The National Weather Service in Buffalo issued a wind advisory for Orleans County on Monday from 8 a.m. until 10 p.m.
The advisory also includes Niagara, Genesee and northern Erie counties.
There will be southwest winds from 20 to 30 miles per hour with gusts up to 45 mph.
The highs for the next few days include 39 today, followed by 47 on Monday, 40 on Tuesday, 39 on Wednesday and 47 on Thursday.
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MEDINA – Medina’s JV and Varsity Winterguards competed on Saturday at Greece Central School for the sixth competition of this season.
Eleven guard units in different classifications competed. Medina’s JV guard competed in the Cadet class and earned 1st place over Batavia with a score of 63.08.
Medina’s varsity guard was unopposed in the A1 class and earned a score of 70.58. There were substantial changes to each show to enhance the portrayal of their theme. The skills and stamina that these students exhibit every time they perform is amazing and indicative of their commitment to this artform.
The Winterguard championships are scheduled for Saturday, March 29th at the Gates-Chili High School and every guard registered in the North East Color Guard Circuit will perform.
Medina’s JV winterguard won first place in the Cadet class.
Photos by Tom Rivers: Eddie Hilfiker, guitarist for the Who Dats, attended Saturday’s awards banquet for the Clarendon and Murray fire companies and districts to thank the responders who saved his life on Feb. 8 after he had a heart attack.
CLARENDON – Eddie Hilfiker was packing up his guitars on Feb. 8, 2025 after a three-hour concert at the Clarendon Rec Hall with the Who Dats.
Hulfiker, 74, has played with the popular local band for the past 20 years. The Holley resident has been playing music since he was 13.
John Borello, left, and Ed Hilfiker, guitarists with The Who Dats, perform at the Orleans County 4-H Fair in this photo from July 2015. Hilfiker is an iconic figure locally with the band and is known for his hats while playing with the band.
A cold wintry night made for a smaller-than-expected crowd at the rec hall for a steak dinner and concert. The Who Dats usually bring in lots of people for their concerts.
Hilfiker was the last one in the rec hall’s main room. Everyone else was gone.
There were six people back in the bar, cleaning up.
One of them walked down the hallway to the main room and saw Hilfiker on the floor and unresponsive. The entire group was called and they performed CPR and shocked Hilfiker’s heart with an AED. They called for more help from Mercy Ambulance and other firefighters.
Hilfiker’s heart started beating and he would survive. He was talking with medics as they took him out of the rec hall and to Strong Memorial Hospital.
He would have quadruple bypass surgery and is taking medication for his heart. Hilfiker said he expects to be back performing with the Who Dats soon. He may use a stool while he plays the guitar instead of standing for the entire three to four hours like most of their concerts.
Hilfiker on Saturday attended the annual banquet for the Murray and Clarendon fire companies and districts. Clarendon Fire Chief Bob Freida and Murray Fire Chief Rick Cary presented “Lifesaving” awards to 12 people for their quick response that night. The awards credit the responders for their “fast thinking and swift, professional action on Feb. 8, 2025 leading to the saving another human life.”
The responders hadn’t trained together before as a unit, yet they did everything with precision to save Hilfiker, Freida said.
“The teamwork was amazing,” he said.
The following were recognized on Saturday during a banquet at the Clarendon rec hall for life-saving actions on Feb. 8. pictured from left, in front, include Mercy medic Mike Senebeck, Mercy paramedic Brittani Mack, Murray firefighter Jenna Amering, Murray firefighter Dan Schiavone, Clarendon past chief Jim DeYoung, Murray firefighter Colton Tuttle, East Pembroke firefighter Joey Gibson (grandson of DeYoung), Clarendon Fire Chief Robert Freida, and Murray Deputy Chief Peter Hendrickson. In back include: Mercy medic James Fisher, Murray Assistant Chief Kevin Dann, Murray Town Supervisor Gerald Rightmyer, Rochester police officer Liza Dann, Clarendon Town Councilman Chris Caulfield and Fran Gaylord, past chief for Murray.
Hilfiker attended the banquet on Saturday and thanked the responders for being there for him.
“Without them I’d be dead,” Hilfiker said at the Clarendon Rec Hall, where about 225 people attended the annual banquet. “I’m not ready to leave the grandchildren.”
Six people were honored with a “Lifesaving Award” for providing the initial response for Hilfiker. That included 13 minutes of CPR and shocks from an Automated External Defibrillator (AED). That device delivers an electric shock to help restore a normal heartbeat in cases of sudden cardiac arrest.
The six on scene who initially assisted Hilfiker include Murray Deputy Chief Peter Hendrickson, Murray Assistant Chief Kevin Dann, Clarendon Chief Robert Freida, Clarendon Town Councilman Chris Caulfield, Murray Town Supervisor Gerald Rightmyer, and Rochester police officer Liza Dann.
These nine people jumped into action when they arrived on scene to help: Jim DeYoung, past chief from Clarendon; East Pembroke firefighter Joey Gibson, a grandson of DeYoung; from the Murray joint fire district – past chief Fran Gaylord, firefighter Dan Schiavone, firefighter Jenna Amering, and firefighter Colton Tuttle; Mercy paramedic Brittani Mack, Mercy medic James Fisher and Mercy medic Mike Senebeck.
This group is recognized with a “Lifesaving Award” on Saturday. From left include Joey Gibson, Jim DeYoung, Eddie Hilfiker, Bob Freida, Gerry Rightmyer, Chris Caulfield, James Fisher and Mike Senebeck.
Photos by Tom Rivers
ALBION – Teanna Church of Holley heads to the finish line ahead of Barbara Sauer of Buffalo in today’s Wayne Burlison Colon Cancer Awareness 5K.
They were among 75 finishers in a race that is in memory of an Albion elementary music teacher who passed away at age 36 from colon cancer on March 26, 2014.
Laura Strutz served as the announcer after the race when the awards were handed out for the top three overall in male and female, and the top three in each age group. The cafeteria in the elementary school hosted the awarded event, which included refreshments.
Strutz urged men to get checked for colon cancer if they are 45 or older, or 40 or older if they have a family history with colon cancer.
Wolfpack Multisport organizes the race in Albion and also will be doing the Strawberry Festival 5K and 8K on June 14. Wolfpack organizes about 20 events in the Rochester and Syracuse areas.
Lindon Morici won the award for fastest female int he 5K and her two daughters were the top two finishers in the fun run. Morici is shown with daughters Winter, 6, at left, and Summer, age 9.
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Medina firefighter Adam Fisher, left, heads towards the finish. Medina Fire Chief Matt Jackson, right in a photo looking through a tree, also completed the course that is slightly longer than a 5K at 3.17 miles.
The distance symbolizes the 3 months and 17 days Burlison lived from when he was diagnosed with stage 4 cancer until his death on March 26, 2014.
The top three male finishers include, from left: Jose Miguel Silva, winner in 18:19; Brad Kingdollar of Clarendon, third in 20:39; and Joe Silliman of West Seneca, second in 20:06.
Wayne Burlison’s wife Lisa addresses the runners at the start of the race. “He was an incredible man of integrity, faith and perseverance who loved Jesus, family, music and running,” she said about Wayne. Burlison’s son Adam completed the course today.
She is recently remarried to Tom Wink, left. Bert Gallmon, Wolfpack Mulitsports owner, is at right. Mrs. Wink and Gallmon both urged people to get checked for colon cancer.
Proceeds from the race help continue a scholarship in Burlison’s name that goes to a graduating senior with a passion for the arts, who demonstrates perseverance and overcame challenges.
Sponsors for today’s race included Silsby Family Dental, Mitchell Family Cremations & Funerals, Albion Agencies Insurance, and Dubby’s Tailgate.
Return to topSHELBY/YATES – The following candidates have been interviewed and endorsed by the Orleans County Conservative Party:
Orleans County Conservative Party Chairman Paul Lauricella Jr. said the candidates interviewed with the committee, and have shown they are “engaged citizens” who attend their town board workshops and meetings, “and ask questions and hold their government accountable.”
The Conservative Party Committee is backing social conservatives and “true fiscal common-sense conservatives.”
“These are not just fly-by-nights who have never shown their face to a Town Board meeting or workshop,” Lauricella said. “These are the real deal, my friends.”
Lauricella urges Republicans in the June 24 primaries to back the Conservative Party candidates.
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Photos by Tom Rivers
LYNDONVILLE – Newsboys join together in a strike in 1899. Lyndonville shares the story of the ragtag team of paperboys making a living selling newspapers on the street of New York City.
Lyndonville performed the first show on Friday evening and has performances at 7 p.m. today and 2 p.m. Sunday in the Stroyan Auditorium, 25 Housel Ave.
Amir Huzair, in back, plays the lead role of Jack Kelly, who leads the youngsters in their fight to make a decent wage.
Jennifer Neroni-Trupo, the show’s director, said the musical brings a message for equality and fair pay, child rights and activism.
“Treat people with dignity and kindness all the time,” Neroni-Trupo states in the program for the musical. “We have been working very hard during this production to make sure that every person is welcome in our theater family and that this is a place they can safely be themselves.”
The newsboys go on strike after the newspaper owners increase the costs of the “papes” or the newspapers on the newsboys, cutting into their already slim profits. The newsboys form a union and go on strike against wealthy publishers, including Joseph Pulitzer.
James Giarla plays newspaper titan Joseph Pulitzer. When circulation starts to decline, resulting in lesser profits, Pulitzer decides to charge the newsboys more to sell the newspapers.
Jack and Crutchie (Auston Bentley), right, are excited to meet two new paperboys, Davey (Noah Fox), left, and his little brother Les (Gavyn Draper). Les gives a sad face to get sympathy from customers to buy his newspapers.
The Bowery Beauties join Medda Larkin (Hannah Marker) in performing at a theater. The Beauties include Robin Botsford, Sierra Frasier, Thalia Heinsler, Karalyn Klotzbach, Dixie Nowicki and Adrianna Vanderbrook. The newsboys take cover in the theater while being chased from the warden of a juvenile detention center.
Sarah Corser plays Katherine Plumber, a young reporter who covers the newsboys’ strike. She sees it as a chance to be taken more seriously as a reporter. She and Jack also have a romantic connection.
Aurora Avery plays the role of Finch and is fired up in seeking better wages and treatment.
Jack (Amir Huzair) is discouraged when the strike gets off to a rough start, with some of the newsboys, including his close friend Crutchie, apprehended and taken to the juvenile detention center. Huzair, blaming himself for the failure, sings “Santa Fe,” wanting to runaway forever.
Katherine and Jack later team to create their own paper, the Newsies Banner. Katherine, who is Pulitzer’s daughter, writes a story about the inhumane conditions in the juvenile detention facility, using many of Jack’s drawings of the abuse. That prompts the closing of the detention center.
Return to topPress Release, Congresswoman Claudia Tenney
OSWEGO – Congresswoman Claudia Tenney (NY-24) reintroduced the People and Animals Well-being (PAW) Act to amend the Internal Revenue Code Section 213(d) to include veterinary care expenses under tax-advantaged health care spending accounts, specifically Health Savings Accounts (HSAs) and Flexible Spending Accounts (FSAs).
The PAW Act would allow pet owners to use their HSA or FSA accounts to pay for up to $1,000 for veterinary care or a pet health insurance plan while enabling an unlimited amount of these funds for service animals.
In addition, this legislation will support individuals, including veterans, with disabilities by ensuring the IRS relies on an up-to-date definition of “service animal,” which includes animals trained to assist with both physical and mental disabilities. This bill maintains current HSA and FSA contribution limits, ensuring that there will be little to no impact on federal expenditures.
“Pets and service animals are valued members of our families and lives, with many benefits, including increasing our lifespan, reducing stress, and promoting physical activity. It is important we ensure pet owners can afford quality care,” Tenney said. “The PAWS Act allows pet owners to use HSAs and FSAs for veterinary care, ensuring all pet owners can keep their beloved pets and service animals healthy.”
“The AVMA-endorsed People and Animals Well-being (PAW) Act supports both animal and human health by highlighting the benefits of pet ownership and expanding access to pet care,” said Dr. Sandra Faeh, President of the American Veterinary Medical Association. “By making veterinary care and pet health insurance eligible expenses under Health Savings and Flexible Spending Accounts, this legislation helps make pet care more affordable, improves access for service animals, and strengthens efforts to detect and prevent zoonotic diseases. We appreciate the leadership of Reps. Tenney and Ross on this important issue and urge Congress to pass the PAW Act without delay.”
Return to topPress Release, Apex Clean Energy
ALBION – Apex Clean Energy is pleased to announce the latest awards from the Heritage Wind, Community Grant Program. Three organizations will each receive $4,000 to continue their outstanding work throughout Orleans County.
The Village of Albion Recreation Program offers a variety of programs and community events at the village’s Bullard Park throughout the year. The grant funds will support current programs, such as the summer children’s recreation program, along with future expansions.
“On behalf of the Village of Albion and the Recreation Department, we are very pleased and excited to be awarded grant money to assist in the growth and development of the Village of Albion Recreation Program,” said recreation director John Grillo. “We have many plans and goals moving forward and the grant money will assist in achieving those goals. We thank Apex Clean Energy and Heritage Wind for this great gesture and opportunity to help make our community a better place to live.”
The United Way of Orleans County is a connector of people, resources, ideas, and funding to make our community stronger. The organization embraces the values of collaboration, responsiveness, inclusivity, service, and accountability. The grant will be used to provide 40 families in need with a home fire safety kit which includes carbon monoxide detectors, smoke detectors, and a home fire extinguisher.
Nyla Gaylord, Executive Director of the United Way of Orleans County, described the project, adding “The United Way of Orleans County is pleased to receive funding from Heritage Wind/Apex Clean Energy to purchase and distribute smoke alarms, carbon monoxide detectors, and fire extinguishers to 40 vulnerable families and individuals. We are very concerned with the increased number of mobile home and house fires over the past four years and the fact that many low-income households cannot afford these fire prevention resources. We will be distributing these home safety kits through our partner agencies and the Orleans County Office for the Aging and Adult Protective Services.”
Contributions to increase the number of households served by the program are greatly appreciated. Those interested in supporting the effort can do so by vising www.orleansunitedway.org/donate.
The Barre Volunteer Fire Department plans to use the grant award to support reconstruction and upgrades to the department’s communication room at the firehall. This room serves as the department’s control station when first responders are actively out on calls throughout the community.
With these latest awards, Heritage Wind has provided over $140,000 to support community causes, events, and non-profit organizations. These grants are part of a larger community grant program by Apex Clean Energy that has awarded over $6 million in funds to local communities nationwide since 2020.
Heritage Wind is committed to being a strong community partner for residents and local organizations. We are proud to support the continued commitment to making your community better in every way that it can. As the project approaches construction, Heritage Wind will continue its commitment to being a strong community partner to local governments, area businesses, and non-profits working to improve people’s lives across the region.
To learn more about the program, or apply for a future round of grant funding, visit www.heritagewindpower.com/grant.
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Photo by Tom Rivers
ALBION – A wall honoring the five Medal of Honor recipients from Orleans County is complete. The Orleans County Legislature expects to have a ceremony for the wall in May close to Memorial Day.
The wall was recently completed by Takeform in Medina and includes five plaques for the recipients and wallpaper of a bald eagle and an American flag.
The display is on the second from of the County Office Building. The Orleans County Veterans Service Agency and the legislative staff worked with Takeform on the project.
The county introduced the wall on March 23, 2022 when a portrait was unveiled of David Bellavia, a Lyndonville native, being presented the Medal of Honor from president Donald Trump on June 26, 2019 at the White House.
Bellavia is the first living veteran from the Iraq War to receive the nation’s highest military medal. He was honored for his acts of valor on Nov. 10, 2004 in Fallujah, Iraq. Bellavia led an infantry squad clearing houses of insurgents, saving the lives of the members of his unit.
Four others in the county also have received the prestigious medal. The display includes an updated headshot of Bellavia and portraits of Forrest Vosler of Lyndonville and John Butts of Medina.
Photos aren’t available of the other recipients Thomas Wilbur Kates and Charles D. Harris.
• Forrest Vosler of Lyndonville was assigned as a radio operator and aerial gunner aboard a B-17 Flying Fortress during World War II with the 358th Bombardment Squadron, 303rd Bombardment Group stationed out of England. On Dec. 20, 1943, Vosler’s fourth combat mission. The plane was under fire and had two engines knocked out with the aircraft windmilling out of control.
When a fellow aviator was knocked unconscious, Vosler maneuvered himself into the tailgun. Another 20-mm shell hit the aircraft, sending shrapnel into Vosler’s chest, face, and eyes. He continued to deliver defensive fire upon German aircraft until the attacks subsided. Nearly out of fuel and losing altitude quickly, the crew jettisoned every piece of equipment to lighten the plane.
Vosler, severely wounded and floating in and out of consciousness, begged the crew to throw him out of the plane to reduce weight. As the aircraft plunged into the frigid waters of the North Sea, Vosler crawled out of the aircraft onto a wing. A passing Norwegian trawler quickly picked up the crew and transferred them to a British rescue vessel. One of Vosler’s eyes had one of his to be removed, and the other required extensive surgery.
• John E. Butts of Medina is the only one of the five Medal of Honor recipients from Orleans County who received the honor posthumously. He was recognized for his heroic actions near Cape La Hague, France in World War II.
John Butts was awarded the Medal of Honor for acts of valor in the Normandy invasion in June 1944.
Butts was in command of four squads in Easy Company of the 60th Infantry Regiment, 2nd Battalion, 9th Infantry Division charged with driving towards St. Colombe, France. On June 12, 1944, 2nd Battalion progressed so quickly towards their objective that the remainder of 9th Division thought the 60th Infantry was lost. In fact, 2nd Battalion had pushed forward through heavy German resistance and established a bridgehead at the Douve River. Butts was wounded twice, first near Orglandes on June 14th and then at the Douve River just two days later; he refused medical treatment on both occasions in order to remain with his men.
On June 23, 1944, the 60th Infantry led the 9th Division’s advance from the Cotentin Peninsula as part of the breakout from St. Lo. While moving towards Flottemanville-Hague, Butts and his men encountered a German stronghold atop a hill, well defended with tanks, machine guns, and mortars. Butts was struck in the stomach by machine gun fire while progressing towards the objective. Pulling himself into the shelter of a nearby hedgerow, he planned a flanking maneuver with his Sergeants.
One squad was to progress up the left flank, another up the right flank, and the third was to remain in reserve. Holding one hand over his midsection and the other grasping his carbine, Butts charged the hill alone. The might of the entire German stronghold fell upon him directly, Butts falling approximately 10 yards from his objective. The distraction allowed the two flanking squads to outmaneuver the Germans while the third squad hit the hill head-on.
Awarded on July 19, 1945 by President Harry Truman, John Butts’ Medal of Honor citation references the two painful wounds he received in the days leading up to the deadly assault on June 23, 1944. His citation concluded by stating, “By his superb courage, unflinching valor and inspiring actions, 2d Lt. Butts enabled his platoon to take a formidable strong point and contributed greatly to the success of his battalion’s mission,” President Harry Truman said in the citation for the medal, which was awarded on July 19, 1945.
• Thomas Wilbur Kates, born in Shelby on May 7, 1865, received the Medal of Honor for his actions in 1900 during the Boxer Rebellion, a nearly two-year uprising led by the Yihetuan (or Boxers) against foreign imperialists in China.
Kates accepted enlistment with the U.S. Marine Corps at New York City on July 21, 1899. Pvt. Kates and other Marines were dispatched to China on June 18, 1900, where they remained through October 10, 1900. According to his citation, Kates was awarded the Medal of Honor “…for extraordinary heroism while serving with the 1st Regiment (Marines), in action in the presence of the enemy during the advance on Tientsin, China, 21 June 1900. Private Kates distinguished himself by meritorious conduct.”
Maj. Waller wrote in a letter dated July 6, 1900, that “…of the men I wish to say, while all in the engagements we participated in, behaved in such a manner as to bring forth the highest praise from the foreign officers…Cpl. Thomas W. Kates.”
He continued, “…the specifically distinguished of these being Corporal Kates and Privates Campbell and Francis, with the Colt gun.” According to the Report of the Commandant of the U.S. Marine Corps dated September 29, 1900, these three men remained with Lt. Powell, holding a position with an M1895 Colt-Browning Machine Gun until all but Campbell and Powell were gunned down. They destroyed the gun to prevent it from entering enemy hands before they commenced their retreat.
• Charles D. Harris, who fought in the Civil War, was awarded the Medal of Honor for his heroism in the Apache Wars in 1869. The specifics of the engagement and the actions that warranted the awarding of the medal remain shrouded in mystery. After the war, Harris returned to Albion and lived a quiet life until his passing on September 6, 1895. He is buried at Mount Albion Cemetery.
Return to topALBION – The Orleans County Legislature approved a one-year labor agreement with about 160 members of the CSEA union.
The deal gives the county workers 2 percent pay increases in their hourly rate. Workers also will see the minimum work week go from 35 hours to 37.5. That will result in another 7 percent pay increase.
Some county employees also will have the option to work 40 hours a week, which would represent a 14 percent pay increase over the 35 hour work weeks.
The longer hours will help fill the gap from vacant positions. County Chief Administrative Officer Jack Welch said about a dozen positions tend to be open. The extra hours for county staff will Orleans keep up with services for the community.
The county offices will open a half hour earlier beginning Monday, April 14, at 8:30 a.m. and will close at 5 p.m. The summer office hours will be 8 a.m. to 4 p.m.
The extra hours among the existing workforce also will save the county on the costs of healthcare policies, which Welch said are now costing about $53,000 for family policies with $5,000 deductibles.
The county and CSEA typically reach three-year labor agreements. The one-year deal gives CSEA members and the county a chance to see if the cost for health insurance will come down.
This labor agreement is with the bargaining unit that doesn’t include management, Sheriff’s deputies or the staff at the jail.
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Lynne Johnson and John Fitzak
ALBION – Orleans County legislators passed two resolutions on Thursday urging the governor to rescind an executive order barring terminated corrections officers in the prison strike from other public service jobs.
County legislators also said the HALT Act has made prisons less safe and should be repealed. Corrections officers went on strike for about three weeks, beginning Feb. 17, primarily due to their concerns with the HALT Act and how it limited discipline in the prison for inmates who are violent and don’t follow the rules.
Hochul on March 10 fired about 2,000 corrections officers after they refused to meet a deadline for reporting to work. She also prohibited them from taking other jobs with state and local governments.
John Fitzak, a retired corrections officer from the Orleans Correctional Facility, spoke during Thursday’s County Legislature meeting.
“The governor’s executive order does a disservice to the public by taking away a pool of highly qualified applicants from jobs we need filled,” Fitzak said. “It is mean-spirited, revengeful, and immoral and, as such, should be immediately repealed.”
Fitzak said the HALT Act “has failed miserably” and created an unsafe working conditions for the corrections officers.
“Those who passed this outrageous legislation would not listen to the corrections officers when they raised concerns.” Fitzak said. “It forced the corrections officers to take matters into their own hands and walk off the job to draw attention to their plight.”
Corrections officers also said prisons were severely understaffed and COs were forced to do mandatory overtime and many officers were routinely working 60 to 80 hours a week. That kept them away from their families too often, many of the COs said.
The governor fired 2,000 people for expressing their concerns, Fitzak said.
“But that punitive measure was not enough for the governor,” Fitzak said during Thursday’s Legislature meeting. “She then issued an executive order essentially banning these brave women and men from making a living elsewhere in government.”
County Legislature Chairwoman Lynne Johnson said the Legislature’s resolutions are a message to the correction officers to “say loudly and clearly that Orleans County supports you.”
Johnson said many county officials around the state believe Hochul’s order is illegal in banning corrections officers from working for the state and local governments.
Johnson said that executive order from the governor contrasts with the “Clean Slate Act” legislation signed by the governor that wipes the record clean for some criminals so they have a better chance of getting a job.
“The governor felt those folks had paid their debt to society and deserved a second chance,” Johnson said.
Hochul, however, is showing no compassion for the terminated corrections officers, who Hochul has brandished with “a scarlet letter,” Johnson said.
Orleans County and other local governments around the state have job openings and could use the correction officers “at a time when finding people is very challenging.” Several have applied for positions in Orleans County government, Johnson said.
Orleans County is working with New York State Association of Counties, county attorney Kathy Bogan and other counties to understand “this unprecedented, unnecessary and probably unlawful action by the governor and how we can move forward,” Johnson said. “To the corrections officer community, let me reiterate, we are with you.”
Copies of the county resolutions will be forwarded to Gov. Kathy Hochul. Assemblyman Steve Hawley, State Sen. Rob Ortt, Congresswoman Claudia Tenney and the New York State Association of Counties.
Return to topPress Release, Holley Central School District
Kelly Hill
HOLLEY – The Holley Central School District is pleased to introduce Kelly Hill, who will serve as the district’s new Director of Transportation.
Hill was appointed at the March 17 Board of Education meeting and will assume her role on April 28.
Hill will direct and supervise the district’s Transportation Department, ensuring both efficient operation and safety of students. She brings a wealth of experience, including nine years serving as Safety Supervisor at Student Transportation of America in Alexander, NY, overseeing compliance and training. She possesses her Commercial Driver’s License and is a NYS Department of Education licensed School Bus Driver Instructor and a Department of Motor Vehicles 19A Examiner.
Hill is eager to join the Holley CSD team and start building strong relationships.
“I look forward to making a difference in the lives of my co-workers and the families that I will be serving in this position,” Hill said. “Know that I will do my best to address issues and concerns, and I will be open to working together for the same goal, putting children first in all things. Thank you for this opportunity to serve the Holley community.”
The district extends a warm welcome to Hill.
“I am excited to have someone with Kelly’s experience join the Holley CSD family,” said Karri Schiavone, Holley district superintendent. “I am confident in her ability to lead our Transportation Department and oversee one of the most important responsibilities in our district, the safe transportation of our students.”
This change in leadership comes after the retirement of Tammy Beaney, former director of transportation.
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