The Clarendon Historical Society and the Genesee Community College History Club’s “Hillside Heritage Events” in October and November benefit the restoration of the Hillside Cemetery chapel.
Designed by Rochester architect Addison Forbes, the Medina sandstone chapel was built in the Gothic Revival style in 1894. Hillside Cemetery and the chapel are listed on the National Register of Historic Places and have been recognized by the Landmark Society of
Western New York as one of the “Five to Revive” properties for 2104.
Hillside Heritage Events will include a series of evening lectures, without technology, inside the chapel itself at Hillside Cemetery, located outside the village of Holley. Lectures begin at 7 p.m. and are free, though donations to the restoration fund are accepted. Lectures include:
•October 26 – GCC Associate Dean of the Orleans County Campus Centers and Historian Jim Simon will present “The Philosophy of History: What Does it Matter?”
•November 2 – GCC Associate Professor Derek Maxfield will present “Victorian death and the Civil War.”
Full day of events October 3
On Saturday, October 3, Hillside Heritage events will include a full day of programs intended to spotlight the chapel and cemetery culminating in an evening “Ghost Walk.”
•10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Chapel open for tours; Living History demonstrations
•10 a.m. to 7 p.m. Basket Raffle tickets available
•4 to 5 p.m. Bill Lattin will speak in the chapel about Victorian Mourning Art
•7 to 9 p.m. Ghost Walk in Hillside Cemetery
GCC students will serve as guides and ghosts in Hillside Cemetery’s first “Ghost Walk” which will include a tour of the old cemetery, with stops at eight stations associated with the graves of significant local people. The “ghosts” will portray the people buried in the cemetery and will relate their life stories. One of the “ghosts” will be a surprise local celebrity.
Admission to the “Ghost Walk” is $10 per person to benefit the chapel restoration fund. Advance tickets are available at the Clarendon Town Hall and the Village of Holley offices. Any remaining tickets may be purchased at the door. All tours will start at the chapel in Hillside Cemetery. The Clarendon Lion’s Club Concession Stand will be onsite. A re-enactment of a Civil War Camp is also planned.
For information on Hillside Heritage Events, contact Melissa Ierlan at 585-638-6371 ext. 104 or Derek Maxfield at ddmaxfield@genesee.edu.
The events on October 3 are part of the 2nd Annual Tri-County Museum Crawl. For information or a passport to the Crawl, contact Jeff Donahue at the Holland Land Office and Museum in Batavia.
Ticket sales for the basket raffle will continue into November. Donations of additional baskets will be accepted until October 1.
These events are part of an on-going fund raising campaign by the Clarendon Historical Society with the goal of restoring the chapel to once again make it available for public use with anticipated uses to be lectures, art exhibits, concerts and historical displays. The Town of Clarendon recently received a grant of $20,000 from the Rochester Area Community Foundation.
Provided information
