At our November 6th meeting, the Honeoye Falls-Town of Mendon Historical Society held its annual elections.
The following people were re-elected to our Board:
Drew Saur, President
Charles Woolever, Vice President
Larry Titus, Treasurer
Carolyn Oatman, Secretary
Dr. Bill Brorein, Trustee
The following were newly-elected to our Board:
Kathy Eastman, Trustee
Jane McGory, Trustee
If you see these fine people around town, please offer them a hearty “Congratulations!” We thank all of them for their devoted service to our community.
Ever thought about working in a museum? Are you interested in local history? An opportunity awaits YOU with the Honeoye Falls-Town of Mendon Historical Society!
Docents are the volunteers who welcome visitors and answer questions (to the best of their ability) during open museum hours.
With our November 2 reopening, we need new volunteers to join the team of docents who staff our Museum in Harry Allen Park on Sundays from 2pm to 4pm. All that is required is:
A love for local history
A willingness to learn about our museum – we will help you!
Two hours on a Sunday afternoon
You do not need to volunteer every week. Our docents typically pick any Sunday afternoon(s) that they are available, and an updated schedule is shared among the group.
We would really appreciate your volunteer time for this, and our new museum is a cool place to be. Please reach out to Drew Saur at president@hfmhistorical.org or (585) 281-0014.
On Sunday, November 2, 2025 at 2:00 PM, The Honeoye Falls-Town of Mendon Historical Society will host a grand reopening of its Museum in Harry Allen Park.
This event follows 21 months of volunteer work to finish the first complete exhibit overhaul in the Museum’s 56-year history, and the most substantial reimagining of its exhibits in three decades.
Every new exhibit has been examined through a fresh lens: Would this be something a visitor to our Museum would seek or expect to find? Gone are generalized displays of things that were merely “old,” whether from our area or not. Visitors will find exhibits dedicated to businesses of our town and village; key Native American artifacts; displays covering the social fabric of our community (baseball, civic organizations, parades, fairs, bands, etc.); school artifacts (yearbooks, uniforms, photos and other paraphernalia); portraits and art from notable residents; and a whole section dedicated to the railroads (and airport!) of our area.
The grand reopening will be open to the public…members and non-members alike, and will run from 2 PM to 4 PM. Please make time in your day for this very special event!
For the Historical Society, 2024 was a year like no other in recent memory. Our Wednesday morning Museum volunteer corps started the year with an intent to change a few small exhibits, and what resulted was the start of something far bigger.
If you’ve visited our Museum in the past two to three decades, you’ve seen essentially the same exhibits throughout that time. They’ve served our community reasonably well, but one of our newest volunteers, Sue Ellen Roach, felt that too many items on display were simply “old” rather than pertaining to our community. This resonated with the volunteer corps, who, for the past few years, had started to refine our collections practices by asking: Is this item in our possession something that a person in our community would come to the Museum to look for? If not, then why do we have it?
It became clear that it was time to transform our Museum into an institution that would address both of those objectives. Thanks to the vision, blood, sweat, and tears of this volunteer corps (which included Gary Albright, Denise Dickinson, Kathy Eastman, Jacob Fox, Bill Lane, Sue Ellen Roach, and Charles Woolever), two of the three rooms in our Museum have undergone a complete “exhibit rotation” with all-new items on display that pertain to our community, filled with items that a person in our community would expect to find.
A good number of people got a sneak preview of this work in the past few months. We had our first “soft open” during the Festival On The Falls in August, and then a second one during Fall Weekend. We also opened for a handful of Sundays and had a special evening visit with the Honeoye Falls Rotary. During these previews, almost 200 people got a chance to see what we are so excited about. I can tell you that I have never seen people take so much time to look at our exhibits in all my years with the Society. These exhibits will capture your attention in a way they haven’t in quite some time.
The newly-christened Amo Kreiger Room starts you off, with a focus on the historic businesses of Mendon and Honeoye Falls. This room also contains a revamped display of Native American history, and a stunning new exhibit of a cross section of the 210-year-old “Sibleyville Oak” tree from the corner of Plains Road and NY15A that fell in 2020.
In the William Mantegna Room, you will find a significantly expanded set of exhibits dedicated to the railroads of our area, including the Lehigh Valley and New York Central. You will also be greeted with an all-new exhibit focusing on the history of our local schools, with everything from varsity jackets to yearbooks on display. The Mantegna Room rounds this out with a large display focusing on the most important residents who made our area what it is today, including not just their portraits, but significant artifacts from their lives as well. Adjoining the Mantegna Room is a redesigned set of hallway exhibits, focusing on Honeoye Falls Airport (with some new donations courtesy of Paul Washington, highlighted below) and the Veterinary Office, which was located long ago in our building, prior to its use as our Museum.
The Leo Cooney Room — which sits between those two rooms — will be the focus of this Winter’s work, when the Museum will be closed once again. It will focus on the social aspects of our community, from baseball to the Civil War; from our fire departments to the Grange; and beyond.
Here’s a visual preview!
Our plan is to have a grand re-opening gala in the Spring, which we will announce on our website and on social media once we establish a date. We can’t wait to see you there!
Here are some Museum Collection highlights from 2024: We received many donations from donors near and far who found us via our Facebook page. In addition to donations, we search local garage / estate sales and purchase items off eBay. The most significant additions to the Museum’s collections during 2024 were:
Gary Albright: Ladies’ clothing, c. 1940s & 1950s; campaign buttons.
John Broomfield: HFHS County Soccer Championship trophy; Class of 1965 Reunion poster.
Kathy Bruckner: Ocarina and ocarina mold.
Denise Dickinson: Lower Mill Sign.
Nelson Grimsby: 1944 waterproof bag made by the Duban Shade Co.
Andrea Johnson: Bowling pin from the Masonic Lodge lanes.
Bill Lane: HFFD pin; NY Central Railroad lantern… Fred Rath Dairy bottle; Estelle Toy Company items.
Paul Templeton: LVRR grade crossing marker from the Pittsford-Mendon Road crossing.
Paul Washington: Windsock and elevation board from the Honeoye Falls Airport.
The Society also received an anonymous donation of $8,000 for conservation/preservation work on the Downey Hook and Ladder Fire Company banner purchased at the Marge Osterling estate sale. This donation is much appreciated, as we failed two grant application approvals for the work!
As usual, I want to appeal to you: like many communities, we continue to have a difficult time getting people to volunteer with our organization. Some of our volunteers have passed on or passed away, and we need new blood; will you please consider becoming a docent? The only commitments are an occasional 2-hour block on a Sunday afternoon. Please email me at president@hfmhistorical.org if you are interested.
Our goals for 2025 include:
Finishing our Museum exhibit rotation, with a grand-reopening in the Spring.
Performing a full inventory of our Museum collections.
Implementing a “Collections kiosk” computer for the public to use when visiting the Museum, which will help docents working with visitors to see if the Museum is home to a resource they may be looking for.
Continued indexing and photographing our archival materials and donations of artifacts to the Museum.
We have a lot more digitized content going on our YouTube channel – please subscribe to it and check back often.
If you lack Internet access or just prefer paper, you are welcome to download and print our paper membership renewal form and return it with your dues payment. Remember to include your e-mail address to receive timely and detailed notices of Historical Society program meetings and other events of interest. Any questions, please call me at 585-281-0014 or e-mail me at president@hfmhistorical.org.
I am grateful for your ongoing support. We hope to see you on the first Thursday of each month to enjoy our programs, and — once our Museum reopens in the Spring — on Sunday afternoons for Museum hours from 2–4pm.
Our Museum will be open this weekend (Saturday, October 5 and Sunday, October 6) during all of the “Fall Weekend” festivities from 11am–4pm both days.
At this time, you will have a special opportunity to get a glimpse of our ongoing Museum reinvention, which will be fully complete by Spring, 2025. But in the meantime, two-thirds of the Museum are all-new, including this fabulous display showing off The Sibleyville Oak that was felled in 2020 (special thanks to the Mendon Foundation for donating a slice of the old tree, which was finished by our very own Larry Titus)…you don’t want to miss this special “sneak preview” opportunity!
Dear Historical Society Members and History Lovers,
Our visitors have been asking us for quite some time to re-think what is on display in our museum, and how it is displayed. As I mentioned in my 2024 President’s Letter, we’ve started a plan to re-imagine all of our exhibits in the months and years ahead. I am thankful to announce that our volunteers have gained significant steam moving this re-imagination forward.
Visitors to museums of any kind, however, aren’t interested in seeing empty spaces and signs that say “New displays coming soon!” It therefore makes sense for us to do what all museums must do from time to time: suspend our standard public hours until we are finished with our exhibit rotation. This does not mean that we are closed! We remain committed to our mission to be a resource for the community, and if you wish to visit the museum for research projects, we ask that you reach out to Interim Curator Bill Lane at 585-694-8236 to schedule a time to visit during our Wednesday morning work hours, when our volunteer staff will be available to guide you to what you need.
It saddens us to share that Dee Kammermeier, who served us as a docent and trustee for so many years, passed away on January 9th.
Dee Kammermeier, at left, as we last saw her, with Denise (Trustee) & Cliff Dickinson (past President, right) and Vice President Charles Woolever (foreground, right) at our October 18, 2023 Volunteer thank-you dinner at Flaherty’s in Honeoye Falls.
Dee was a tireless supporter of our Society, and would take every opportunity to staff our Museum for our Sunday afternoon hours. She loved engaging with people, and she cared deeply for her adopted community in the special way a person from western Pennsylvania could. She ensured our Museum was free from dust, cobwebs, spiders — any form of grime, really — and expected us all to be running a tight ship that she could be proud of. We will miss her dearly, for her care, her passion, and her spirit. She will be with us, always, and we are thankful we memorialized her on our Society plaque before she passed away. We genuinely loved her.
Here is her full obituary, as copied from the Merton Kays web site:
Delores Marie “Dee” Kammermeier (Mazzei), 87, of Honeoye Falls, NY died peacefully on January 9th in the home of her son in Bloomfield, NY. Dee was born on October 17, 1936, in Ellwood City, PA to Mary Mazzei (Folino) and Joseph A. Mazzei. She was the grandchild of the first baby born in Ellwood City after it was incorporated, Maria A. Mazzei (Friske).
After high school in Ellwood City, Dee went on to obtain a nursing degree in 1957 from the Providence Hospital School of Nursing in Beaver Falls, PA. She worked for a time at the local hospital in Ellwood City, and later relocated to Pittsburgh with her husband Richard J. Kammermeier of Pittsburgh. She worked at Allegheny General Hospital before moving on to the medical department of the H. J. Heinz Company factory on Pittsburgh’s North Side. In 1985, she was named a Heinz Person of the Year for her “very competent but quiet and unassuming” professionalism. Dee retired from Heinz in 1997. After her husband’s death, Dee relocated to Honeoye Falls, NY to be near her grandchildren, Maxwell and Jackson, whom she entertained with books and oral histories. She volunteered as a Town of Mendon Historical Society docent on Sundays and was known around town as that quick-witted lady who loved children.
Dee is survived by sons Richard J. Kammermeier (Breezy) of Ocean City, MD and Paul J. Kammermeier (Laura) of Bloomfield, NY, grandsons Maxwell S. and Jackson K. Kammermeier of Bloomfield, nephews Lou Kammermeier (Christine) of Pittsburgh, John Kammermeier (Phyllis) of New Jersey, Laura Kowatic (Marc) of Pittsburgh, David Breyer (Theresa) of Bartow, FL, sister Nancy (Ellwood City), as well as many great nieces and nephews. She is predeceased by spouse Richard J. Kammermeier (Pittsburgh, PA), brother George Mazzei (Ocala, FL), and parents Mary and Joseph Mazzei (Ellwood City).
Dee was a wonderful, caring, and giving person who always went the extra mile to make people feel heard and loved. She took the time to keep in touch with people she met in all phases of her life. Many who lived in her sphere consider her a second mother, bonus grandmother, or trusted friend. She will be missed and remembered always.
Memorial donations may be made to Finger Lakes Home Care Hospice, 756 Pre-emption Rd., Geneva, NY 14456 or to the Honeoye Falls-Town of Mendon Historical Society, P.O. Box 26, Honeoye Falls, NY 14472. The family wishes to extend their gratitude to all the children, young and old, who fulfilled Granny’s wish to love and be loved.
Happy New Year! For the Historical Society, 2023 was another very good year. Our Annual Christmas social, which is fresh in my mind, continued with new highlights and music acts. Our Museum volunteers’ pace didn’t slow down. Our collections continued to grow in meaningful and significant ways. We re-engaged with the students of the Honeoye Falls Lima School District. Our program committee has done another bang-up job planning for 2024; please have a look at the enclosed brochure. There is something for everyone.
I must appeal to you, however, for something that concerns me: like many communities, we are having a difficult time getting people to volunteer with our organization. Will you please consider stepping up? In particular, we need:
Volunteer Museum docents to host our Museum every Sunday afternoon. Can you spare just two hours every month or two? Please call me at 585-281-0014 if you even think you might be interested.
To keep the Annual Christmas Social running smoothly for 2024, we need to line up volunteers well in advance, including music teachers who are willing to bring students to perform a recital. Please contact me if you or someone you know is willing to do this.
Here are some Museum highlights from 2023: We received many donations from donors near and far who found us via our Facebook page. In addition to donations, we search local garage / estate sales and purchase items off eBay. The most significant additions to the Museum’s collections during 2023 were:
From Kathy Gilda: Numerous Falls Dairy items, including a 12-foot-long sign that hung on the front of the dairy.
From Bill Lane: Three Greenleaf dollhouse kits
From Tracey McGrath: An Estelle Toy Company tom-tom drum.
From Sylvia Michel: Her complete 1943 – 1946 HFHS cheerleading outfit.
From Debbie Moffitt: A pass to the 1946 Sectional basketball tournament.
From Karen Schiedel: A Star Headlight & Lantern Co. flashlight.
From Lynne Menz: Several American Legion Post 664 Auxiliary items.
From Wayne Menz: His mother’s 1946 wedding dress, his Navy uniform and several military awards (including a Bronze Star) given to his uncle, Donald Menz.
In addition, we added several archival (paper) items and postcards purchased off eBay.
The Museum floor saw the following in 2023:
Cataloging of the collections continue.
The library in the schoolhouse has been reorganized, and we’ve finished sorting the Museum library that people can visit and read from (local history books and reference material)
We’ve sorted and cataloged our historic ledgers;
The Mendon Ponds exhibit has come down and, in its place, is an exhibit showing the Lehigh Valley Railroad (LVRR) depot over the years – from its use as a railroad station, its renovation, its subsequent use for restaurants, art gallery, antique shop and a home and business site;
Many of the exhibits in the Mantegna Room were created with the 4th graders in mind. Because of a change in Curriculum, the 4th graders no longer routinely visit the museum. Some of these displays have been removed as we begin a transformation of that room.
We’ve started a plan to re-imagine all the exhibits in the Museum in the months and years ahead.
Thanks once again to Gary Albright, Kathy Eastman, Bill Lane and Charles Woolever for all they do to curate, cultivate, and document our collections each week of the year. Special thanks also go out to Denise & Cliff Dickinson for continuing with their initiative to photograph thousands of items in our collection, which is the beginning of a long preservation journey that will take several years. Please be sure to take a Sunday afternoon between 2–4pm to stop by and see the fruits of our labor!
Our goals for 2024 include:
Continued work with the Village of Honeoye Falls to determine how to stabilize temperature and humidity on the second floor of the Museum, and to make structural improvements to the Museum building.
Continued indexing and photographing our archival materials and donations of artifacts to the Museum.
Continued development of our new website, which we hope you bookmark and visit often.
New for 2024: We have an online membership renewal form at https://hfmhistorical.org/membership-donation/ – we prefer that you use this to renew if you can. If you lack Internet access or just prefer paper, please fill out the printable membership renewal form and return it with your dues payment. Remember to include your e-mail address to receive timely and detailed notices of Historical Society program meetings and other events of interest. Any questions, please call me at 585-281-0014 or e-mail me at president@hfmhistorical.org.
I am grateful for your ongoing support. We hope to see you on the first Thursday of each month to enjoy our programs, and on Sunday afternoons for Museum hours from 2–4pm. May your 2024 bring health, safety, and joy, and I hope that your upcoming holidays help you find ways to reconnect with your loved ones.
We are looking for copies of the HF-L English Department literary magazine called “Trillium.” We have a 1988 copy; one was also published in 1987. Were there other years beside ’87 & ’88?
If you can help us understand the years published — or are willing to donate your copy to the museum — please email Bill Lane, Interim Curator, at fallsman43@yahoo.com. We have already contacted the school. Thank you.
