Photos by Tom Rivers

An antique and collectibles shop has a horse and Christmas lights mounted above the store’s façade in the Public Square.

One of Holley’s mainstays, Sam’s Diner, has a holiday theme in its front window.

Eastern Orleans Community Center is spruced up for the holidays. Volunteers for Community Action have been ringing the bells for the annual red kettle fund-raising drive.

Last night during a very chilly Parade of Lights two volunteers from the American Legion were trying to raise funds through the red kettle. Legion Commander Chuck Eberhardt, left, and Al Pulcino expect to put in several shifts for the red kettle this year.

Photos by Tom Rivers

HOLLEY – Holley’s Parade of Lights passes through the Public Square tonight. Several local fire companies and other community organizations and businesses joined for the parade that started at the elementary school.

Santa stands at the back of a golf cart and greets people lined along the parade route, including people in front of the Community Free Library.

The crowd braves the bitter cold to watch the Parade of Lights pass through the Public Square.

Bentley Brothers in Albion and Brockport was among the local businesses that joined in the parade.

Holley’s Department of Public Works decorated its trucks for the parade.

Several nearby fire companies, including Clarendon, participated in the Parade of Lights.

Before the parade, Mayor John Kenney read names of people honored with memorial bulbs on a Christmas tree at Public Square.

Holley lighted the tree, a tradition that dates back about three decades.

Photo by Tom Rivers

HOLLEY – U.S. Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand received a warm welcome inside the Eastern Orleans Community Center in Holley on Monday.

She was there to serve food and pack Thanksgiving food boxes for local needy families.

But not everyone at the event was a Gillibrand well-wisher. A small group of protestors, holding signs about the SAFE Act, also tried to send the senator a message. They stood outside the community center near the Salisbury Fountain in the Public Square.

Gov. Andrew Cuomo and the State Legislature passed the gun control measure in January. That law prompted the formation of the grass-roots New York Revolution, a group determined to protect Second Amendment rights.

Before heading to a Head Start center in Wellsville, Gillibrand spoke with Gia Arnold, one of the local leaders of NY Revolution.

“I’m very grateful that we have so many public servants and volunteers that do this work. I wanted to come help them do this work that they do everyday.”  – U.S. Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand

Photos by Tom Rivers – U.S. Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, D-NY, was in Holley today to help serve lunches and then to pack boxes of food for Thanksgiving. She dished out a macaroni and cheese lunch with peas, salad, a biscuit and fruit cocktail.

HOLLEY – U.S. Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand stopped by a community center in Holley today and later in Wellsville, serving food and helping to fill boxes with food to be given to needy families.

Gillibrand said she wanted to highlight soup kitchens and community centers, especially during the holiday season. The senator also wanted to pitch in and help with the tasks.

“I’m very grateful that we have so many public servants and volunteers that do this work,” she said after serving food and packing boxes in Holley. “I wanted to come help them do this work that they do everyday.”

The Eastern Orleans Community Center is run by Community Action. The site in the Public Square serves 9,400 hot meals a year from Monday through Friday. The site initially was only available to senior citizens but that changed less than a decade ago.

It is now open to the entire community, and it serves many young families, especially during the summer, said Ed Fancher, Community Action director.

“There are people who come here for lunch and it’s the only hot meal they get all day,” said Murray resident Leon Randall. “This is a very important site.”

Randall serves as the Murray representative on the Office for the Aging board. He stops at the Community Center once or twice a week for a meal and “to talk with folks.”

Gillibrand packed several boxes today, making sure to include canned fruits and vegetables.

Meals are served on one side of the building, and the other side serves as a youth center. About 50 kids a year stop by to do homework, play Fooseball and use the computers.

The center also is the base for the Thanksgiving outreach effort. Community Action is filling 135 boxes with turkeys, milk, and other food for Holley area families.

She talked with some of the residents, including a young mother. Gillibrand urged the woman to pursue a degree at Genesee Community College, perhaps in early childhood education.

Gillibrand said families need good-paying jobs to break out of poverty. She is pushing for manufacturing tax credits for companies that make products in the United States.

She also is a member of the Senate Agriculture Committee. A new Farm Bill, now more than a year overdue, is important for farmers. She also wants to keep food stamps in the Farm Bill. That helps farmers have more demand for their goods and increases access to fresh fruits and vegetables to needy residents, she said.

On the way out of the center today she stopped and shook hands with many Community Action staff.

“Thanks for your hard work and God bless,” she said.

Photos by Tom Rivers

HOLLEY – The red kettles came out in Holley today, and two members of the American Legion stood in the freezing cold, seeking donations.

Legion Commander Chuck Eberhardt, left, and Al Pulcino (top photo) were outside the Eastern Orleans Community Center in the Public Square on the first day of the fund-raising drive in Holley.

The money raised stays in Orleans County and goes to local agencies, including Community Action, which sets the schedule for the volunteers.

Community Action needs more volunteers for red kettle sites in Holley, Albion and Medina. The agency has set a $23,000 fund-raising goal for this holiday season.

To volunteer, call 589-5605 and ask for Annette Finch.

U.S. Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand steps outside the Eastern Orleans Community Center in Holley this afternoon after serving lunch and packing Thanksgiving food baskets. Gillibrand spotted the volunteers at the red kettle and made a donation.

U.S. Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand

Press release, U.S. Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand’s office

HOLLEY – As Thanksgiving approaches, U.S. Senator Kirsten Gillibrand will volunteer at the Eastern Orleans Community Center on Monday at 1 p.m. She will serve lunch and help sort, pack and assemble holiday gift baskets.

Each day, more than 60 lunches are prepared and served to Holley residents, well over 9,400 this year.During the holiday season, the Eastern Orleans Community Center also distributes hundreds of holiday gift baskets to families in need.

The Eastern Orleans Community Center is part of the larger Community Action of Orleans and Genesee. Community Action is a nonprofit organization with a mission to provide services, with dignity and respect that help people become self-sufficient. For more than 40 years, the agency has served low-income and disadvantaged families across Orleans and Genesee counties with programs designed to empower as well as provide opportunity in a variety of areas like education, housing and nutrition.

The community center is located at 75 Public Square.

After spending time in Holley, Gillibrand is scheduled to be in Wellsville later in the afternoon at a Head Start site. She will work with a Teen Advisory Board to package Book, Blanket and Buddy care packages for children in need.

Press release

MURRAY – A Brockport man remains hospitalized today after crashing his car Sunday morning in the town of Murray.

The incident occurred at about 10:50 a.m. Erich R. Baase, 34, was operating a 2001 Jeep SUV westbound on State Route 31, when he failed to negotiate a curve in the hamlet of Fancher.

The vehicle ran off the north side of the roadway and overturned before coming to rest upside down in a drainage ditch. Baase fled from the wreckage before the arrival of Sheriff’s deputies and emergency responders. A search that included a State Police helicopter ensued and lasted approximatey 45 minutes before Baase surrendered.

He had sustained a head injury in the crash and was transported to Strong Memorial Hospital in Rochester by Central Orleans Volunteer Ambulance. He remains in satisfactory condition.

Pending his recovery, he faces charges including Unsafe Speed, Operating a Vehicle without an Ignition Interlock Device, and Leaving the Scene of an Incident without Reporting.  Additional charges are pending blood test results.

The incident was investigated by Deputy A.L. Jenks, assisted by Lieutenant C.M. Bourke.

Press release, Orleans County Sheriff Scott Hess

HOLLEY – A power outage affecting parts of eastern Orleans County and the Village of Holley is likely the result of a traffic crash in the Town of Murray.

The incident occurred at about 8 a.m., in the 3500 block of Fancher Road.  Richard J. Breslawski, 23, of Hamlin was operating an 18-wheel tractor-trailer truck and was exiting westbound Route 31 onto northbound Fancher Rd., when he lost control of the vehicle. The truck jack-knifed, striking several parked cars at A&M Transmission Service at 3581 Fancher Rd., before shearing off a National Grid utility pole.

Breslawski, the sole occupant, was not injured. The truck is owned by Charles Breslawski Farms, also located in Hamlin.  There was no cargo on-board at the time of the incident.

Unsafe speed is a probable factor in the crash, investigated by Deputies A.L. Jenks & M.C. Mele. Also assisting at the scene are firefighters from the Fancher-Hulberton-Murray and the Holley Fire Departments.  That section of Fancher Road remains closed to traffic.

HOLLEY – Holley schools closed early today and sent students home due to a power outage in the community. All after-school activities were also cancelled.

The entire Holley Central School campus did not have electricity after a tractor trailer hit a pole on Route 31 and Fancher Road, taking out a National Grid power line.

“We have been in communication with National Grid and this situation will not be rectified within a short period of time,” the district stated on its Web site. “Consequently, students in both schools will be dismissed early.”

Holley sent home Middle School/High School students at 10:33 a.m. Morning Pre-K students were dismissed at the regular time.

Elementary School students, including Kindergarten, were dismissed at 11:33 a.m. The afternoon Pre-K is cancelled and all after school and evening activities are cancelled.