Photos by Tom Rivers – Chris VanDusen opened Trailside Bicycles on Canal Road in Hulberton on June 3.

HULBERTON – Chris VanDusen has pedaled his bike through Germany, Quebec, France, the Adirondacks and the Finger Lakes. They all have great bike trails with interesting towns to explore.

VanDusen thinks the Erie Canal Towpath and the communities along the journey have tremendous potential to draw cyclists. The canal already pulls in many cyclists, but it could attract more touring riders with better promotion, including bike loops of nearby attractions.

VanDusen on June 3 opened Trailside Bicycles at 16271 Canal Rd., a stone’s throw from the Hulberton lift bridge. He has spent two years working on the 4,000-square-foot structure. Many of his friends wondered why he’d pick rural Hulberton for the business.

“People say you’re in the middle of nowhere, but I’m in a strategic spot,” VanDusen said today. “I’m the only cycle shop between Buffalo and Brockport.”

The building was constructed in 1890 as a boarding house for quarry workers. About half of the building has been mostly untouched from those early days. VanDusen wants to clean up the space and turn it into a hostel, preserving the historic integrity of the living quarters.

VanDusen sees cyclists stop and ride by the business every day. Some of them are on long-distance self-guided trips.

VanDusen can repair bikes and sell parts. He has snacks, beverages and ice cream for sale. He wants to expand the business, renting out kayaks, planning bike loops, and leading tours of local sites.

He wants to develop loops for the Kendall barn quilt trail, local cobblestone homes, and Medina sandstone structures, as well as other local historical attractions.

“This county is a diamond in the rough,” VanDusen said. “It has the history and it’s along a fantastic corridor with the Erie Canal.”

His address should be on some of the bike loops because of its history. VanDusen researched the abstract detailing the property’s past. The building was put up in 1890 by the Medina Sandstone Company. The building was originally a boarding house for immigrant Italian quarrymen. That portion of the house is largely unchanged. VanDusen wants to clean it up, preserve its historical character and turn it into a hostel for traveling cyclists.

“We’re going to keep it authentic,” he said.

The Medina Sandstone Company built the site at 16271 Canal Road as housing for the Italian immigrants who worked in local quarries. The small partitioned rooms haven’t changed much since then.

VanDusen has had a love for bikes since he was a kid, learning to repair them when he was 8. He worked at a Brockport bike shop beginning at age 16. He has stayed in the industry since then, leading guided bike tours in foreign countries and in New York.

The cycling business is on an upswing, he said.

“The Baby Boomers are putting away the golf clubs and picking up bike riding,” he said. “They want something that is more active. It’s good for their health.”

The county could better capitalize on the canal with maps, trails and more businesses close by with lodging, cafes, outdoor seating and art, VanDusen said. The travelers want an experience that includes the local flavor.

“The corridor is right here,” he said. “It’s just giving people a reason to stop.”

Trailside Bicycles is open seven days a week. For more information, visit VanDusen’s web site by clicking here.

Community celebrates the occasion – in a big way

Photos by Tom Rivers

About 600 Holley Elementary School students marched down North Main Street, through the Public Square and to the Murray-Holley Historical Society for a program honoring the flag and students with good citizenship.

HOLLEY – They wore big smiles and red-white-and-blue outfits, and they were passionate wavers of Old Glory during a Flag Day celebration in Holley today.

About 600 Holley Elementary School students marched from the school down North Main Street, working their way through the Public Square to the Murray-Holley Historical Society for a Flag Day program.

Holley, for the 56^th year, put on a festive, patriotic celebration of Flag Day. The parade route was lined with many parents, grandparents and community members, there to support the students. Bleachers were brought in at the Save-A-Lot parking lot for the crowd to watch students be honored with citizenship awards. The elementary band and chorus also performed patriotic songs, including “Fifty, Nifty United States.”

Local elected officials joined students in singing the “Star Spangled Banner.”

“It’s amazing how the entire community embraces this event,” said Robert D’Angelo, the district superintendent. “It brings the entire community together unlike any event I’ve seen.”

Local fire departments were part of the parade. Retired Holley teachers also came back for Flag Day, and they were introduced to students and community members. One retired teacher, Virginia Robb, has been to 55 of the 56 Flag Day events.

Students, after marching in a parade, joined in singing, “Fifty, Nifty United States.”

Ross Gaylord is pulling back from some village duties

Photo by Tom Rivers – Village Trustee Ross Gaylord attended his final meeting as a village trustee tonight. He was praised by his fellow board members for a half century of service to the community. Trustee David Dill is at right.

HOLLEY – He has been a volunteer in the Holley Fire Department for 52 years. He has served on the Village Planning Board for nine years and logged 13 years on the Village Board.

Ross Gaylord has been a committed community member. Tonight he attended his last meeting as a village trustee. Gaylord isn’t seeking re-election. (Four candidates are running for two positions during the June 18 election.)

“It’s been fun over the years, but it’s time to relax,” Gaylord told his fellow board members just before the meeting was adjourned.

Mayor John Kenney made a point of thanking Gaylord for a long record of community service. The mayor said Gaylord has been a mentor and a resource, with lots of knowledge about the village.

Gaylord would also attend county and state meetings “on his own dime,” to be a more effective trustee, Kenney said.

Gaylord, 76, is a retired printer. The former Holley fire chief said he is most pleased the Village Board was able to convince Jerome Pawlak to open the Save-A-Lot grocery store last year. That filled a void in the community. Jubilee closed in 2006, leaving Holley without a grocery store.

“That was major,” Gaylord said about Save-A-Lot coming to town.

Gaylord said he won’t entirely stay away from the Village Office.

“I’ll probably stop in once in a while,” he told the board.

Courtesy of Holley Central School – The Holley Sports Booster Club accepted plaques from art students for the Woodlands Soccer Field. Pictured, from left: Bob Brice, Sports Booster Club president; students Corinne Lamorie and Gionni Kowalski; and art teacher Brandi Zavits.

Press release
Holley Central School

HOLLEY – Two high school students, junior Corinne Lamorie and freshman Gionni Kowalski put their artistic abilities to work on a Sports Booster Club project that will enhance the pavilion at the Woodlands Soccer Field.

Working with art teacher Brandi Zavitz and Sports Booster Club President Bob Brice, the students designed and created eight oval-shaped plaques, one for each of the sports played at Holley.

The plaques will be hung inside the pavilion at Woodlands as a finishing touch to Booster Club upgrades occurring there this summer.

“The work Corinne and Gionni did is absolutely beautiful and will enhance the pavilion in a meaningful way,” Zavitz said.

Brice, who is coordinating the pavilion upgrades added, “We’re not only thrilled to replace what’s there now but we are especially excited to be able to showcase wonderful artwork for many years to come. Our thanks to Corinne and Gionni!”

HOLLEY – In my scramble to get to Holley’s parade on Saturday, I arrived only to have a camera without a memory card.

I snapped a few photos with my iPhone, which I’m still getting used to. Here are a few pictures with the camera phone. (I needed some help from my wife to get them off the phone.)

It was a great parade featuring fire trucks, marching bands, Little League players, Scouts and local dignitaries.

I think the Public Square setup in Holley makes it one of the best laid-out downtowns in the area, an ideal setting for a small-town celebration.

June Fest is in full swing in Holley

Photos by Tom Rivers – Rick Nicholson, center, and the group “Woody and Friends” perform during the Murray/Holley June Fest today at the village’s canal park. Musicians will be performing up until the fireworks show this evening.

Harrison Flanagan, 3, of Holley tries to pet “Princess” after he rode the horse at the Murray/Holley June Fest today.

HOLLEY – The fifth annul Murray-Holley June Fest is in full swing today.

The events began with a 5-kilometer race this morning. Community-wide garage sales are also today. After a parade through the Public Square, the festival action shifted to the canal park.

The festival for the first time includes wine-tasting from noon to 5 p.m. at the park.  Tickets are $7.

Organizers have a “Holleywood Idol” talent show planned for 5 p.m. at the Woodlands Soccer Field. A free Drum Corps Show is set for 7 p.m. at Woodlands and will feature the Drum Corps from the parade, plus the Hitmen Drum Corps, the Kendall-Holley Marching Band and Color Guard, and the Holley High School chorus.

Shuttle buses will run all day from the high school and elementary school parking lot and the Holley firemen’s field. Fireworks will be at dusk from the soccer field.

Fifth annual event adds wine tasting, ‘Holleywood Idol’

HOLLEY – The fifth annual Murray/Holley June Fest is only two days away. The event starts with a 5-kilometer race in the morning and ends with fireworks at night.

In between there will be plenty of live music, food and games for children. Adults are also welcome to try a wine-tasting event, which is new to the festival. That runs from noon to 5 p.m. Tickets are $7 each and are available at the wine tent, or in advance at the Village Office or First Niagara Bank.

Organizers also have a “Holleywood Idol” talent show planned for 5 p.m. at the Woodlands Soccer Field.

The day kicks off with the Jim Ferris Memorial 5k, beginning at the elementary school. Village-wide yard sales also start at 9 and go until 4 p.m.

A parade starts at 10:30 a.m. and features the White Sabers Drum and Bugle Corps, the Ghost Riders Drum and Bugle Corps, the Prime Time Brass Drum and Bugle Corps and the Mark Time Marchers Marching Band. The parade route starts on Veteran’s Drive, then to Batavia Street, to the Public Square, to White Street to East Avenue, and ends at the park entrance.The reviewing stand will be on East Avenue just past East Albion Street.

Arts, craft, food vendors, a bounce house, pony rides, and live entertainment will run from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. at the park. St. Mary’s will host a chicken barbecue starting at 11 a.m.

“We tried to find something for everybody,” said Mary Ridley, the village’s deputy clerk/treasurer and a member of the planning committee. “We want to get people involved and come out to see their neighbors.”

A free Drum Corps Show is set for 7 p.m. at Woodlands Field and will feature the Drum Corps from the parade, plus the Hitmen Drum Corps, the Kendall-Holley Marching Band and Color Guard, and the Holley High School chorus.

Shuttle buses will run all day from the high school and elementary school parking lot and the Holley firemen’s field.

HOLLEY – Four candidates, all with experience on the Village Board, are running for two trustee positions in the June 18 village election.

The group of candidates includes former mayor Stanley “Skip” Carpenter, who is running under the Independent Party. Former village trustees Nancy Penna, People’s Party, and William Quaranto, Family Party, also are vying for trustee. Incumbent Brian Sorochty, Taxpayer Party, is seeking a term. He was appointed to the board in March after Lewis Passarell resigned.

Incumbent Ross Gaylord has decided against re-election.

The trustee terms are for two years. The election will be at the village office with polls open from noon to 9 p.m.

Board of Education won’t be reduced to five members

HOLLEY – School district residents approved a $22,976,429 budget with a 371 to 229 vote. The spending plan increases taxes by 2 percent.

The budget brings back the marching band, elementary student council, ski club, golf and boys and girls basketball for grades 4 to 6. The budget also will add an athletic trainer, a high school social studies teacher and an elementary teacher.

Last year residents approved a proposition to reduce the board in a phase-in from nine to five members. A new proposition, to halt the reduction at seven members and not five, passed on Tuesday, 350 to 257. Residents also re-elected Brenda Swanger with 507 votes. She was unopposed.

A bus proposition to spend $372,136 passed, 353 to 255, and voters approved $102,652 for Community Free Library, 430 to 180.

HOLLEY – Village property owners will pay 3.2 percent more in village taxes this fiscal year, and the tax rate will climb from 60 cents to $13.94 per $1,000 of assessed property.

The village will collect $728,339 in taxes to support the general fund – the village office, department of public works, fire department and police. That’s up from the $705,656 in 2012-13. The village fiscal year begins June 1.

The tax rate will increase 4.5 percent from $13.34 to $13.94. The rate exceeded the tax levy growth because Holley, like the villages of Albion and Medina, is seeing its assessed value decrease. Holley’s overall value dropped nearly $700,000 from $52,904,663 to $52,251,478. The shrinking assessments mean there is less assessed value to spread out the tax levy, which puts more strain on property owners.

Mayor John Kenney is optimistic the situation will improve in Holley. The village has received a $250,000 Main Street grant from the state to provide matching funds for building improvements in the Public Square.

Holley also has a grant to identify ways to improve brownfield sites, underutilized properties that are either contaminated or suffer from that stigma. The Brownfield Opportunity Area steering committee will meet 7 p.m. June 6 at the Community Free Library.

“These grants will have a positive impact on our village,” Kenney said.

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.