Callie Updike

HOLLEY – A Holley senior is among the 13 finalists for the Young Woman of Distinction Award, which is given by The Women’s Council, a Greater Rochester Chamber of Commerce affiliate.

Callie Updike and the other 12 finalists affiliate will be recognized during a virtual celebration on May 18 from 5:30 to 6:30 p.m. The top four finalists will receive $2,500 scholarships.

The program is modelled after the ATHENA Award and is designed to discover high school seniors who have displayed outstanding leadership, academic excellence, and involvement in the nine-county Greater Rochester and Finger Lakes region.

Updike has been very involved at Holley Junior-Senior High School, serving as president of Student Council, president of the Class of 2021 and the Interact Club. She also performs in Holley’s annual school musical, sings in Concert Choir, plays the trumpet in Concert, Jazz and Marching Band, and competes with the Varsity Masterminds team. She also serves in the National Honor Society, the Superintendent Advisory Council, and the Gay Straight Alliance.

She has been accepted to Columbia University. She is an undeclared major and expects to study involving English or History with a potential music minor.

Photos by Tom Rivers

HOLLEY – A tractor trailer from Georgia got stuck under the railroad underpass/bridge this morning. Holley Police and firefighters from the Murray Joint Fire District have been on scene since just after 9 a.m. The Village Department of Public Works also is at the scene, helping to clean up debris in the road.

Holley police and firefighters say a truck gets pinned under the bridge about every six months.

A tow truck was called to help pull the truck and trailer out from under the bridge on Route 237. The clearance is 11 feet, 11 inches.

The stuck trucks are a frequent occurrence in Holley where there are signs posted that say, “11′-11”  CLEARANCE” just before both sides of the bridge, and also on the bridge.

Truckers over the years have said their GPS systems route them through Holley on Route 237. The truckers don’t have a straight-shot view of the bridge in either direction. Often they are upon the bridge before it’s too late to slow down and avoid it.

Village officials in the past have asked nearby manufacturing plants, cold storages and food processors to tell truckers not to use the route by the bridge.

Photos by Tom Rivers

MURRAY – Firefighters tonight were able to put keep a smoke situation in a vacant apartment in Murray from turning into a big fire. Firefighters were dispatched to 16576 Ridge Rd., across from the Murray Superette at about 10 p.m.

The building, a former video store, has two apartments. The one that is vacant was full of smoke and the tenants in the other apartment called 911 to report the smoke coming out of the apartment.

Firefighters discovered electrical wiring had melted and the insulation and studs were charred and smoking. They sprayed some water to keep it from becoming a fire.

The owner of the building has been renovating the vacant apartment, a Sheriff’s deputy said.

The four residents in the opposite apartment need to find a temporary place to stay while repairs are made and the site passes inspection, said Harris Reed, the Murray Joint Fire District fire chief.

Fire investigators are on site trying to determine the cause.

Photos by Tom Rivers

HOLLEY – The ladder truck for the Murray Fire District is used to carry a man in a stokes basket at 7 East Union St. He was badly injured when the concrete floor on his porch broke, and he and his son fell about 10 feet at 4:30 p.m.

The son suffered at least a broken ankle in the fall. His father suffered more serious injuries. He was trapped under a heavy chunk of concrete for about a half hour, said Harris Reed, chief of the Murray Joint Fire District.

Three firefighters were able to move the concrete piece off the father. Reed estimated the concrete weighed 1,000 pounds.

A member of the Monroe County Special Operations Team walks away from the front porch area that collapsed today at 4:30 p.m.

Murray and Clarendon firefighters used a rope rescue, putting the father in a stokes basket and lifting him out of the small room under the front steps.

He was taken by Mercy Flight to Strong Memorial Hospital. His son was taken by ambulance to Strong.

Long-time firefighters said they had never seen such an incident, with the concrete floor of a porch cracking, and collapsing below with a person trapped.

No additional information is available.

The father and son fell about 10 feet after the concrete floor collapsed.

Photos by Tom Rivers: The four-sided clock at the Fancher Curve is a memorial to 10 young men from the community who died in World War II. The memorial was dedicated on Aug. 14, 1949. This photo is from November 2016.

FANCHER – Fred Fiorito remembers the big crowd of people when the Fancher Memorial was dedicated on Aug. 14, 1949.

He was only 10, and he has never forgotten seeing the Gold Star mothers in mourning. The memorial on the “Fancher Curve” on Route 31 is a four-faced clock in a stone monument made of local sandstone.

Fiorito moved away from Fancher when he was 20. He enjoyed a career as a chiropractor in New York City. He would come home a few times each year to see family, including his brother Ted Fiorito. Fred noticed the memorial gradually deteriorate.

Sometimes the clocks didn’t work. The mortar was crumbling. The site wasn’t a great showcase or memorial for the 10 who in World War II. Those 10 include John Christopher, Joseph Christopher, Cosmo Coccitti, John Kettle, Jr., Leonard Licursi, Martin Licursi, Richard Merritt, Camille Nenni, Floyd Valentine and Richard Vendetta.

“I knew some of those families,” Fiorito said. “The monument’s condition was distasteful.”

Last May near Memorial Day, Fiorito was home recovering from an injury. He thought back to his childhood and the memorial.

“That memorial was built out of love for the guys in the area who left and didn’t come back,” Fiorito said by phone. “Those 10 guys who gave their lives gave them for you, me and everybody.”

Fiorito decided to call the Murray Town Hall. He left a message on Town Supervisor Joe Sidonio’s answering machine, offering to make a donation to get the memorial looking better.

This photo from the Holley Standard shows the memorial in August 1949.

“I just want to see it brought back to where it was many years ago when it was first done,” Fiorito said. “I feel a connection to my home and it will always be my home, and that monument is very important to me.”

Fiorito has offered $10,000 to upgrade the memorial. He is pleased Sidonio has “enthusiastically” embraced the project and wants to have the improvements in place by Aug. 14, which would be the 72^nd anniversary of the memorial’s dedication.

Dan Mawn, president of the Murray-Holley Historical Society, has been a key coordinator in the project. He connected with Neal Muscarella, an Albion mason, to replace the green mortar on the monument.

Mawn, who is retired from the Holley Electric and Water Department, will put in new movements for the clocks, and new electrical service.

“It is a project that is very worthwhile,” Mawn said.

Sidonio and Mawn also want to upgrade the landscaping at the site, and make the flagpoles look better.

“We want to create a better sense of place for the monument,” Sidonio said.

A photo from the memorial’s dedication showed several rifles stacked on top of the monument. Sidonio and Mawn wondered if those rifles were part of an original display on the monument, and if the rifles had been removed or taken.

They looked at the top of the monument and there aren’t any brackets or other evidence that the rifles were being held in place on the memorial. They must have been temporarily put there.

The former Holley Standard reported on the monument on Aug. 11, 1949, previewing the dedication ceremony three days later. The newspaper declared the project “an example of community enterprise and cooperation.”

A bronze plaque lists the names of the local soldiers who perished in the war: John Christopher, Joseph Christopher, Cosmo Coccitti, John Kettle, Jr., Leonard Licursi, Martin Licursi, Richard Merritt, Camille Nenni, Floyd Valentine and Richard Vendetta.

The monument designed by local resident Pat DiLaura with stone donated from quarry owned by Art Nenni

Local quarrymen worked to get out the stone including Gene Nenni, Oresto Nenni, Americo Belli, Richard DePalma of Holley, and Richard Raneri, Tony Passarell and Angelo Manella of Albion. Gene DePalma graded the site of the monument

Lee Colavito and Dan Fiorita did the mason work, Thomas Friedo of Fancher did the electrical work, hooking up the four electric clocks and the lighting at the base of the monument.

Fred Fiorito said the monument is a one-of-kind memorial that was created by the local residents in honor of the 10 local soldiers. The project utilizes the talents and resources of the local community.

“Even though I moved 400 miles away and I’ve been away a long time, my heart is still there,” Fred Fiorito said. “I just couldn’t stand to see the monument left the way it is. It honors 10 boys who stood up and never came back.”

Grades 3-6 will go to 4 days of in-person, and grades 7-12 could as well

HOLLEY – The school district announced it will be bringing back more students next month for 4 days of in-person learning each week, and could have all grade levels at 4 days a week if the state approves lowering the minimum spacing between desks from 6 to 3 feet.

The federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention last Friday announced it was changing its guideline for minimum social distancing in schools, from 6 to 3 feet, as long as students are wearing masks.

“This has caused many regions and entire state health departments to alter restrictions and update their guidance plans, which could ultimately allow for more students to return to school buildings for in-person learning this academic year,” Brian Bartalo, Holley school district superintendent, said in a letter today to the community.

Before Holley can move desks closer it needs the NYS Department of Health to approve the change in social distancing guidance. Holley has been anticipating the change to 3 feet, and is planning a phase-in after spring recess to bring back more students for four days of in-perosn learning. Just last week Holley brought back students for four days in grades K through 2, instead of being limited to two days of in-person with the hybrid schedule.

Before last week, Holley already had four days of in-person learning in Pre-K, the alternative high school, and self-contained special education classes, where the class sizes are smaller.

Even if the state doesn’t reduce the minimum desk spacing to three feet, Holley plans to have grades 3 through 6 go to four days of in-person learning the week of April 5-9.

If the minimum spacing is reduced to 3 feet, Holley could move hybrid students in the Junior-Senior High School to four days of in-person learning. If the 3-foot distance is approved, Holley plans to move grades 7-8 to four days of in-person learning the week of April 12-16, and then the following week, April 19-23, the hybrid students in grades 9-12 would go from two to four days.

Holley will continue to have Wednesdays as remote only.

“The reasons for keeping Wednesdays as remote learning days include: providing time for staff to prepare and post lessons, and connect with our fully remote learners; allowing time to bring in small groups of students for academic intervention and related services; and for teachers to receive professional development, and update learning plans and curriculum,” Bartalo said in his letter today.

Holley will be reaching out to the fully remote student families prior to the start of the fourth quarter on April 19 to determine if they plan to stay remote or return to in-person school.

“Based on the number of students who remain fully remote and after evaluating how things are progressing with four days/week, we’ll determine if it’s possible to increase to five days/week for our in-person students,” Bartalo said.

The district superintendent said the situation and guidelines from the state have frequently been in flux, making it difficult for districts to plan. He expects the 3-foot change will be approved by the state, allowing for more students to be in class, in-person.

“We believe that this phase back-in approach is proactive, and gives staff time to prepare and adjust learning plans, bus schedules, and modify classroom and dining spaces based on new guidance from NYS,” Bartalo said. “We also hope it gives families time to prepare for this transition back to more in-person learning at Holley CSD.”

HOLLEY – The school district is dismissing middle/high school early today after a gas leak in the middle-high school.

Those students were evacuated to the elementary school. All staff and students are safe, the district posted on its website.

“The MS/HS students will be dismissed early from the ES, where the buses will pick them up for the departure home,” the district said. “If you plan to pick a MS/HS student up, please pick them up at District Office. Thank you.”

Evan Valentine

HOLLEY – The Board of Education approved a request to establish a new scholarship in memory of Evan Valentine, a courageous student who passed away on February 21, 2021 after a battle with acute myeloid leukemia.

A member of this year’s senior class, Evan played soccer and golf and performed in the school musicals. He was confirmed at St. Mary’s Catholic Church in August and was the altar server of the year in 2018 in the Western New York Diocese. He also was active in Boy Scouts.

The scholarship will likely start at $500. No qualifications have been developed yet. The Valentine family will be working with a school committee to come up with a profile and the family will also be involved with the selection of the recipient(s).

The Valentine family and the district want to make this an annual scholarship to be presented each year at graduation.

Photo by Tom Rivers

HOLLEY – Prestyn McMillion, a Holley eighth-grader, was presented with a Soaring to New Heights award on Monday evening by Sue Cory, the junior-senior high school principal.

Prestyn assisted a neighbor who was having a medical emergency. He noticed a car was running, the driver appeared unresponsive and he was able to get her help. He was recognized by the school district for “his compassion and fast action.” He is part of a family that is active in the fire department.

Photo by Tom Rivers: Brian Bartalo, the Holley school superintendent, said there is a “gray area” for athletes wearing masks during high school events. Pictured in back are Connie Nenni, left, the district clerk and Robin Silvis, the BOE president.

HOLLEY – School leaders who watch high school sporting events or who see photos on the Orleans Hub notice that many of the athletes have their masks pulled down and aren’t covering their nose or mouth.

Some of the opposing players aren’t even wearing masks.

Brian Bartalo, the Holley school superintendent, said other students and parents see that and wonder why other students can’t do the usual musical, marching band or chorus concert.

“It’s created consternation for the music and drama folks,” Bartalo told the Board of Education on Monday.

Board member Anne Smith brought up the topic, saying she sees many of the sports photos on the Orleans Hub with masks that don’t seem to be properly worn.

Bartalo said the New York State Public High School Athletic Association allows a “gray area” with the masks. The association calls for athletes to wear masks at all times “unless unable to tolerate face covering for physical activity.” If they feel they can’t tolerate a mask, they can lower it, Bartalo said.

If athletes decide to lower their masks, referees or game officials have told the schools they aren’t going to “police” it, Bartalo said.

Coaches are taking athletes at “face value” if they lower their masks, it’s because they can’t handle playing the sport with the mask on, said Robin Silvis, the board president.