VOLUNTEER SPOTLIGHT
Motorists
traveling westbound on NYS Rt. 251 toward Scottsville pass over the
Genesee River and in a short distance encounter a rise in the
highway. The mild "hump" in the roadway at the top of the rise
was once the crossing of the Pennsylvania Railroad's Rochester
Branch. Much of the right of way of this line is now the Genesee
Valley Greenway, but until 1963 there were occasional freight runs
on the line. The tracks in this area lay abandoned until the late
1960s, and therein starts our tale of long-running museum
volunteer, Nancy Holland.
Nancy
grew up in a home on Rt. 251, close to the Pennsy line, on land
formerly owned by her paternal grandfather. She was born two years
before service stopped on the line, so she hasn't any memories of
trains passing, but she says she used to walk on the abandoned
tracks when she was growing up. Nancy has an older sister, Pat,
and a younger brother, Jim, who is a long-time member of NYMT.
Her uncle, "Yank" Wiesner could sometimes be found at the
museum too. Always dressed in his trademark bibbie overalls, he is
fondly remembered by early volunteers.
Nancy's
dad, Lawrence Wiesner, operated his own business out of the house,
doing electrical and plumbing work as well as selling Hotpoint
appliances. Her mother, Marion, served as dad's secretary and
bookkeeper. Nancy tells us her mom was very organized, and we can
see a lot of that has rubbed off on Nancy.
After
attending Wheatland-Chili High School, Nancy attended Bryant &
Stratton College where she got an Associate's Degree in Secretarial
Science. She enjoyed learning bookkeeping and shorthand and found
the latter particularly useful at home during the Christmas
holidays. As her mom used to do, Nancy made out Christmas gift
shopping lists that guarded the surprise, as no one else in the
family could read them!
Degree
in hand, Nancy took a secretarial position at Monroe Developmental
Center. There, she worked with CathyAnn Howes, who was a
significant contributor to the creation and early development of
NYMT. At a party in 1986, CathyAnn introduced Nancy to museum
volunteer Bill Holland, and the next year the two were married.
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Through
Bill's involvement at the museum, Nancy "drifted" into doing
the bookkeeping. Back then, the gift shop had a big, old
mechanical cash register and part of Nancy's job each open day was
to read through the paper tape to categorize the various sales.
She shared her Treasurer duties with Ted Strang and others since
she lived so far from our bank, but she kept all the books for us
for ten years.
As
children came along, Nancy handled the bookkeeping at home in
Bergen, New York. Step-son, Chris, had been born in 1981, and the
family grew with the birth of Craig (1990), Julianna (1993) and
Heather (1994). Nancy recalls the years during the kids' growing
up as a flurry of sports activities, 4H, Scouts, and Civil Air
Patrol, among many other things.
True
to form, in addition to ferrying the family around to these
activities, Nancy took positions of responsibility in each. She
was a Girl Scout Leader, Assistant Cub Scout Leader, and a Leader
in 4H. In addition she was an adult member of the Civil Air
Patrol, President of the Ladies of Charity at her church, and has
been a member and officer of the Bergen Business and Civic
Association. As the old rule goes, if you want something done,
give it to someone who's already busy!
By
2000, with all the youngsters now in school, Nancy started her
present job close to home at the Byron-Bergen Central School System
offices. As secretary to the Department of Special Education, she
enjoys contact with the parents and students and handles a variety
of secretarial duties.
In
2013, with all the kids out of high school and on to college, Nancy
found the time to return to volunteering at NYMT, and we gratefully
added her to the small but dedicated group of gift shop and ticket
desk people. She likes being busy, and she's as organized as her
mother was. Nancy prefers the ticket desk, but handles the gift
shop side of things equally well, and is an ace at running the
numbers at the end-of-the-day closing.
Nancy
has also been helpful with some of our special events, like the
Halloween Trolley Express, and she has helped Doug Anderson with
the annual gift shop inventory.
When
asked what she sees in NYMT's future, she first tells us she wants
to continue to be a part of it (yay!), and looks forward to the
museum's ongoing evolution and growth. Nancy Holland has been
witness to much of the growth we've experienced over the years. We
thank her for the parts she has played in all that, and will enjoy
continuing to work with her as the future unfolds.
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