of its history as part of sesquicentennial celebration Calling it the "biggest birthday party you have ever been invited to," the finishing touches are being put on the Village of Holley's Sesquicentennial Celebration. The village will be celebrating the 150th year of its incorporation this year. Celebration co-chairs Gail Sevor and David Dill are making the final arrangements for the August 4 event. "So far our parade has 10 marching bands and 15 floats participating," Dill said. "Four drum corps from the Drum Corps International will be performing." Sevor said one of the floats in the parade would be fashioned to look like a birthday cake, in honor of the village's 150 years. An alumni band, made up of members of Holley's past award-winning marching bands and color guards, is also anticipated, Sevor said. Holley had the number one color guard troupe in the nation in the early 1970's, she said. The full day event kicks off at 10 a.m. with the opening of the arts and crafts booths. There will be a food court that promises food to tempt all, Sevor said. Entertainment is scheduled throughout the day - everything from clowns, magicians, karate demonstrations and music of all kinds. The internationally known band, the Wrath of Polyester, is scheduled to take the stage from 4 to 6 p.m. Band members promise festival attendees a musical event filled with tunes from the 70s. According to information in their press kit, the Wrath of Polyester will "take you back to bell bottoms, platform shoes and mood rings … all of the coolest fads of the 1970s." Their impressive array of tunes even predicts the future with a musical segment that highlights music from the 1990s. The band has performed at National Football League functions, for the Boy Scouts of America, at a New Year's Eve party for Governor George Pataki and for Eastman Kodak. "This whole day is going to be a lot of fun," Dill said. "It promises to be even bigger than the Fountain Festival." A proclamation handed down from Senator George Maziarz in honor of the date of Holley's incorporation will be read during the day. "I don't know how many vendors we have signed up," Sevor said. "But we are hoping to fill the village square with them." The day's festivities will wrap up around 10 p.m. with a fireworks display, she said. According to Village Historian Marsha DeFilipps, Holley welcomed its first settlers in 1812. The village took its name from one of the original canal commissioners, Myron Holley. Harrison Hatch was elected village president in 1850. DeFilipps said the village suffered three major fires in its infancy. Two of the blazes consumed village records. The first was October 25, 1866 and the second in 1874. Several "famous figures" make up Holley's rich history. Colonel John Berry, a produce dealer who was a member of the state Assembly and Professor George Olds, who taught mathematics at Amherst College and whose father was the first proprietor of the Holley Hotel, are among some of Holley's first residents. Jewel Buckman, after whom the American Legion Post is named, and who had his musical scores published, resided there, as did Ida Padelford, a local poet, who published a book of her poetry, entitled "Flutes in the Wind." "Not many people realize that three people from Holley were aboard the Titanic," DeFilipps said. A monument, in remembrance of those who lost their lives on the Titanic, is a part of Holley's Hillside Cemetery. Anyone wishing to volunteer for the festivities is asked to contact Sevor at 638-3322 or they can contact the village office for information. |
