top team wins $600. Players said the rain actually helped to compact the surface of the courts.

Zach DeLuca competed on a team with his dad Sal, brother Seth and friend Paul Quaranto.

“It’s fun,” Zach said. “We come out and play and see people we grew up with.”

Kevin Lynch, the former Holley mayor, enjoys bocce while smoking a cigar.

Eddie Bower, right, chats with cousin Jake Bower. They competed on a four-person team with Jake’s father Randy and their friend Will Barniak. They compete as “Team Wardo” in memory of Eddie’s father Ed Bower.

Dan Mawn was busy cooking waffles.

Gail Christ puts powered sugar on one of the waffles. She is joined by Ava Barnett, in back, and Ava’s mother, Traci Barnett.

Andrea Newman of Clarendon was among 50 arts and craft vendors. She was selling acrylic paintings, prints and cards. Newman is holding one painting entitled, “Sisterhood 2.”

Eveyln Stryker of Rochester is a knitter. She had many knitted hats and slippers available, including many in Buffalo Bills colors.

HOLLEY – The school district has boosted the pay for security officers that work at Holley, increasing the hourly pay from $32.50 in 2021-22 to $40.00 this upcoming school year.

That raise will result in a $26,000 overall increase in security for the district if all the hours are filled, said Sharon Zacher, assistant superintendent for business.

Holley has contracted with C.O.P. Security Inc. since 2013. The Scottsville-based company hires many retired police officers who were former school resource officers or DARE officers.

COP Security has some unfilled positions and may not be able to have a security officer at each of the two Holley schools throughout the school days, district superintendent Brian Bartalo, advised the Board of Education recently.

Holley increased the pay to make the positions more appealing to security professionals at COPS. The district typically works with three or four security staff from COPS throughout a school year.

“Having someone every day in each of the schools would be awesome,” Bartalo told the board.

If COP Security can’t have two security at the district during the school days, Bartalo said he will reach out to the Holley Police Department and Orleans County Sheriff’s Office for increased patrols.

HOLLEY – The Village of Holley will be celebrating residents who are 90 and older with a party on Sept. 9.

The residents and their families will be recognized at the Salisbury Fountain at the Public Square at 10:30 a.m. that day. If it rains at that time, the gathering will be moved to Sept. 16. There will also be a private reception for the residents and their families at the Community Free Library.

Residents to be recognized include Dorothy Barringer, Rhoda Broekhuizen, Roy Bubb, Virginia DeFilipps, Rose Gifaldi, Louise Lusk, Arlene Mawn, Lorraine Pera, Jane Petta, Edna Ruggeri, Pauline Stazie and Norman Wheeler. Clark Knapp also will be recognized posthumously.

Any other village residents 90 and older not included on the list are encouraged to contact Holley’s Deputy Clerk Hillary Ingalls at 638-6367.

Mayor Mark Bower said he will issue an proclamation honoring the long-time residents and present them each with a Village of Holley pin.

Lifeline ARM gives steady compressions without tiring out

Photos by Tom Rivers: The Murray Joint Fire District last week put two new Lifeline ARMs into service. The devices do CPR compressions. Pictured from left include Harris Reed, Murray fire chief; Erin Reed, EMS lieutenant; and Hunter Salamaca, EMS lieutenant.

MURRAY – The Murray Joint Fire District has a new addition that will not tire out when doing CPR.

The fire district last week put two Lifeline ARMs into service. The chest compression devices are produced by Defibtech. They do 30 compressions, and then two breaths of oxygen are added with a BGM – Bag, Valve, Mask ventilation device.

Firefighters and EMS personnel very seldom do mouth-to-mouth resuscitation these days, said Harris Reed, Murray fire chief.

But they have physically been doing the CPR compressions, sometimes for 20 minutes to an hour, when an ambulance crew can take over. That amount of time can be tiring for volunteers who are trying to do about 100 compressions a minute.

“Our department is getting older and there are not too many younger volunteers coming in,” Reed said. “This provides a quality CPR on every response. The machine also frees up hands to do something else.”

The Lifeline ARM has a simplified control panel where two steps are needed to initiate mechanical CPR. Operators should adjust the compression piston height, and then choose to “Run Continuous” or “Run with Breaths.” The latter allows programmed pauses for rescue breaths.

The Murray Joint Fire District is the second department in Orleans County to acquire an automated CPR device. Shelby also has one from a different manufacturer, Reed said.

Murray has two – one for each rescue vehicle. They cost $17,000, which was at a discounted price. They typically sell for about $14,000 each.

Reed and Murray fire officials saw the devices in May when they went to a fire expo in Harrisburg, Pa. Reed saw the devices as way to continue to provide quality CPR services to the community during a time of declining volunteerism.

Murray last year responded to about 450 EMS calls, and already is at 400 this year, Reed said.

“We needed something to help us and help the community,” he said.

Murray Fire Chief Harris Reed holds a BGM – Bag, Valve, Mask ventilation device. That provides two breaths of oxygen after 30 CPR compressions.

Photos by Tom Rivers: The Holley Hotel at the corner of Route 31 and Thomas Street was cleared out today of the 28 residents after the building was declared unsafe and unsanitary on Aug. 3 by village code enforcement officer Mylynda Kuba.

HOLLEY – The Holley Hotel has been ordered to close today, forcing 28 residents to find other shelter.

The building on Aug. 3 was deemed to be unsafe and unsanitary by Mylynda Kuba, the village code enforcement officer. She set today as the evacuation day.

Many of the residents have been assisted by the Department of Social Services. About 15 or 16 are staying at a Batavia motel in the short term. Others are staying with friends and family.

DSS and other agencies in the county are trying to help the displaced residents. Community Action had a table with clothes, shoes and other supplies set up by the firehall this morning and past noon.

Kathy Blackburn, the building owner, said the three-story building will be exhaustively cleaned and then an exterminator will focus on ridding the site of insects and rodents.

“This gives me an opportunity to clean up and get everything out,” Blackburn said. “Everything is being cleaned.”

Blackburn said residents have filled five dumpsters so far as the building is emptied for a massive cleaning.

She hoping she can resolve the issues and have residents back soon. She said she is concerned for the residents who have had their lives disrupted.

The Holley Hotel is known as a place for registered sex offenders, people on parole and others who are difficult to place in housing. Blackburn said the residents look out for each other and for the most part are kind. They have a Thanksgiving dinner in the hallway and many celebrate Christmas together.

She took over the building following the death of her longtime companion Gordon Tooley, who died in a car accident on Oct. 5, 2019. Blackburn said a new roof and windows were recently put in Holley Hotel. She acknowledged there are issues and she wants to resolve them.

Near the front entrance is a stairwell that leads to the second and third floors. The Holley Hotel has about 40 units. The site is being emptied and cleaned.

Kuba, in a notice posted on the front door, said the building is infested with cockroaches, bed bugs and rodents. She also said the back fire escape isn’t structurally sound and needs to be fixed. She also said the building needs plumbing and electrical upgrades to be brought up to code. She wants a regular report on the smoke alarm system.

“Right now it’s an overall hazard to everyone involved,” Kuba said today.

She did an annual fire inspection of the building in February and said she notified Blackburn of several issues.

Some of the residents at the Holley Hotel have complained to village officials about the cockroaches and bed bugs, an issue that is difficult to resolve in such a large building with so many residents.

“We’re empathetic to the people who live there,” Mayor Mark Bower said. “But this is a public health hazard. We’re concerned for the residents who live there, and also other residents and businesses who are put at risk.”

The Holley Hotel residents may have spread bed bugs and cockroaches to other businesses and sites in the community, Bower said. Other businesses have shared their concerns with the village officials, Bower said.

“It’s sad for the residents but most of the residents tell us they are happy because their living conditions were intolerable,” Bower said.

The village and Kuba, the code officer, are adhering to the uniform building code, and the violations need to be addressed, Bower said.

“I can’t predict what the situation will end up being,” he said. “It’s in the hands of the building owner at this point.”

One of the hotel residents sent the Orleans Hub a message that the bed bugs and cockroaches were a concern for all residents. This resident said she and her boyfriend were denied housing assistance by DSS and another local agency. They plan to pay for a hotel for two days and then might have to live in their car.

“We have been left homeless for whatever time it’s shut down,” she said.

HOLLEY – The first visit of the mobile health unit at the Eastern Orleans Community Center will be from 11:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. on Aug. 24.

Individuals may walk in for registration or may register in advance by calling or texting (585) 866-5494.

The medical van will offer primary care, general wellness checks, lab services, behavioral health, A1C monitoring, cholesterol checks, vaccinations and referrals.

There will also be assistance available to assist in signing up for Medicaid or health insurance.

A grant for $84,000 from the Finger Lakes Performing Provider System has enabled Community Action to offer health care from the Community Center in Holley.

The health clinic is staffed by Oak Orchard Health’s mobile health unit. It will provide lab services and have a nurse practitioner. Tele-health will be available.

MURRAY – The Murray Town Board was asked by a married couple on West Brockville Road to extend public water on West Brockville Road.

Steve and Stacey Keon said they rely on groundwater and get concerned during drought years whether they will have enough water.

They said they signed a petition in 1998 to be on a public waterline, but that infrastructure didn’t make it all the way down their road. Since then a new house has been built and there is interest in housing development at other open lots.

“We’re seeing growth down here,” Mrs. Keon told the board on Monday evening. “With a waterline it would benefit the neighbors.”

Town Councilman Paul Hendel said Murray should look at all the segments in the town that don’t have public waterlines and try to do a final water district to cover all the areas.

Highway Superintendent Dirk Lammes said nearly the entire town is covered.

The Keons said they would help build support for a new water district as the town identifies other unserved pockets of Murray.

In other action, the board renewed an agreement for an annual contribution of $1,500 to support the Murray-Holley Historical Society.

MURRAY – The Town of Murray didn’t follow its usual schedule of a town-wide property assessment revaluation for 2022. The town, and others in Orleans County, usual do the re-val every three years.

But with a real estate, with many properties selling way above assessed values, Murray officials opted to wait on a re-val this year.

The Town Board decided it’s going to continue to wait – until at least 2024 for the next town-wide re-val.

“It is a chaotic time in the real estate market,” Town Supervisor Joe Sidonio said on Monday evening after the Town Board meeting. “We felt it might be a false market that might correct itself.”

Of the 10 towns in Orleans County, only Clarendon and Barre did re-vals in 2022. The other towns opted to wait until 2023 to see if the market prices hold.

Murray officials announced on Monday they won’t do the re-val in 2023, either. Sidonio said the high inflation and the rising interest rates should impact the market. The Town Board now will look to do the re-val in 2024.

There has been a real estate boom in Orleans County, with median sale prices up 16.7 percent in 2021 from the previous year and 25.8 percent in two years. The median sale price in Orleans County went up 68.5 percent over four years – jumping from $81,000 in 2017 to $136,500 in 2021, according to data from the Greater Rochester Association of Realtors.

“We hope it will slow down some,” Town Assessor Stephanie Holts said about the real estate market. “It’s so hard to predict with what’s going on in the world right now.”

Murray has 2,121 parcels, including in the Village of Holley. The town assessor’s office is planning to send a data mailer by the end of the year that shows each parcel owner all the information for that parcel. Owners will be asked to verify that information and note any additions.

Even though the town hasn’t done a re-val, that doesn’t mean property owners tax bills are staying the same. The state has put Murray’s equalization rate at 78 percent, meaning the assessed values of properties town-wide are at 78 percent of their market value.

With the upcoming school tax bills coming out in September, the equalization rate will be applied to the tax bills so they reflect a 100 percent market value.

Provided photo

HOLLEY – Holley Police Chief Bob Barton, right, holds the Bible while swearing in Jeremiah Welch Ruth as a new member of the Holley Police Department.

The new officer is from Lockport and is in the Rural Police Training Academy at Genesee Community College.

Photos by Tom Rivers

HOLLEY – The Who Dats performed on Friday evening by the gazebo at Holley’s Canal Park, playing classic dance rock music.

The band includes Lonnie Froman as the lead singer, John Borello on guitar, Alona Kuhns on guitar, Ed Hilfiker on guitar and Alex DeSmit on drums.

Holley’s concert series started on July 8 with the Ghost Riders and continues through Aug. 26. The concerts are 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. and there is no charge to attend.

The events are organized by the Village of Holley with most of the funding from the Genesee-Orleans Regional Arts Council.

Most of the crowd brought their own lawn chairs for the concert on Friday.

The concert lineup for the rest of the season includes:

• July 22 – Triple Play, classic dance rock
• July 29 – Don Newcomb, classic & country rock
• Aug. 5 – Chris Moore Band, classic rock
• Aug. 12 – Eagle Creek, classic rock
• Aug. 19 – Old Hippies, ’60s, ’70s and originals
• Aug. 26 – Feedback, classic rock