By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 8 April 2014 at 12:00 am
Photos by Tom Rivers
HOLLEY – The First Baptist Church in Holley appears as a silhouette in this photo taken at about 8:15 p.m. tonight. The church is made of Medina sandstone. It has been a landmark building for more than a century on Geddes Street.
Here is how Geddes Street looks near the church, looking west.
I saw the reflection in this marshy area on Route 31 in Murray, just a little past the Murray Town Hall. The picture is a little fuzzy. I didn’t have a tripod, only a monopod to help hold the camera steady. I wished I was out a little sooner while there was still daylight.
There were a lot of nice reflections from all the water in the fields. Hopefully I’ll have a chance on Wednesday for some photos.
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 5 April 2014 at 12:00 am
Local teams see drop off in participants this year
HOLLEY – It’s a rite of passage for many youths: spending the spring making friends on the Little League diamond, swatting mosquitoes in the outfield and chewing sunflower seeds on the bench.
But fewer boys and their families are choosing the sport these days in some local leagues.
Holley typically has 150 players, ages 5 to 17, but only has 60 committed so far. Albion’s Midget League is down from eight to seven teams and many of the teams use to have 15 to 20 players ages 8 to 12. The teams this year typically has 11 or 12 players.
“With electronics kids don’t want to leave the house,” said Heather Colella, director of the Holley Youth Baseball Program.
She said lacrosse seems to be siphoning off some players. Holley’s soccer season also kicks off in late June and Colella said there is some overlap with baseball season. That may be deterring some from playing baseball.
“We’re really down this year for baseball,” she said. “I worry about their socialization. I want these kids to have something to do.”
Colella was director of the league last year and it had a strong year with 150 playing T-ball, coach pitch, Little League and Pony League. There are still two weeks left to sign up for the sport. Players and their parents are welcome to contact her at 585-752-6158 or through the League’s Facebook page by clicking here.
In the Albion Midget League, the numbers seem to be down among the older players, the 11- and 12-year-olds, said Michael Neidert, one of the coaches.
There has been an increase in younger players, which Neidert said bodes well for the future of the league.
“We’re not sure why the numbers are down,” he said about the overall participants. “The kids must be choosing something else.”
The cold spring and the snow and rain haven’t helped get people in a baseball mood. The Albion league has pushed back opening day from May 3 to May 10.
“Normally the kids would be out practicing by now,” Neidert said.
Players are still welcome to sign up for the season in Albion.
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 19 March 2014 at 12:00 am
Photo by Tom Rivers – This plant, Phragmites australis, grows by the Holley Elementary School. It is an invasive plant that can take over where cattails once grew.
HOLLEY – The photo of a plant by the Holley Elementary School sure looked pretty. We had it on the Orleans Hub on Tuesday.
I wasn’t positive what the plant was. I guessed it was cattails, but I wasn’t certain. Well, it’s not cattails.
Dennis Kirby, manager of the Orleans County Soil and Water Conservation District, did some research and identified the plant as Phragmites australis. This is an invasive plant that is causing a lot of trouble in coastal wetlands.
Locally, it pops up in ditches and wet areas.
“You see it around in a lot of places,” he said.
The plant crowds out cattails and takes over a spot. Cattails provide a good home for muskrats and some waterfowl. But Phragmites australis grows close together and isn’t a good habitat for wildlife, Kirby said.
“This is a very pretty plant, but actually a very invasive one that tends to take over and crowd out where the cattails previously grew,” Kirby said.
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 18 March 2014 at 12:00 am
Photo by Tom Rivers – The Holley Board of Education met on Monday evening. A petition seeks to reduce the size of the board from seven to five members. Pictured, from clockwise at lower left: school attorney Jeff Martin, BOE member Jack Welch, district clerk Connie Nenni, BOE President Brenda Swanger and BOE member Sal DeLuca.
HOLLEY – For the third straight school election, Holley voters will be asked to vote on a referendum about the size of the Board of Education.
Two years ago, voters approved shrinking the board size from nine to five members, a process that would have been phased in over three years. The measure barely passed in May 2012 in 395-to-392 vote.
Last year a new petition sought to stop the reduction at seven members, not going all the way down to five. Residents approved that referendum with a 350-to-257 vote last May.
Board member Jack Welch pushed the petition two years ago to reduce the board to five members. He again circulated a petition to shrink the board to five members. The petition had enough signatures and was filed by the deadline for the May 20 election, said Jeff Martin, the school district attorney.
“I just hope when this one is done we’re done for a while,” Brenda Swanger, the Board of Education president, said during Monday’s board meeting when the petition was accepted for the May 20 ballot. “We’re looking foolish in the community.”
Welch has noted many other similar-size schools, such as Kendall, function with five BOE members.
The BOE members are volunteers, and supporters of a bigger school board say more members bring more viewpoints and representation from the community.
Kellie Spychalski, a BOE member, said she didn’t like how Welch sought support for the petition by using what appeared to be district letterhead, which may have given residents the impression the district was behind the push for a board reduction.
“I’m very disappointed in the way this was brought to the board,” she said.
Spychalski also said last year’s vote showed strong support for keeping the board at seven members. But Welch said the vote two years ago actually had more yes votes, at 395, than the 350 who supported capping the board at seven members last May.
“This is just a continuation from two years ago,” Welch responded to Spychalski.
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 17 March 2014 at 12:00 am
Residents will get an $800,000 tax cut
Photo by Tom Rivers – This tree stands by the Holley Elementary School with the Junior-Senior High School in back.
HOLLEY – The Board of Education will cut school taxes by 10.6 percent or $800,000, according to a $25 million budget that was approved during tonight’s board meeting.
The tax cut would reduce residents tax rate from $25.11 to a projected $22.44 per $1,000 of assessed property. The 2014-15 budget goes before voters on May 20.
“We’re giving some money back,” said Brenda Swanger, the BOE president.
The district is responding to a state comptroller’s audit in February. The report said Holley’s cash reserves were too big. (Click here to see the report.)
In addition to cutting taxes, Holley is paying down $975,000 in debt. That will reduce Holley’s debt and interest payments in the immediate future.
Holley may also pay for new school buses from the surplus rather than borrowing money, said Kathy Saville, the district’s business administrator. The Board of Education also voted tonight to create a $2.5 million capital reserve fund. Some of the surplus could be moved into that account near the end of this school year.
Holley is raising its budget from $22,976,429 to $25,070,000 with the accelerated debt payments causing most of that spending increase. The BOE also plans to add four instructional staff to help bolster students’ academic performance, Swanger said.
The statutory limit for surplus funds is 4 percent of the ensuing year’s budget or about $1 million for Holley, according to the comptroller. The district was over the surplus fund threshold by more than $7 million or 35 percent, according to the comptroller’s report.
Holley is working to reduce the surplus to about 6 to 7 percent of the budget. Saville doesn’t want to go all the way down to 4 percent or $1 million.
“One million dollars doesn’t even get you through one payroll,” Saville said.
Holley collected $7,541,779 in taxes in the 2013-14 budget. The tax levy will drop to $6,741,780 as part of the proposed budget.
Photos by Sue Cook – June Chippendale stands in front of an Americana display inside her store Antiques & Rusty Relics.
By Sue Cook, staff reporter
FANCHER – A lover of antiques has turned a former train depot in Fancher into the home for a new business, Antiques & Rusty Relics.
June Chippendale loves the location, just north of the curve on Route 31, between Holley and Albion. She likes to hear the rumble and whistle of trains as they pass by at Route 387.
“We had two trains go by today! It was so exciting!” Chippendale exclaimed on Friday.
Chippendale and her husband Ken had originally wanted to set up shop in Caledonia. Ken’s job transferred him to the area, but without a space available for rent, they began to search elsewhere. After looking through Craigslist, they found the old train depot space, which had formerly been the Big Ash showroom.
“I told my husband, ‘I can do this. We can have a store,’” she said.
The train depot is a familiar site to anyone passing through Fancher. The store plans to use the porch in the summer for seating during events.
Chippendale said her love of antiques was brought on by her children. When they each moved out of their college apartments, they would return home with furniture and store it in the family’s barn. Chippendale found that the space was filling quickly and didn’t want to hold a garage sale for all the items. Instead she approached a co-op that allowed her to set up and sell her unneeded items. After working with other co-ops, she eventually decided to make the move to her own store.
Chippendale obtained the space on Feb. 1, and began updating the building to fit her needs. She is proud to say she used many reused items – repurposed counters from a closed flower shop and other repurposed equipment – in the store.
“I love this place,” Chippendale stated. “It has great karma. It’s a warm, happy place. We love antiques. We love this train depot atmosphere.”
The store opened on March 1 and will celebrate a grand opening on Saturday, March 22, from 10 a.m. until 5 p.m. The event will include mulled apple cider, other refreshments, and some giveaways during the day.
Chippendale suggests making plenty of time to go through the store’s multiple rooms to get a good look at all of the merchandise.
Chippendale’s store holds her own items as well as those of four other antiques vendors. Items include antiques, retired Longaberger basket designs, quality furniture and more.
“I’ve known June for 30 years,” said vendor Diane Wight. “When I moved up here I collected anything old. Baked enamel was priority one, but I ran out of room.” Wight is selling some of her collection to make room for more space in her home. “Now I’m more into primitive-style items.”
Wight said she has gone with Chippendale to garage sales and auctions in search of collectibles on many occasions. She plans to be a permanent vendor at the store.
“Where can you go to have fun in the past?” she asked. “This is fun.”
Chippendale says that her husband, an avid fan of old hot rods, is planning to have a car-related event in the summer at the store, such as a cruise-in car show. They also plan to have LuGia’s Ice Cream during the hot months.
The store address is 3570 Fancher Rd., Holley. They are open Thursday through Saturday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., Sunday from noon to 5 p.m. and other days by appointment. For more information, click here.
HOLLEY – Holley High School senior Shelby Kunker received Special Mention on this year’s Business First list of the 100 most outstanding high school seniors in the eight-county region.
Students were selected for this honor based on their records of academic excellence, school leadership and community involvement. The top 25 were named to the First Team, 25 runners-up to the Second Team, and another 50 to the Special Mention list.
“This is a highly competitive award,” said Jack Connors, president and publisher of Business First. “Think of it this way: We have about 20,000 high school seniors in Western New York this year, and we’ve picked only 100 for the Academic Team. That puts them in the upper one-half of one percent. They’re the best and brightest students anywhere in this region.”
Schools throughout the eight-county area were asked to nominate their most accomplished students for consideration by an eight-member committee, which included six admissions directors at area colleges and two Business First editors. A total of 122 schools responded with 419 nominees. (Each school was limited to four candidates.)
The complete list of 100 honorees – along with their photos and profiles – will be published in the Business First 2014-2015 Guide to Western New York Schools, which will hit newsstands on June 13.
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 2 March 2014 at 12:00 am
Photos by Tom Rivers
HULBERTON – Pack 62 in Holley gathered at the Fancher-Hulberton-Murray Firehall on Saturday for the annual Pinewood Derby. The event this year was opened up to the community, with non-Scouts and siblings of Scouts welcomed to participate.
There were 42 participants in all, and the event concluded with a pasta dinner in the firehall.
“We think the Pinewood Derby is awesome and we want everyone to experience it,” said Debbie Patt, the Cubmaster and event chairwoman.
The track was set up inside the firehall. The Pinewood Derby is a long-time Scouting tradition. Scouts typically work with their fathers or a grownup to create the cars.
Jason Clark served as the starter for some of the races. He is part of the Kendall Scouting program and volunteered to help with Holley’s Pinewood Derby.
Hunter Smith of Holley won the “Best in Show” during the Pinewood Derby. The Scouts made the trophies out of recycled matierals.
Other winners include: Chuck MacPhee, Peoples’ Choice; Ethan Race, Tiger; Ethan Gonzalez, Wolf; Kyle Surowy, Webelo; Dawson Moy, Sibling; Mike Clark, Vintage or Open; Wayne Thorn, Adult.
Some of the participants gather for a photo after a day at the races inside the firehall.
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 25 February 2014 at 12:00 am
Photo by Tom Rivers – Jessica DeFazio last month opened the Happy Hour Liquor Inc., in downtown Holley at 30 Public Square. The store is open seven days a week.
HOLLEY – A Holley native moved back to her hometown and opened a new liquor store at 30 Public Square.
Jessica DeFazio, 28, sees lots of potential in Holley’s downtown, especially as more businesses open, drawing more traffic and customers who can visit several of the shops and restaurants.
She opened Happy Hour Liquor Inc. on Jan. 10. She said she sells “a little bit of everything,” from whiskey, wine, rum, brandy, tequila and scotch. The business is open seven days a week.
The site had been used as a pawn shop, which moved next door. DeFazio grew up in Holley and was living in Spencerport until she moved back. She said houses are far more inexpensive in Holley. That was one draw to come back to Holley.
“It’s small, it’s quiet, it’s comfortable,” she said. “I love it here.”
She said there are more businesses than people may realize in the community. She would like to see more people in the Holley area shop where they live rather than driving to Brockport.
DeFazio earned an associate’s degree in humanities and social sciences from Monroe Community College. She wanted to open her own business. She said the state Liquor Authority was helpful in approving her license, and Holley village officials also backed the business, including her new sign.
For more information on Happy Hour Liquor, visit happyhourliquorinc.com.
Press release, National MS Society Upstate New York Chapter
HOLLEY – The National MS Society Upstate New York Chapter has named Elissa Rowley of Holley this year’s recipient of the “Young Person On the Move” award.
In 2012, Rowley interned for four months with the National MS Society. As an intern, she was able form a support group in Canandaigua for people living with MS and their caregivers. She sought to learn more about multiple sclerosis while also making a difference in the community.
“When I was offered the internship position, I felt like it happened for a reason,” explains Rowley. “My father-in-law, John, lived with Primary Progressive MS for more than six years, but this disease was still a mystery to me, and the internship provided me the opportunity to learn about the disease while impacting the lives of people affected by MS.”
Today, Rowley continues to play an active role as an advocate for MS Awareness. She has led an MS Service Day team for the past two years, and she plans to continue volunteering with the Upstate New York Chapter.
Rowley will be honored at the chapter’s fourth annual On the Move Luncheon at noon on March 7 at Locust Hill Country Club in Pittsford. The networking luncheon, held during MS Awareness Week, shines a spotlight on some of the area’s MS movement luminaries – people who are on the move to create a world free of multiple sclerosis, a disabling disease of the central nervous system that affects more than 2,800 people in the Greater Rochester area and more than 2.3 million people worldwide.
Rowley is one of eleven award recipients to be honored in six categories. For more information on National MS Society Upstate New York Chapter, click here.
