Holley Catholic Parish will celebrate 150^th anniversary in 2016

Photos by Tom Rivers – The Catholic Parish in Holley was founded in 1866. Church members built the sandstone church in 1904 on South Main Street.

HOLLEY – I had never been inside St. Mary’s Catholic Church until Friday. I was in Holley working a couple other stories and saw church members outside, getting ready for a June 1 yard sale.

I asked for a quick tour of the church and Laurie Vogt was happy to show me around. Vogt cleans St. Mary’s. She has attended the parish for 20 years. The Byron resident used to be a religious education teacher at St. Mary’s.

“I like the people,” said Vogt, who met a lot of the Holley residents through her farm stand on Route 237 in Byron. Her family, the Bezons, grow onions and other crops on the muck.

“The older people here really took me under their wing,” Vogt said about St. Mary’s. “The parish is very family-oriented.”

The parish was founded in 1866. Church members built the sandstone church in 1904 at 11 South Main St.

I’ve heard Holley residents talk about the stained-glass windows, how the sunlight seems to pour in during the afternoon. I wanted to see it myself.

“It’s really beautiful,” said Father Mark Noonan, the parish priest the past three years.

He is proud of the parish, from the early members who built the large sandstone church with so many stained-glass windows to the current members who maintain the site and work to connect with the community.

When Father Noonan moved to the rectory next door three years ago, he had a pine tree taken down. Some St. Mary’s members were initially upset. But the community soon approved of the change because the church building and a statue of Mary outside are now more visible, Noonan said.

Before I left, church volunteers working on the June 1 sale asked that I give the event a plug on OrleansHub.com. The yard sale also includes a chicken barbecue.

Photo by Tom Rivers – The old Holley High School is being eyed by a developer for senior apartments. If the building is listed on the National Register of Historic Places, the developer would be eligible for tax credits for 40 percent of the capital improvement costs.

HOLLEY – Developers have raised village officials’ hopes before, offering to turn a vacant landmark building into senior housing and offices.

But those deals to renovate the old Holley High School have always fallen through in the past 20 years. The financials didn’t quite work for the project.

Mayor John Kenney is optimistic a proposal by George Hsiao of Rochester could work, and reclaim the building as an attractive asset for the community. Hsiao wants to convert the site at the corner of routes 31 and 237 into senior housing, while the auditorium is used as a performance venue, Kenney said.

Hsiao has ties to Orleans County. He opened the new Kentucky Fried Chicken last year in Albion.

The Holley project has a better chance of fruition this time because the building could soon be listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Kenney said the village is working on that designation for the property. If the old school, built in 1931, receives the historic designation, 40 percent of capital improvement costs would be eligible for tax credits with 20 percent each from the state and federal governments.

Kenney believes that will make the project financially attractive for Hsiao.

Kenney said Hsiao also is expected to soon approach local government leaders about a tax abatement plan for the old school as he works to make the project financially feasible.

The building on Thursday was named one of “Five to Revive,” an inaugural list of five high-profile sites in the Rochester area that need investment. The Landmark Society of Western New York established Five to Revive.

“I am very pleased we are on the list,” Kenney said. “The Landmark Society sees the importance of the old school. They know it is very important to our village.”

The organization has been active in the Holley area the past two years, working to save the old stone store in Clarendon by getting that site on the National Register. The Landmark Society also helped Clarendon officials apply for historic designation for Hillside Cemetery.

Landmark officials support the National Register designation for the old school. The organization also wants to see Holley’s Public Square on the list.

“This historic district, situated in the core of the village, is a significant collection of late-nineteenth and early twentieth-century commercial, religious, residential, and educational architecture,” the group stated Thursday as part of the announcement about the old high school.

Photo Courtesy Richard Margolis – The former Holley High School, which sits in a high-profile spot on Route 31, has fallen into disrepair and has been mostly vacant for two decades.

HOLLEY – The former Holley High School has been identified by a preservation organization as one of five sites in desperate need of investment in the Rochester region.

The Landmark Society of Western New York today announced the “Five to Revive” list. The group intends to annually publish a list of five properties in need of improvement.

“Whether buildings, landscapes, or structures, they are significant historic properties whose rehabilitations can become catalytic projects for the neighborhoods and communities that surround them,” the Landmark Society stated on its Web site.

Landmark Society staff picked the five sites, calling them “irreplaceable historic resources.” The Landmark Society offered to work collaboratively with owners, municipal officials and developers to facilitate investment and foster rehabilitation so that these structures can again play an active role in their communities.

In addition to the Holley school, the Landmark Society picked the following as Five to Revive: the Pulaski Library, 1151 Hudson Ave., Rochester;Former Eastman Dental Dispensary, 800 Main St., Rochester; Pedestrian Bridges in Genesee Valley Park, Rochester; Sampson Theatre, 130-136 East Elm St., Penn Yan.

The Holley school was last used about two decades ago by Liftec Manufacturing, which went bankrupt. The site was last used as a school in the early 1970s.

Here is what the Landmark Society wrote about the school:

Holley High School
Wright Street (NYS Route 31) at Main Street (NYS 237)
Village of Holley, Orleans County

Built in 1931, the former Holley High School is a strategically located and well-recognized landmark, which occupies a prominent site in the village at the central intersection of Wright and Main streets (NYS Routes 31 & 237).

This Neo-Classical Revival building is located within the Holley Village Historic District, which has been declared officially eligible for listing in the State and National Registers of Historic Places.

This historic district, situated in the core of the village, is a significant collection of late-nineteenth and early twentieth-century commercial, religious, residential, and educational architecture.Between 1825 and the early twentieth century, Holley was a small, yet bustling, canal-side transportation hub, as well as a center of commercial activity for the surrounding rural, agrarian region.

The very irregular street pattern is a reflection of the village’s earliest decades of prosperity, when its primary thoroughfare (Route 31) developed along the curving route of the west bank of the 1825 Erie Canal.The canal was rerouted to the north during the 1850s-’60s, although the southern loop through the center of the village was in local service well into the early twentieth century.

The highly visible site of this former school has been the location of two high school buildings, one constructed in 1896 and its successor, the present building, which was erected in 1930. Designed by Rochester architect and school specialist, Carl Ade, the former Holley High School was described as “the latest type of modern school construction” and featured fire-proof construction with structural steel frame, reinforced concrete floors, and brick exterior walls.

Its restrained Neo-Classical design included a handsome columned portico on the façade. This prominent building served as the community’s high school into the mid-1970s. There has been only intermittent use of limited sections of the school in the intervening years. The former high school is a major visual anchor in the village business district.

A contributing building in the proposed “Holley Village Historic District,” the former Holley High School also appears to be individually eligible for listing in the State and National Register of Historic Places.

WHY SELECTED

A highly visible anchor in this historic Erie Canal village, the former Holley High School is one of the most important civic buildings in Orleans County. Its notable historic and architectural significance, combined with its prominent location and scale of design, make it an important candidate for rehabilitation and re-use after nearly 30 years of vacancy.

Photo by Tom Rivers – Hillside Cemetery in Holley, located at the corner of Route 237 and South Holley Road, has been approved for listing on the New York State Register of Historic Places. Next month it may be added to the national list. The cemetery includes a sandstone chapel built in 1894 in the Gothic Revival architecture style.

HOLLEY – State historic preservation officials are confirming what many already know in the Holley area: Hillside Cemetery is a special place.

The cemetery with 3,500 graves is a distinctive example of a Victorian style cemetery on the west side of South Holley Road. That older section includes terraces and monuments that emphasize a sentimental Victorian attitude. Across the road on the east side the cemetery reflects the open lawn-park style.

Last month the cemetery was added to the New York State Register of Historic Places. It was nominated to go on the national list. A decision is expected next month.

“The cemetery is like a mini-Mount Albion,” said Melissa Ierlan, the Clarendon code enforcement officer and cemetery manager.

She worked on the application for historic designation with town resident Erin Anheier, who wrote successful applications to land her home on Bennetts Corners Road and the “Old Stone Store” on the state and national lists.

Ierlan wanted the cemetery to be recognized, seeing the designation as a source of community pride. She also said the listings on the state and national registers should help the town’s chances to secure grant funding for repairs to a sandstone chapel from 1894. That building is the cemetery’s focal point.

The building is structurally solid, but it needs roof and window repairs that Ierlan said could exceed $150,000. She wants to see the building preserved.

“It’s like a time capsule inside there,” she said today. “If they don’t do something with it, the roof will cave in and it will be a shell of itself.”

Photo by Tom Rivers – The western side of the cemetery includes terraces and monuments emphasizing the sentimental Victorian attitude toward death.

Ierlan sees the town’s historical homes and the cemetery as assets that can be draws for Clarendon. She praised Anheier for her volunteer work and vision in gaining the historical status for some of the sites in Clarendon.

“We don’t want to just be a blip on the map, or one of those towns that people just drive through,” Ierlan said. “We have a lot of great history in Clarendon.”

Hillside was established in 1866 by the Holley Cemetery Association. That group disbanded in 2003 and turned the cemetery’s maintenance over to the town.

Hillside is the third cemetery in Orleans with historical recognition. Mount Albion was named to the national list in 1976 and the Millville Cemetery in Shelby was added in 2007.

Heise isn’t seeking re-election to BOE, but will stay on with BOCES

John Heise, Holley BOE President

HOLLEY – John Heise decided against running for another term on the Holley Board of Education. Heise has served as the board president for nearly a decade.

But the Holley community can still count on him to be an advocate for Holley children. Heise will serve on the board for the Monroe II-Orleans BOCES. He has been on that board for about four years and was elected last month to another three-year term.

“It keeps me active, and it’s not as intense as the being president of the Board of Education,” Heise said.

The Monroe II-Orleans BOCES includes representatives on the board from each of the nine component districts, which includes Holley and Kendall in Orleans and seven Monroe districts.

Heise said the organization works with local districts with special education, technical skills and work studies, as well as other services.

Heise didn’t rule out running again for the Holley board. “I’ll revisit it in one or two years,” he said.

Holley is shrinking the BOE from nine to seven members. Three incumbents – Heise, Dorothy Morgan and Brenda Swanger – would have had to run against each other this election. But Heise and Morgan opted against re-election, leaving Swanger as the lone candidate on May 21.

Heise has been busy with volunteer work since he retired as a Holley school administrator 10 years ago. He has served on the BOE, the Village Board, and the boards for Community Free Library, BOCES and the Lakeside Foundation.

“I know it’s a cliché but I want to give back to the community because the community has been good to me,” Heise said. “It’s a good little community. We love it here.”

Heise’s wife Sandy is one of the organizers of the June Fest community celebration on June 1.

He also is an active member of the Holley Rotary Club and served as the district governor in 2011-12. Heise remains a leader in the district that stretches from southern Ontario, Canada, into Western New York. He is the district’s director of training programs, working with club directors, and youth and Rotary Foundation leaders.

“I enjoy the people and this role there’s education,” he said. “It’s teaching and learning, except it’s with adults.”

HOLLEY – The president of the Holley Teachers Association joined a growing chorus of detractors to new state standardized tests for students in grades 3 through 8.

The English tests last week took three days, and this week students have three days of math testing.

“That’s more than the Regents,” said Julie Wantuck, a Holley 10^th grade English teacher and HTA president. “We’re over-testing these kids.”

She said the tests are stressing students and teachers. Some of the material on the tests hasn’t been covered in class, Wantuck said.

She urged the Holley Board of Education, parents, and other school stakeholders to attend a rally in Albany on June 8, protesting the new tests that are part of New York’s new “Common Core” standards.

‘Our kids are not just a test score.’ – Julie Wantuck, HTA president

“We need to make some noise about all the tests the students are taking,” Wantuck said at Holley’s BOE meeting this week. “The testing has gotten crazy.”

The New York State United Teachers is organizing the June 8 rally. The union is critical of “the state’s obsession with standardized testing and endless data collection,” NYSUT President Richard Iannuzzi said in a statement.

Wantuck urged parents to write letters to state education officials, describing the impact the tests are having on their children. Many children are so stressed by the tests they have a loss of appetite, feel sick and anxious, Wantuck said.

“There is an over reliance on scores,” Wantuck said. “Our kids are not just a test score.”

The NYSUT, which represents 600,000 educational professionals, said the multiple days of testing are stifling creativity in the classroom.

Holley administrators reported that the parents of three students had their children opt out of the tests.

Press Release: Monroe 2 BOCES

Holley, NY – During its April 23 board meeting, the Holley Board of Education adopted a $22,976,429 budget for the 2013-2014 school year. If approved, the plan will result in a two percent tax levy increase.

The district received an additional $702,000 in state aid and did not have to make any cuts to staffing or programs. Items that were added to the budget include two teaching positions, an athletic trainer, a golf team, and upgrades to the Middle School/High School music room.

“The Board of Education has worked hard with our administrators to build a budget that meets students’ needs while also staying at the two percent cap. We have accomplished this task,” said John Heise, board president. “We are happy to have been able to include a number of items in the budget that will improve opportunities for our students.”

When Holley residents go to the polls on May 21, they also will be asked to vote on three additional propositions. The first is for the purchase of two full-size school buses, two 22-passenger buses, and one nine-passenger vehicle at a cost not to exceed $372,136. The second allows the district to maintain a seven-member Board of Education rather than reducing to five members as authorized by voters on May 15, 2012. The third authorizes the district to raise $102,652 to be used in support of maintenance and operations of the Community Free Library.

In addition, residents will be voting on one Board of Education seat. The three-year terms of office of current board members John Heise, Dorothy Morgan and Brenda Swanger expire on June 30, 2013. In accordance with a proposition adopted by voters on May 15, 2012, the board is being reduced from nine to seven members effective July 1, 2013. As a result of this reduction in membership, two positions on the board are being eliminated as of July 1, 2013, leaving only one vacancy to be filled at this year’s election. The candidate receiving the highest number of votes will be elected to a three-year term of office expiring June 30, 2016.

Additional budget information will be available soon and will be communicated on the district website at www.holleycsd.org, through Facebook, and in the budget newsletter mailed to residents in mid-May.

Holley residents can vote on the school budget and Board of Education election on Tuesday, May 21 from 6 a.m. to 9 p.m. in the Holley Middle School/High School foyer.

HOLLEY – The school district in 2013-14 will restore many programs that were cut in a budget crisis two years ago, while keeping taxes within a state-imposed property tax cap.

The Board of Education on Tuesday approved a $22,976,429 budget that will go before voters on May 21. The budget increases taxes by 2 percent from $7,393,901 to $7,541,779.

The board voted to bring back the marching band, elementary student council, ski club, golf and boys and girls basketball for grades 4 to 6.

“When kids feel connected to the school, they do better in school, they attend school more and they behave better,” said John Heise, president of the Board of Education.

He said some of the restored programs, such as ski club, promote life-long healthy activities.

The board also will add an athletic trainer, a high school social studies teacher and an elementary teacher.

The board decided to return staff and programs that were cut in previous budgets when state aid was drastically reduced for the district. Next school year state aid is targeted to increase by $742,336 from $10,879,581 to $11,621,917.

Residents will vote on the budget May 21 from 6 a.m. to 9 p.m. in the high school foyer.

They will also vote on a bus proposition to spend $372,136, and a proposition to raise $102,652 for Community Free Library. Brenda Swanger is unopposed for a three-year term on the Board of Education.

Another proposition seeks to keep the BOE at seven seats rather than continue a downsizing to five members. Voters a year ago approved a phase-in reduction of the BOE from nine to five members.

Photos by Tom Rivers

Holley residents Della Morales and Frank Balys walk on the school district’s new all-weather track this evening. The district this week opened the track to the Holley community. Residents are welcome to use the facility seven days a week from 8 a.m. to dusk as long as it isn’t being used by the track team or physical education classes. The new track is part of Holley’s capital project that is focused mostly on renovations to the junior-senior high school. The track is open for walking or running with appropriate footwear.Street shoes, cleats, bikes, scooters, skateboards and pets are not permitted.

District says officers will cost $140,000 for full school year

HOLLEY – School leaders say the first two weeks with security officers in the elementary and junior-senior high schools has been a success, with officers making positive connections with students and staff.

“They’ve transitioned nicely into the building,” said Karri Schiavone, elementary school principal. “They’re in the hallways, the foyer, the bus loop. They’re everywhere.”

The school district hired COP Security Inc. to provide a security presence at both buildings during the school day and also in the evening for extracurricular activities. COP Security is paid $27 per hour for each officer on duty. Holley has an officer working in each school.

The service would cost $140,000 for a full school year with the evening hours included. If officers only work during the regular school day, the cost would be $90,000 for the district.

Dale Barton, a retired Ogden police officer who leads COP Security, told the Board of Education he is pleased with the early success of the program in Holley.

“The officers have been warmly received,” he told the board on March 18. “You guys really have a great school district. We’re pleased to be a part of it.”

The officers are unarmed. One parent told the board he thinks they should have guns. Board President John Heise said that issue will be evaluated in the coming months.

For now, Barton said officers are developing a network with students, which should result in tips, possibly preventing some problems and major incidents in the future.

The officers also will meet regularly with school administrators to review safety protocols.

Schiavone and Susan Cory, the junior-senior high school principal, told the board the security officers are appreciated by staff.

“I love having them here,” Schiavone said. “It’s another set of eyes and ears that isn’t tied down to a classroom.”

The security officers are all retired police officers. They will promote a “positive climate” in the schools, and will help address anti-bullying, prom safety, bicycle safety and other issues, said Robert D’Angelo, district superintendent.